Ants waking up from hibernation are increasingly invading our homes and offices earlier and with more ferocity than in the past, b...
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Looking for the leftover scraps on the counter or that last doughnut in the open bakery box, little black ants are inviting themselves into British homes.
After waking up from hibernation, ants are ready to chow down. If they can't find what they need to eat in the great outdoors, they are increasingly finding their way into homes through little cracks. If one can make it in, then a line of 10,000 ants could make it in.
Though annoying, in most cases it's fairly easy to get rid of these types of black ants inexpensively and quickly. Homeowners can purchase insecticides from retail stores and can find multiple pest control services in town.
Over the last couple of months, incidences of calls regarding ant infestations have dramatically increased. Usually the first calls trickle in each May, but this year the ant complaints have been early and often.
Whilst the volume of calls has risen over previous years, it is not unexpected. It happens every springtime – the ants are hungry and ready to breed. The worker ants come out of their holes to look for food sources to bring back to the colony. When they can't find enough food outside, they come inside to search for it.
It's too early in the spring to tell if there will be more ants this year as the ants are still in the process of waking up from hibernation. When there are sunny and warm days, the ants appear above ground to start looking for food. However, if a cold front comes through, they return to the nest.
When the ants are out and about they may be more likely to search inside for food this time of year because plants are not yet in bloom for them to feed on.
Recent rain showers may have brought some ants out of their nests earlier than normal as ant nests in low-lying areas may have gotten flooded by the precipitation. As for why there may be an increase, it may not be so much with the recent wet weather but the lack of wet weather over the past two years. Little moisture in 2005 and 2006 led to more ant eggs being hatched, leading to a higher population this year.
The easiest way to prevent ants from looking for food in your home is to put it all away, leaving nothing on the counter or tables, even little scraps. While you may not feel like putting away the leftovers from dinner, not doing so till morning gives the ants several hours to get into it.
If the ants are already helping themselves to goodies from the kitchen, a mild insecticide can get rid of them. The chemical is not harmful to humans and usually a big difference is seen in 12 to 24 hours.
For homes that are badly infested, it is recommended that the outside of the house is sprayed as well as using a barrier chemical, and powders can be used in gardens with a lot of ant holes.
By calling a pest control company to visit your home, you will not only be provided with a thorough inspection and services to eliminate the current infestation, you will also receive guidance for prevention in the future. A pest control technician will also usually be able to find the trail of ants and work backward to find the nest, and with average first-time treatments taking 50 to 70 minutes, it's not a big inconvenience.
Two methods that don't usually work well are traps and fumigation sprays. The former takes months to get results and the latter doesn't work because ants don't have lungs.
Article provided by SDA Pest Control