IV Post

So what can you do to keep your house ant-free this year? The answers aren’t as difficult as you may think.

“One of the best ways to control an ant problem is to make sure it’s not easy for ants to get in your home, so seal all cracks and holes,” said Frédérique de Lame, entomologist with Combat® pest control, a brand of ant and cockroach bait and gel pesticide products.

Combat pest control offers these six easy tips to keep ants out of your home:

• Many ants enter the home via tiny gaps between the wall and utility lines, around windows, and other small holes and cracks around the home. A little caulk around these areas will make a big difference.

• Keep vegetation about one foot away from the home, and avoid placing mulch close to the structure. Ants climb bushes and trees and will make their way from the outside into your home, and mulch is an attractive nesting spot for ants.

• Fix water leaks and insulate cold pipes or appliances on which condensation develops. The most important thing in an ant’s life is water, and they will readily enter your home to get it.

• Don’t overwater houseplants. If the tray at the bottom of the plant fills up, empty it out right away.

• Leave pet food out only at feeding time, and store the food in plastic airtight containers.

• Forget sprays. It’s easier and more productive to strategically place baits around the house so that ants will take the poison from the baits back to their colonies. When you use a spray, you only kill the ants you see.

For more information on tackling an ant problem, be sure to visit www.combatbugs.com, where you can learn more about the specific kinds of ants in your region and how you can keep them out of the house.

Place baits around your home to get to the source of the problem.