Ant Prevention

As the warmer weather approaches (at last) it tends to bring with it some common pests, ants being the main problem.

Greasing the legs to your holiday home is one way to reduce the access for ants to your holiday home, this service can be carried out by the estates team by contacting Carolyn.child@shorefield.co.uk who will provide a quote.

Below are some useful tips for safe and humane control of ants in your holiday home:

• Remove sources of attraction. Keep your kitchen clean. Wash countertops, floors, and cabinets with equal parts vinegar and water. Do not leave crumbs or rubbish around and keep all food, including pet food, ensure rubbish is in tightly sealed containers. Do not leave uneaten pet food in bowls, do not feed pets outdoors, and never feed wildlife. Remove objects around your holiday home that might attract moisture (e.g., children’s pools, flowerpots, barbecue grills, sheet metal, boards, large pieces of debris, bricks, logs, etc.), trim back vegetation, remove furniture and debris near the holiday home.
• Locate the source of the ants. When you see ants in your home, try to follow them back to the point where they entered. Use caulk to seal all entrances into the house, remembering that ants are tiny and can fit through almost any small opening. Apply weather stripping under doors.

• Use natural ant repellents. If ants are coming in through the cracks of doors and windows, pour a line of cream of tartar where they enter the house, and they will not cross over it. A cinnamon stick, coffee grinds, chili pepper, paprika, cloves, or dried peppermint leaves near the openings will repel ants. You can also squeeze the juice of a lemon at the entry spot and leave the peel there. Planting mint around the foundation of the house will also keep ants away. Place cloves of garlic around indoor and outdoor ant pathways.
• Use only nontoxic commercial repellents. A product called “Orange Guard” is a nontoxic organic ant repellent that is harmless to humans and other animals and will drive ants away from areas where they are not wanted. However, when applied directly to ants, the active ingredient d-Limonene (orange peel extract) destroys the waxy coating of the insects’ respiratory systems, causing the ants to suffocate, so please do not spray ants with the repellent. Simply spray the repellent around your home—the citrus fragrance of d-Limonene will repel the ants without killing them.

Kind regards,

Stuart Horswill