Homemade Ant Bait

With the really hot weather we've had lately we have been dealing with ants making their way inside in search of water and food.  Hate these things!!!  They are so small that keeping them out is a losing battle.  So what to do when they get in?  I've been using my vinegar cleaner to spray and clean up their trails and try to discourage the scouts.  However, when I opened my pantry the other day and found a trail of them running the entire back side and covering a jar of maple syrup trying to get inside that was it, it's war!!

My plug for a trusty product.

Sadly I was out of a precious tool for fighting these critters.  It's Terro Ant Killer.  I like it because it's nontoxic and effective.  Needing it NOW and not wanting to go to the store for this only, I did an online search.  I know it's a Borax based product so I thought I could find something similar that would work.  Came across and made this:


Homemade Ant Bait

Combine 1 cup of sugar, 1 Tablespoon Borax and a 1/2 cup water in a saucepan.
Bring to boil and boil 3 minutes.
Let cool completely.  It will thicken as it cools.

To use you need to find where the ants are coming in and be able to place this bait on a piece of
foil, or shallow lid so that the ants can come and feed off it a day or so.  This way they carry it back to the nest and it kills off the colony.  It's the only way to keep these pesky things from constantly coming back in new locations and invading more products.

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After having them chew through a brand new bag of Raisin Bran Cereal a few days ago and ruin the entire contents I am anxious to clear these out of here. Once I located an entry on top of a cupboard of all places I cleaned the walls with vinegar to wipe out their trails and placed a lid with this bait in it and let them feed.  It is pretty gross to see the loads that line up to feed, but you know it's working as the numbers begin to thin, then disappear all together. 

Ants feeding on bait left on aluminum foil. I borrowed this image as I couldn't get a clear shot at the top of my cupboard.

This recipe proved as effective as the store bought product and with the price difference I don't know why I didn't do this sooner!!  Today was the first morning not to have at least a few scout ants running around. Since it only takes a few teaspoons of this stuff to do the job, I placed the rest in a jar and marked it "Ant Bait".   If they do show again, I'm prepared !