It’s rainy season where I am and that means ants, every-where. I live in the tropics so I get them year-round, and most especially after a few days of rain. However, having a little one and a dog means that ant spray or any chemical-based product for that matter, is not ideal for the home. For years I searched for different products and none have compared to this simple recipe of affordable things that you may already have at home.
I originally learned about this method from babs, and over the years, I’ve shared it with many of my friends and family. I even started making jars of the solution as gifts and writing the recipe on the jars in permanent marker so that my loved ones could just mix a refill themselves. It actually makes the perfect little gift. Be it for a housewarming, “welcome to the neighborhood”, or fellow mom gift and it only takes 3 ingredients. The ants gather it, share it with their colony and queen and within 24 hour–the ants are gone. Within days the colony is wiped out—(or at least in my experience, until the next rainy day and another colony makes its way into the house.)
See the way it works is that the borax disrupts their endocrine systems and hurts their exoskeleton. The worker ants also bring it back to the colony and it kills the queen and the whole colony is dead within a few days. The sugar attracts them, and the borax does the rest.
Liquid Ant Bait Recipe
- Sugar – regular granulated sugar works best
- Water – I use warm water to help the sugar dissolve faster, but room temperature water is fine.
- Borax – usually found in the laundry or cleaning aisle
Using The Ant Bait
When you spot a trail of ants, you’ll want to put a soaked cotton ball near the trail.You’re going to want to put the solution-soaked cotton balls near any trail of ants. (Keeping in mind that you want to keep it away from children and pets.)
Tips & Tricks
The solution is really sticky, and once the cotton balls dry, they’re rock-hard and nearly impossible to remove without rehydrating it. This means that any surface it sticks to can be damaged. So, a trick is to put a piece of painters tape (or any tape that you have) down first and then place the cotton ball on top of that. Before it completely dries out, pull the tape up and throw the cotton ball away with it. If it does dry out, you can pour a little water over it and after a few minutes you can easily peel the tape back and throw the cotton ball away.
Another really handy tip is to write the recipe on the jar you store the solution in. The last thing that you want to do is to find ants have invaded and find an empty jar. This keeps refilling your stock easy and you’re not searching to find the recipe because you’ll always have it at hand. I’ve included some printable labels that you can download, print, and stick, with a blank option that you can customize. You can also just write on the jar with a sharpie and place clear tape over the writing to keep it from rubbing off. Whatever works best for you. Let me know if you tried this and how it worked!
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