Uncle! Ant Infestation

[wagwar]

Our bus is infested with ants!  I noticed a few before we left on our trip out east, but the first night in Hannibal MO I realized we had them EVERYWHERE! Terro ant traps are not working! Any ideas!  Follow the blog at www.mightybus.wordpress.com.

Jim

[muldoonman]

Bug bomb and go to a movie. Come back and air it out!

[usbusin]

We use Windex to kill them in the house.  Works on other bugs as well.  Must be the ammonia.

[wagwar]

That's a good idea, except we have our 3 cats along and they don't really like movies. Besides, the other patrons complain about their 'catty comments'. Any other ideas?

[muldoonman]

Yeah the kitties would be a problem. Most chemicals that would take um out (ants) would hurt the cats. Had a motorhome years ago with this problem and the aerosol bombs (2 pack from ace hardware)  is what we used.  Kept the 2 overhead ac's on and when we got back opened the doors for a while. Had to drive our 2 big dogs around for a day they loved it. Spent the day on the beach. Any dry/power you put down would be worse on the self cleaning cats with there baths they give themselves..

[lorna]

Clean everything down with 50-50 mixture of water & white vinegar. Ants hate vinegar and the vinegar does away with their scent trails. It's cheap and safe for your cats.

I buy white vinegar by the gallon (2 gallons at a time from Sam's Club). I use it a lot in cleaning. It's a disinfectant like bleach without the odor and
I don't get bleach spots all over my clothes. We haven't had an ant infestation in a very long time... or any other bugs for that matter. We do spray the outside of the bus (especially around the tires and anything that touches the ground) with Home Defense bug spray twice a year. Once in the spring as it starts to warm up and the bugs start coming out and in the fall when they start looking for someplace to winter over. A new location means we spray around the new location and respray the tires, hoses, electrical cords, etc. NM has a worse roach problem than FL! We see them outside but they stay outside. I get up at 3AM to go to work. I look for scurrying things when I flip the lights on. I have a slight phobia about roaches. Roaches seem to avoid vinegar as well.

As for the bug bombs... I accidentally bug bombed the cat once. We all thought she was outside since we couldn't find her. So, assuming the cat was outside, we set off several bug bombs. A few hours later, we opened up the place and was letting it air out. After we decided it was safe to go inside, the cat crawls out from behind the headboard of the bed (how something that big - 16 lbs - could fit in such a tiny space was amazing). She seemed just fine. Even ate food. Wasn't sick at all. So we wonder if there is any pesticide in the bug bombs anymore.

[HB of CJ]

What kind are they?  How are they getting in?  Via the wheels?  Hoses?  Via power cords?  Via the dump hoses?  From overhead touching tree limbs and leaves?

Ants go places because they are starving for food.  ANY food scraps inside the Bus Conversion?  Leftover cat food?  Table scraps?  Crumbs on the floor?

Ants also move in if they can find a water supply; especially if it has any sugar in it, like coffee or beverage rings.  Sometimes candy in a pocket in the closet will do it.

Also try moving the Bus Conversion, even if only a dozen feet.  Sometimes this breaks their chain of logistic routes.  And...yeah....if necessary, take a vacation and nuke 'em. 

[mikelcan]

You might want to try food grade diatomaceous earth.  It is a powder that you can put down at the base of the walls, in cabinets, etc that will kill the ants.  It is safe for pets.  It has to remain dry to work however, since it is not really a poison to the ants but is glass that cuts their exoskeleton.

Mike

[Cary and Don]

Every time it rains they infest my kitchen sink.  The ONLY thing that has worked is granite counter cleaner. Kills them in their tracks and they don't come back.  No smell, not toxic to people,  and the counters get clean.  Just spray it on where they are coming from and leave it. A little sticky,  but better than the ants.

Don and Cary

[TomC]

To keep from getting ants, when you're parked, sprinkle Comet around each tire and anything else in contact with the ground. Good Luck, TomC

[Scott & Heather]

Another vote for a bomb. We had this problem and we bombed the bus and all was well again.

[Dave5Cs]

We mix 50/50 water and Dawn Dish Soap. An Ant can live in a bubble they create in water for days. The mixture is too heavy for them to make the bubble and clogs their breathing tubes and they go away and die. Spray a little on their trail and it will end.

Won't hurt the cats either. We have 3 also, Larry, Mo, and Bo-Ling(Bling). Poor curly didn't make it.
They don't like the taste.

Dave5Cs

[Frank @ TX]

Hi wagwar,
This works for any insects.
Make a half box of "Jello" any flavor with a tablespoon of boric acid.
Mix it with water ( package directions) and put a spoonful in a few saucers placed on the floor or counters.
"Jello" works great because it is sugar and protein , ants can not resist.
That is the boric acid that you'd get at the drug store for your eye wash.
Not harmful to people of pets.
The boric acid loosens the  exoskeleton form their body and they die.
I learned that when I was working in Central America at some chocolate bean farms.
For roach problem mix boric acid with some wheat flour , a little garlic or onion power and enough water to make small balls ( pea size ).  Let them dry until they are hard , roll them under the cabinets and other areas they go.  They'll all die.
Boric acid kills all insects the same way. 
You have to get them to eat some.
Frank

[lorna]

Boric acid is a poison. Like bleach it can be diluted to where is is only mildly poisonous, as in eyewash. Best boric acid based roach pioson.I have used was Roach Pruff. Comes as a powder in a big squeeze bottle. You can get it at Family Dollar and ACE.