Ants
It is usually the black (garden) ant that is abundant in most gardens, going about their business largely unnoticed.
Control is usually for reasons of annoyance rather than as a result of ants being particularly destructive. Whilst red ants can sting, for most this would classed a mild pain. Keen gardeners would beg to differ however, as ants can damage a lawn through their excavations, although ant nests would have to be pretty established to cause significant surface damage to a prize lawn.
Facts
Ants are relentless foragers who predominantly feed on other insects, including ants from other nests. Ants like sweet foods too; they collect ‘honeydew’ from aphids and are tempted by sweeter human foods.
Control
Most favour powders to control ants in and near buildings however to completely irradiate an ant problem it is necessary to destroy the nest rather than just kill the ants on or near to the surface. This is easier said than done as visible ants’ nests are usually just the tip of the iceberg, with nests running fairly deep under the surface.
In light of the above, ant gels should be favoured over a powder as they are much more effective at killing the queen and the nest. This is because ants will carry the bait back down underground, when powders only kills ants on the surface (95% of the colony may be underground).
Whilst this approach is superior at controlling the problem it does not provide the immediate ‘knock down’ effect home owners are after.
The SCH Better Places team has the technical knowledge and use of specialised products and equipment not available to the general public.
Get in touch.
Residential customers in Solihull can call Solihull Council’s Connect service on 0121 704 8000 to book an appointment, commercial customers can fill out an online form or call 0121 779 8900.
