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Little ants in electrical outlet


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I have tiny ants that are in a bathroom electrical outlet and travel between the electrical outlet and the ceiling. I’ve read several posts on this site about ant issues and tried borax (acido borico) mixed with honey as bait, but they have no interest in the bait. Also tried borax with peanut butter, and then tried borax with sugar. They didn’t work either. Any idea what bait I can use for these little critters? If it helps, the bathroom where the ants are located is on the other end of the house from the kitchen and I don’t have ants in the kitchen, so appears food items might not attract them?

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This has never failed me.  

 FYI, do not be tempted to make it stronger...if it is too strong they will not take the bait.  

Place into 1-cup liquid measuring cup: 
1/2 teaspoon boric acid powder 
1 1/2 Tablespoons white table sugar
Fill to 2/3 cup line with warm water
Stir to dissolve completely.
Dip half a paper towel folded a few times into roughly a 3 inch square in the liquid until saturated (but not dripping) and set on counter (or nearest flat surface to where you see them).  Put excess liquid in fridge to re-use.  The paper towel will dry out over night.  Discard and repeat with new paper towel and saved liquid until you see no ants.  Usually ants are gone in one or two days.  Liquid can be kept refrigerated for future use for at least a month.  
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Any local ferreteria sells PLAGASIN ( no more bugs!). One litre bottle with whitish liquid and adjustable head sprayer. Shake well. I use very direct spray when they come out of electrical outlets, oerhead light fixtures, holes in mortar between bricks, around bathroom sink taps, etc etc ad infinitum.  Also under kitchen sink, where I allow the spray a a little wider range.

Safe for pets (when dry) Non-toxic to people. IF you can find a trail from source to destination, direct- spray that too. 

Works INSTANTLY. No after-odor (like Raid et al). Have used it for years.

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There's different types of little black ants. Here we get carpenter ants that go after termites. If you see like a mud tunnel built on a wall outside or near the electric it might be where termites have a path. Then there's the what the heck when I saw how some electrical wire insulation is liked by ants. That's not good especially since it could lead to a short.

Boric acid is a fine powder at least if you crunch it up if it has chunked up. Plastic bottle of it I have has a pointed spout you can air blast a mist of it on surfaces. I'd also try that in the fixture. All the ants have to do is walk through it back to the nest. 

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I do not understand all this home brew malarkey. RAID has spent many millions on research and produces excellent products to deal with different critters. The one for cockroaches does the job. For these tiny critters they have a product named PROTECTOR that says on the label Mata Insectos Rastreros. Give them a good shot of this and you will not see them again for some time. If they return blast them again!!! Available at Walmart.

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Home brew malarkey? There are one or two of us out there who prefer not to use deadly chemicals, or support companies who have no regard for the environment in which we now live... where "hundred-year storms" are now occuring frequently, much to your obvious amusement... weather changes that are no doubt exacerbated by the ruination of natural fauna such as forests due to overcutting and poisonous chemicals.

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36 minutes ago, AndyPanda said:

Home brew malarkey? There are one or two of us out there who prefer not to use deadly chemicals, or support companies who have no regard for the environment in which we now live... where "hundred-year storms" are now occuring frequently, much to your obvious amusement... weather changes that are no doubt exacerbated by the ruination of natural fauna such as forests due to overcutting and poisonous chemicals.

So the planet is going to die because we use RAID cockroach and insect killer??? PLEEEZE!!!

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Ever see an unintended victim of poisoning? Like a bird who eats a cockroach that has been killed by raid? Or a snake or a dog or a cat who eats a mouse or a rat that has been killed by poison that was only supposed to kill the mouse or rat. OR THE HOT DOGS THAT ARE POISONED BUT KILL PETS? Actions have consequences.

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51 minutes ago, Ferret said:

Ever see an unintended victim of poisoning? Like a bird who eats a cockroach that has been killed by raid? Or a snake or a dog or a cat who eats a mouse or a rat that has been killed by poison that was only supposed to kill the mouse or rat. OR THE HOT DOGS THAT ARE POISONED BUT KILL PETS? Actions have consequences.

WHAAT??? How about all the PEOPLE that catch diseases from cockroaches and insects and that invade THIER homes??? There is plenty of space OUTSIDE homes for these critters to live and thrive...PLEEEZE!!!

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Do as you please. I don't use raid or any spray poison because, every time that I do, I break out in blistering hives. Can't imagine what it's doing to my dogs. I put entire bay leaves in the bottom of my kitchen cupboards. Haven't seen a cockroach since I did that. I don't want to kill them. I just want to discourage their entry into my home. YMMV.

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13 hours ago, Natasha said:

Any local ferreteria sells PLAGASIN ( no more bugs!). One litre bottle with whitish liquid and adjustable head sprayer. Shake well. I use very direct spray when they come out of electrical outlets, oerhead light fixtures, holes in mortar between bricks, around bathroom sink taps, etc etc ad infinitum.  Also under kitchen sink, where I allow the spray a a little wider range.

Safe for pets (when dry) Non-toxic to people. IF you can find a trail from source to destination, direct- spray that too. 

Works INSTANTLY. No after-odor (like Raid et al). Have used it for years.

Works on the cutter ants outside also.

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15 hours ago, gringohombre said:

WHAAT??? How about all the PEOPLE that catch diseases from cockroaches and insects and that invade THIER homes??? There is plenty of space OUTSIDE homes for these critters to live and thrive...PLEEEZE!!!

Por favor virgo lady...why are you so SAD??? You rewarded me 3 SADS for my written responses on this thread. I have stated my case in plain English, so why don't you??? I really feel bad about you being so SAD, so maybe I should post a CONFUSED since I do not know what you are so SAD about!!!

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22 hours ago, Bisbee Gal said:

This has never failed me.  

 FYI, do not be tempted to make it stronger...if it is too strong they will not take the bait.  

Place into 1-cup liquid measuring cup: 
1/2 teaspoon boric acid powder 
1 1/2 Tablespoons white table sugar
Fill to 2/3 cup line with warm water
Stir to dissolve completely.
Dip half a paper towel folded a few times into roughly a 3 inch square in the liquid until saturated (but not dripping) and set on counter (or nearest flat surface to where you see them).  Put excess liquid in fridge to re-use.  The paper towel will dry out over night.  Discard and repeat with new paper towel and saved liquid until you see no ants.  Usually ants are gone in one or two days.  Liquid can be kept refrigerated for future use for at least a month.  

works for me as well

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15 minutes ago, timjwilson said:

works for me as well

The best part of using this method is the activity we see for several hours as the ants go back and forth to their nest.  It's like getting that Ant Farm that no one's parents would buy for their kids at Christmas.  

 

antfarm.jpg

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Most everybody knows when dealing with ants, to kill off the hunter, worker, gatherers just prompts the queen ant to make more eggs/ troops. You have to kill the nest. Boric acid causes the nest to dry out, and the queen will die from no food from her loyal servants.

Take the cover off the electrical outlet, determine where the ants are coming from, including the conduit, plug those areas with soft, non permanent plumbers putty, then problem solved.

 

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1 minute ago, CHILLIN said:

Most everybody knows when dealing with ants, to kill off the hunter, worker, gatherers just prompts the queen ant to make more eggs/ troops. You have to kill the nest. Boric acid causes the nest to dry out, and the queen will die from no food from her loyal servants.

Take the cover off the electrical outlet, determine where the ants are coming from, including the conduit, plug those areas with soft, non permanent plumbers putty, then problem solved.

 

Putty will only stop the ants' access to house via that route.  They will find another route.  As you said, need to destroy the nest.  

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  • 11 months later...
On 8/28/2021 at 3:43 PM, Bisbee Gal said:

This has never failed me.  

 FYI, do not be tempted to make it stronger...if it is too strong they will not take the bait.  

Place into 1-cup liquid measuring cup: 
1/2 teaspoon boric acid powder 
1 1/2 Tablespoons white table sugar
Fill to 2/3 cup line with warm water
Stir to dissolve completely.
Dip half a paper towel folded a few times into roughly a 3 inch square in the liquid until saturated (but not dripping) and set on counter (or nearest flat surface to where you see them).  Put excess liquid in fridge to re-use.  The paper towel will dry out over night.  Discard and repeat with new paper towel and saved liquid until you see no ants.  Usually ants are gone in one or two days.  Liquid can be kept refrigerated for future use for at least a month.  

I have used that Mixture for  years fairley sucessfully. I tried plagas spray and it is much more effective for me.  

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Whatever poison you choose I would suggest you pull the electrical outlet cover plate and liberally pour down the black plastic conduit of the wires to reach the source.  I used Bisbee's formula and refreshed everyday and it took about a week to finish them off.

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