Ants are for sure a nuisance for anyone and everyone, no matter what region a person is living in. Ant hills, on the other side, are an eyesore on the lawn or the yard. Besides dusting the ant hills using a rake or digging them up with a shovel, the ants try to find all the possible ways to munch your flowers and find the entrance to the house.
One misconception about ant hills is that the ants reside in the mounds. Well, not always! Usually, the ants build up tunnels and chambers by digging deep in the ground. They carry the displaced particles from their burrow and throw them out making up piles of sand. These piles of sand mark the incoming and exit points for the ants.
The structure of ant hill:
Sometimes, worker ants mix sand and mud with tiny sticks in order to harden the intrinsic structure of the mound. By this, their nest gets better protection against extreme weather conditions including hard rain and strong winds. In thickly forested areas, ant hills are mostly covered with plants that grow on the sides of the mound. This is because of the seeds that go along with the soil displaced by the ants while working on their colony’s home.
These ant hills have to be eradicated to preserve the beauty of your yard and to prevent the creepy insects from marching into the house.
Read more: What Attracts Ants Into Your Home?
Here are some of the ways to control the ant hills:
- Boiling Water:
To make the ant hills disappear from your yard, you can try pouring hot boiling water over them. The hot water finds its way through the mounds and eventually traps the insects, killing them on the way. Adding liquid soap to the steaming water helps in eliminating them even faster.
- Boric Acid:
Boric acid is one of the popular insecticides used to kill ants. It can be used in either ways, powdered and solution. One can directly sprinkle the powder on and around the ant hill. The insects that come in contact with the acid die the very moment.
You can also use a paste by mixing it with water and sugar. Sugar acts as an attractant for the ants whereas the water will allow the paste to seep into the ground and cover a good amount of area of the ant colony.
- Baits:
You may spread different types of bait across the yard near the ant hills to attract them so that they can carry it back to their colony. This will ensure two things- hill destruction and killing of more ants. Placing the bait station right next to the hill’s crater will assure that the majority of the ants that come out of the hound will pass through it and destroy the entire colony.
- Ant Killer Granules:
Buy some ant killer granules and mix with water as recommended.
It is only effective during a dry spell. Apply it directly on the ant hill and nearby with either a watering can or knapsack sprayer. If the weather stays dry, the granules would work and kill the ants within a few days.
Read more: Top Ants in the Toronto Area
Conclusion:
If you have the problem in your house, consider the severity of the problem before making use of chemical treatments. Different species of ants have various preferences for food and habitat, making the ant treatment complex. If you use the right approach, you will see a big reduction in the number in a few days.
If you are unable to destroy the ant hills despite deploying a number of techniques, consider calling the ant removal experts. Quality Affordable Pest Control can help you navigate the problem and use the right approach to solve all kinds of ant infestation problems.