Tips to Keep Little Black Ants Out of Your Kitchen

Tips to Keep Little Black Ants Out of Your Kitchen

 

If you read anything about little black ants, you’ll usually come across the phrase that they are “just a nuisance” because they can’t damage the structure of your house like a carpenter ant can. But if you’ve walked into your kitchen and seen a line of little black ants marching across your countertop, it probably didn’t feel like “just a nuisance.”

Nope, ants in the kitchen are a big problem when it’s your kitchen. You want them out of there as soon as possible, and you don’t want to have anything to do with any food the ants have touched.

If you think ants are more active in the summer, you’re right. Ants are busy eating food and storing up fat. They enter your kitchen in search of food or water, and often they are richly rewarded for their efforts.

Keep Ants Out

Like any homeowner, you want to keep ants out of your kitchen, so what should you do?

One of the most effective things you can do inside your house is to be sure any source of food or water is unavailable to ants that do get in. This includes:

  • Keeping food stored in glass or plastic containers with tight-fitting lids.
  • Keeping countertops, floors, and sinks clean of crumbs, dropped food, and spills.
  • Keeping faucets valves sealed and free of drips.

Before ants get in your house, they are attracted to your property by something in your yard, so you want to make your property as inhospitable to ants as possible. To keep ants away:

  • Keep your trash in sealed containers.
  • Remove any sources of food from your yard. (For example, take up the dog’s bowl after your pet has finished eating.)
  • Fix leaking spigots and any place that rain can puddle to eliminate water sources.
  • Seal up cracks and gaps where ants could enter through the foundation or exterior walls.
  • Make sure doors and windows are tight by repairing or replacing screens, door sweeps, and weather stripping.

While these steps will help, the best way to prevent ants from being a nuisance or worse is to partner with Russell’s Pest Control.  Our professional technicians can treat the perimeter of your property, creating a barrier to keep ants from entering.

Call us today to learn about our menu of pest control services and to set up an appointment. Don’t wait for ants to enter your kitchen, let Russell’s Pest Control keep them out.

How To Keep Fire Ants In The Yard From Getting Into The Home

How To Keep Fire Ants In The Yard From Getting Into The Home

Do you like it when fire ants show up at your backyard cookouts? How about your inside cook-ins? Outside fire ants may get inside if you don’t take measures to control these invasive insects in your yard. Red imported fire ants are like an insect army, marching across your yard. When they get to the walls of your home, they may not stop. And when they get inside, they can cause problems. For some people, fire ants can even be dangerous. Let’s take some time to look at what it takes to keep fire ants in your yard from getting into your Tennessee home.

Exclusion

An important step in ant prevention is to seal possible entry points around the home. While it may be impossible to find every hole and seal your home against these tiny invaders, you may thwart an invasion by applying silicone caulk to the right locations or by installing new door sweeps and weatherstripping. Common entry points for ants are door and window frames, holes created by rodents and other wood-damaging pests, gaps around pipes, accessible vents or weep holes, and water-damaged timbers.

Fire Ant Management

Many ant species can be reduced through the implementation of DIY methods such as moisture control, the protection of food sources, and landscape upkeep. We don’t recommend these for fire ants because they are a yard pest as well as an indoor pest. It isn’t enough to reduce the populations in your yard to reduce the risk of an indoor infestation. The goal with fire ants should be to get populations to zero or near zero. This is extremely difficult to do without an education in the entomology of fire ants and training in modern pest control methods.

The pest professionals at Russell’s Pest Control have earned the licenses and certifications required for the control of fire ants and other potentially dangerous Tennessee pests. There is no guesswork involved. Trusted strategies and products are used for the greatest level of control possible. There is no better way to prevent these little biters from getting into your Knoxville home. Reach out to us today for a free in-home pest evaluation. We’ll let you know what you’re up against and give you real solutions for your pest problems.

5 Tips To Keep Ants Out Of Your Kitchen

5 Tips To Keep Ants Out Of Your Kitchen

Winter is the time of year when some pests enjoy digging themselves a little deeper into the ground than normal, slowing down, and taking a nice long nap. They will reappear when the weather warms up in spring. Other pests remain active throughout the year, which means they can cause problems all year long. If you’ve noticed ants in your home even though it’s winter, you probably want to know how to prevent them.

Here are five tips to keep ants out of your kitchen:

  • Keep your yard tidy. Ant prevention starts outside. Remove yard debris, such as lawn clippings, branches, and leaf matter. Keep your grass trimmed. Consider replacing any mulch you use in your landscaping with crushed stone instead.
  • Close off entry points. Ants are small and can fit through the tiniest of cracks. It makes sense to seal up as many as you can find to reduce the chance of them finding their way inside. Check around your foundation for cracks and seal the ones you find. Gaps around doors and windows are a favorite way for ants to get inside. Tears or holes in a screen can also allow them access to your home.
  • Clean up spills and put food away. Like most humans, most common ants are quite fond of anything sugary. If you have even a small spill that you fail to clean up, they will find it. The same goes for any food you leave out. Whether it’s fruit on the counter or sugar left in its paper bag, ants will find it. In order to dissuade ants from entering and remaining in your house, you must remove their food sources. Make sure to clean all spills immediately and don’t leave dirty dishes in the sink. Wipe down your counters after every meal. Keep food stored in the refrigerator or in air-tight containers.
  • Eliminate moisture. While most ants are simply a nuisance, there are some that are quite destructive. Carpenter ants can go undetected for months, or even years. Once they get into your home, they chew through the wood structures in your home, causing a huge amount of damage. Carpenter ants are especially attracted to your house if you have water-damaged wood structures in or around it. It’s important to reduce moisture and humidity as much as possible. Eliminate standing water outside your home, and replace any water-damaged wood. Repair leaking taps and pipes. Allow good ventilation throughout your home, and use dehumidifiers in the more humid rooms of your house.
  • Call the professionals. If you find ants in your home, the best way to get rid of them is to get professional help. Russell’s Pest Control has the experience necessary to identify the type of ant you’re dealing with, figure out how they’re getting in, and understand what the best course of action is to eliminate them.

Ants don’t have to be a winter problem. Keep them out of your kitchen this year with the help of Russell’s Pest Control.

How Knoxville Residents Can Get Rid Of Ants

How Knoxville Residents Can Get Rid Of Ants

Ants can quickly become a major nuisance when found inside your home. These little black insects have found their way into your home in search of food. They will forage for food until they find an easy source. If they decide your home is an easy target for food, they will mark a trail and lead their colony there. Your home can make the perfect environment for a newly established ant colony. They need shelter, food and water to thrive and you happen to have all three. These pests can contaminate food and some damage wood sources in your home. So how do you eliminate their interest and keep them away from your Knoxville home?

The first step to keeping these ants out of your home is to seal up the exterior of your home. This can be any gaps or cracks you find around your home. These gaps can be around piping or venting. There may be cracks in windows and doors. Seal up the exterior of your home to stop ants from even trying to forage for food inside.

Next, seal up any food and water sources in your home. This can be in the pantry, the trash and pet food. Make sure all of these food sources are in airtight containers, preventing pests from getting inside. Fix any leaks or moist areas in your home. This will help deter them from seeing your home as an easy target.

The last step is to make sure that any landscaping shrubs and bushes are trimmed away from your home. Bushes and shrubs are a great place for ants to hide in and start a colony. Also, keep wood piles around 20 feet away from your home. There are a lot of pest insects that thrive in wood piles.

Most homeowners will try some of the DIY ant control products once they find they have an infestation. These products can be faulty. They only work to a certain extent and leave the rest of the colony to keep thriving. If they are done improperly, they can cause more harm than good. Some chemical DIY products can be dangerous to you, your family and pets. If you are going to try these products, make sure to read the entire label and use them exactly as instructed. The major problem with these DIY products is that they do not eliminate the entire colony and after a few days the infestation may continue or grow worse.

If you find that you have an ant infestation in your home, it is best to call Russell’s Pest Control for ant control. We can set up a plan of action for the current infestation, eliminate the ants (and other household pests) and keep them from coming back to your home.