I read, scanned, all your online material but found it confusing.
I live in an apartment building in Tampa, Florida. Pest control comes once a month. They spray something. So I can’t do anything about the outside,
I’ve tried the little baits which always took care of ants. I have “sugar ants” all around my kitchen sink.
WHAT DO I DO?
Sorry for the confusion. No doubt small ants in the home can be a relentless annoyance and with all the different species commonly found around most any structure, the treatment options can vary dramatically. This means there are many treatments available and in most cases, more than one method is required to resolve common infestations. With that premise in mind, we have found a broad defense to work best. For this reason our article attempts to cover all these approaches. When we get more details from customers with actual infestations, we can many times narrow the treatment schedule and still offer a game plan that will get control of the infestation. I feel this is the case with your sugar ant problem.
Since small sugar ants in the home usually forage in from the outside, getting “ant free” can many times mean treating in many different locations. Once inside, they’ll set up nests and colonies in wall voids and other hidden locations out of sight. Though killing the inside nests will usually stop the activity, ants will likely return if you don’t address the source of the problem. For homeowners the three prong approach detailed in our ANT CONTROL ARTICLE will do a good job of preventing future re-infestations. For people who reside in condo’s or apartments, we realize doing a “complete” treatment is sometimes impossible. With that in mind, we have found the following approach to be effective.
Since spraying the outside of an apartment can many times be an effort in futility (especially when buildings are large), we realize you are probably going to have to hope the management company where you live will do their part. If they treat the outside thoroughly on a regular basis, it’s quite possible they’ll keep these key locations maintained well enough to minimize future invasions. But the ants inside the building may have already set up an intricate colony network which may be linked to several units already. The sugar ants you’re seeing around the sink may be using pipes and electric wires to move from unit to unit and just killing these foraging workers won’t solve the problem at hand. If you wish to make a big impact, you’ll need to infiltrate as many colonies as possible and affect as many members of these colonies at that moment. In most cases, this will either kill the colony or chase them away and cause them to forage elsewhere. Either way they’ll be gone from your unit which in the end is what you hope to accomplish.
To reach this end point you’ll need to employ gel baits along with a “spray” which insects cannot detect. Start with the OPTIGARD ANT GEL and some MAXFORCE ANT GEL in the kitchen where the ants are most active. Forgaing workers and scout ants will quickly accept one if not both flavors. Once they start feeding, they’ll bring it back to their nest and share it with other members of the colony. This is important and ultimately what will do in any nests where the bait is delivered and shared.
For all other areas in your apartment you should treat with PHANTOM AEROSOL. This unique formulation is undetectable and takes several days to impact insects which walk over treated surfaces. When ants come in contact with your treatments they won’t know any is there. Lethal doses will be shared with other ants in the colony and in the end, you can do a lot of damage with this spray when ants forage over treated areas. Combined with the ant bait you should be able to kill the colonies active in your unit as well as keep new ones from getting established – even without you having to treat the outside of the building!
If you have further questions or concerns, please give us a call on our toll free at 1-800-877-7290.
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