Say Goodbye To Ants Using A DIY Trap Made With Two Household Staples

People with ant problems often face two warring impulses — the horror of the crawly pests themselves, and the instinct not to spray chemicals in and around the home. Fortunately, you can say goodbye to ants with natural ways to get rid of them. One of the most common involves using peanut butter and boric acid, one of the genius tips for using borax at home. Together, they're all you need to make an effective bait that ants carry back to the nest, ultimately damaging the entire colony.

According to the University of Nebraska's Integrated Pest Management program (pdf), "Boric acid is one of the most valuable chemical control tools in an integrated program against ants." The natural compound is available in many forms, including powdered borax. You'll find the product in the cleaning or laundry aisle of most supermarkets. It is considered non-toxic to humans, birds, and most wildlife. Why peanut butter? Well, many types of ants are attracted to sugars, proteins, and oils, all of which commercial peanut butter typically contains.

These ant baits can be used either inside or outside. Since they are non-toxic, peanut butter baits represent an effective way to remove ants without killing garden plants or releasing fumes into your home's interior. Forager ants not only ingest the poisonous blend themselves, but also take them back to their nest to feed it to the queen and other members of the colony. Often, the foragers additionally recruit other workers to go back to the bait before succumbing to the poison.

Since "grease ants" are attracted to the oils in peanut butter, use a type that is on the more oily side. You'll also want to scout for the places that you see the ants most frequently. (Chances are, some of the more alarming discoveries have burned those locations into your memory!) You'll be putting the bait in these places.

Start by mixing about 1 teaspoon boric acid with 1 cup of peanut butter. This is not a case of the more poison the better, because you want the ants to survive long enough to travel to their nest. Set spoonfuls of this peanut butter ant bait in bottle caps or sturdy bits of foil. Place the traps wherever you've seen the ants. If you're setting them outdoors, putting the bait under straw or other loose mulch can keep pets or children from accidentally ingesting it.

Although it may be tempting to destroy ants when you see them at their bait stations in groups, it's important to leave them undisturbed. They will carry the poisoned food back to the nest to share with others. As boric acid is a slow-acting poison in ants, it can take up to a week to eradicate a colony. Alternatively, they can lead you to the nest if you haven't been able to find it. From there, you can use an approved insecticide to destroy the entire nest population even more quickly, or simply use hot, soapy water.