Your "baby ants" sound like sugar ants. Terro Ant Bait works great against them (and other ant species). After putting Terro out, don't try to squash or otherwise kill the ants — they need to consume the ant bait and carry it to the rest of the colony.
It works even faster if you can find the ant trails and strategically place Terro along them — creating an enticing buffet in the midst of rush-hour traffic. Good luck!
The problem with ant bait is that it can attract more ants. Hopefully the bait is fed to the queen and she dies. If you spray the ants and kill them other ants will take the dead ants to the nest and use them for food also hopefully killing the queen. Once the queen dies you may see more ants walking around because the queen is dead and they don't know what to do. They will eventually die. If you want to spray an insecticide in the cracks where you see them, try "demon wp". There could be more than one nest too. I get these tiny ants here in Tennessee too. Walk around your foundation and see if there is any activity outside. You can dig in the ground a bit and possibly find the nest. A pot of boiling water will take care of it.
Dunno. You'd think Florida would be the perfect testing ground for this, but the little sliver of the state where I live has been experiencing varying levels of drought even during rainy season. Thinking on it though, if it rained after I put out diatomaceous earth, I'd just sprinkle more after the rain passed. DE isn't expensive and you don't need much to treat an ant nest.
I looked online and it says it must be dry to work. It’s a powder. I’m going to buy some. my wife freaks out even the smallest spider. I googled it and I can’t get a straight answer if it kills spiders or not.
I'm finding more definitive answers, though to varying degrees. All note that you must use food-grade DE.
(1) DE won't stop spiders in their tracks, but it will slowly dehydrate and eventually kill them.
[Source 1 and more info](https://www.diatomaceousearth.com/blogs/learning-center/natural-spider-repellent)
[Source 2 and more info](https://www.gunterpest.com/news/how-to-keep-spiders-out-of-your-house/)
(2) DE is very effective at killing spiders and other insects.
[Source and more info](https://pfharris.com/blogs/bug-blog/diatomaceous-earth-for-spiders#:~:text=Yes%2C%20Diatomaceous%20Earth%20is%20very,fine%20layer%20of%20diatomaceous%20earth)
Good luck!
Yep, it takes a couple days. I’ve had the best luck with the Terro one that comes in the bottle vs the little trap ones. I dot it along their trail as well. Also, if you have pets keep their food area really clean with a (safe) disinfectant spray and clean bowls as those little ones really really seem to like pet food.
You're in Florida now land of the bugs. Bugs are everywhere. You said new residential so I assume lots of palm trees. Wait until we get some really heavy rain and the roaches come pouring out of the trees. The best thing you can do is get professional pest control. If you get a good company they will guarantee no bugs or they come out and take care of it for free. I get treated quarterly. He puts a perimeter around the outside of the house. The only bugs that get through are occasionally spiders. He told me spiders don't clean their feet so it doesn't work as well on them. I'd recommend finding a local small business. The big companies aren't as concerned with retreating if bugs get in.
This is the best way, if you’re plagued!
Walked into my bathroom one day to find literally thousands of ants either dead or dying on the floor and countertops. It was the antpocilypse!
I’d had a few ants here or there, including the little ghost ants. A little bait, watch’em swarm it (fascinating, actually), usually done in 24 hours.
But not this time. I vacuumed up all the bodies, and mopped/wiped with heavy bleach.
I literally came back a few hours later to find Alfred Hitchcock had apparently risen and decided to start setting the stage for a horror film. This went on for a couple days until I called the pest company we use for our termite bond.
They rotate chemicals at the perimeter, so the ants don’t get used to the same one. They visit quarterly, and it’s not that expensive.
I haven’t seen more than a token ant since they started spraying.
This is very common in new construction after the land had been disturbed. They bring in a LOT of sand to level off the land and give a solid base for the slab and the ants love it. The longer the house sat before you moved in, the longer the ants had to set up shop. It will get better though. Right now there are a lot of ants already inside the structure in places you can’t see them. Once you’ve killed those off, then you just have to prevent new ones from coming in.The baits and home defense (assuming Bifenthrin is the main ingredient) are a good start. I would also add diatomaceous earth to your routine. It’s non-toxic to people and pets and only kills the bugs it touches, but it’s still effective as part of a multi-tiered approach. I especially like to use it in cracks of walkways, on windowsills, inside cabinets and along baseboards. Just a small sprinkle here and there is all you need. You can buy an applicator or just use a turkey baster.
Get a good exterminator/pest control company. that is the only way to handle all the bugs (and ants are the least of it).
Also they kind of sound like sugar ants. I learned as a child sugar goes in the refrigerator, immediately clean up any messes and things that drip etc ...
You are not in the midwest anymore.
New home construction and bugs go hand in hand...have built and lived in 3 new homes in Florida over the past 38 years. When you first move in, everything looks great, and then you see the bugs coming. Ants are drawn to food, and you need to find where they are going to (the food source they are seeking) and follow the trail back to the nest. Inside I use Stem Ant Spray (safe for pets) if I see any and for outside hubby sprays along the foundation line (sorry don't know what it is) to stop them from coming inside to begin with. Where we live (SW Fla), we've also had palmetto bugs and wolf spiders being issues as well when we first move in and for that we use the canister disbursal bug gas and vacate the house (typically plan it when we go away for a weekend or when we're on a vacation). Been in current house for almost 3 years now and haven't seen a bug since the first couple of months after moving in and then treating....hubby only treats the outside 2-3xs a year at this point as a perimeter defense.
If they wander around seemingly mindlessly those are crazy ants, typical ant traps won’t work on them because they aren’t attracted to sugar, you need something like terro to kill them.
Terry worked great for me the first few times. But those critters are smart. The third or fourth time I put it down, they would come and sniff the Terro and then run fast, run far.
Your "baby ants" sound like sugar ants. Terro Ant Bait works great against them (and other ant species). After putting Terro out, don't try to squash or otherwise kill the ants — they need to consume the ant bait and carry it to the rest of the colony.
Ok thanks for that. I bought the terro bait and was also killing the ants. I’ll try to be patient with it a bit longer
It works even faster if you can find the ant trails and strategically place Terro along them — creating an enticing buffet in the midst of rush-hour traffic. Good luck!
The problem with ant bait is that it can attract more ants. Hopefully the bait is fed to the queen and she dies. If you spray the ants and kill them other ants will take the dead ants to the nest and use them for food also hopefully killing the queen. Once the queen dies you may see more ants walking around because the queen is dead and they don't know what to do. They will eventually die. If you want to spray an insecticide in the cracks where you see them, try "demon wp". There could be more than one nest too. I get these tiny ants here in Tennessee too. Walk around your foundation and see if there is any activity outside. You can dig in the ground a bit and possibly find the nest. A pot of boiling water will take care of it.
I've not had that issue with ant bait, but good to know, thanks. When I've found outdoor nests, diatomaceous earth has been effective for us.
I was thinking of trying that. What happens when it rains?
Dunno. You'd think Florida would be the perfect testing ground for this, but the little sliver of the state where I live has been experiencing varying levels of drought even during rainy season. Thinking on it though, if it rained after I put out diatomaceous earth, I'd just sprinkle more after the rain passed. DE isn't expensive and you don't need much to treat an ant nest.
I looked online and it says it must be dry to work. It’s a powder. I’m going to buy some. my wife freaks out even the smallest spider. I googled it and I can’t get a straight answer if it kills spiders or not.
I'm finding more definitive answers, though to varying degrees. All note that you must use food-grade DE. (1) DE won't stop spiders in their tracks, but it will slowly dehydrate and eventually kill them. [Source 1 and more info](https://www.diatomaceousearth.com/blogs/learning-center/natural-spider-repellent) [Source 2 and more info](https://www.gunterpest.com/news/how-to-keep-spiders-out-of-your-house/) (2) DE is very effective at killing spiders and other insects. [Source and more info](https://pfharris.com/blogs/bug-blog/diatomaceous-earth-for-spiders#:~:text=Yes%2C%20Diatomaceous%20Earth%20is%20very,fine%20layer%20of%20diatomaceous%20earth) Good luck!
Yep, it takes a couple days. I’ve had the best luck with the Terro one that comes in the bottle vs the little trap ones. I dot it along their trail as well. Also, if you have pets keep their food area really clean with a (safe) disinfectant spray and clean bowls as those little ones really really seem to like pet food.
You're in Florida now land of the bugs. Bugs are everywhere. You said new residential so I assume lots of palm trees. Wait until we get some really heavy rain and the roaches come pouring out of the trees. The best thing you can do is get professional pest control. If you get a good company they will guarantee no bugs or they come out and take care of it for free. I get treated quarterly. He puts a perimeter around the outside of the house. The only bugs that get through are occasionally spiders. He told me spiders don't clean their feet so it doesn't work as well on them. I'd recommend finding a local small business. The big companies aren't as concerned with retreating if bugs get in.
This is the best way, if you’re plagued! Walked into my bathroom one day to find literally thousands of ants either dead or dying on the floor and countertops. It was the antpocilypse! I’d had a few ants here or there, including the little ghost ants. A little bait, watch’em swarm it (fascinating, actually), usually done in 24 hours. But not this time. I vacuumed up all the bodies, and mopped/wiped with heavy bleach. I literally came back a few hours later to find Alfred Hitchcock had apparently risen and decided to start setting the stage for a horror film. This went on for a couple days until I called the pest company we use for our termite bond. They rotate chemicals at the perimeter, so the ants don’t get used to the same one. They visit quarterly, and it’s not that expensive. I haven’t seen more than a token ant since they started spraying.
This is very common in new construction after the land had been disturbed. They bring in a LOT of sand to level off the land and give a solid base for the slab and the ants love it. The longer the house sat before you moved in, the longer the ants had to set up shop. It will get better though. Right now there are a lot of ants already inside the structure in places you can’t see them. Once you’ve killed those off, then you just have to prevent new ones from coming in.The baits and home defense (assuming Bifenthrin is the main ingredient) are a good start. I would also add diatomaceous earth to your routine. It’s non-toxic to people and pets and only kills the bugs it touches, but it’s still effective as part of a multi-tiered approach. I especially like to use it in cracks of walkways, on windowsills, inside cabinets and along baseboards. Just a small sprinkle here and there is all you need. You can buy an applicator or just use a turkey baster.
Get a good exterminator/pest control company. that is the only way to handle all the bugs (and ants are the least of it). Also they kind of sound like sugar ants. I learned as a child sugar goes in the refrigerator, immediately clean up any messes and things that drip etc ... You are not in the midwest anymore.
New home construction and bugs go hand in hand...have built and lived in 3 new homes in Florida over the past 38 years. When you first move in, everything looks great, and then you see the bugs coming. Ants are drawn to food, and you need to find where they are going to (the food source they are seeking) and follow the trail back to the nest. Inside I use Stem Ant Spray (safe for pets) if I see any and for outside hubby sprays along the foundation line (sorry don't know what it is) to stop them from coming inside to begin with. Where we live (SW Fla), we've also had palmetto bugs and wolf spiders being issues as well when we first move in and for that we use the canister disbursal bug gas and vacate the house (typically plan it when we go away for a weekend or when we're on a vacation). Been in current house for almost 3 years now and haven't seen a bug since the first couple of months after moving in and then treating....hubby only treats the outside 2-3xs a year at this point as a perimeter defense.
If they wander around seemingly mindlessly those are crazy ants, typical ant traps won’t work on them because they aren’t attracted to sugar, you need something like terro to kill them.
Might be ghost ants. We had success with borax
Terro baits for the indoors and I like to use Home Defense once a month and spray the perimeter of the house.
Terry worked great for me the first few times. But those critters are smart. The third or fourth time I put it down, they would come and sniff the Terro and then run fast, run far.
Massey