Borax.. ants too?

ArcticFox

I was reading the post below about an alternative to RoundUp -

Should I try borax on ants?  I have been trying to get rid of the ants on my short brick walkway in front of the house.  The anthills are destroying the walkway and then we track in a ton of sand too.

Would I just make a solution and pour it on?  Obviously I would be fine with keeping weeds away too! 

I'm wondering though if it leaves a white residue behind on the red bricks?  

Roni.Cedra

I would try vinegar first, and then vinegar and baking soda because that would be awesome... 

Try a bit of borax on the a brick that hides... like a color test with hair dye.  

*speedracer*

i have heard that cinnamon works well with ants...and it would blend with bricks too

uncannycanuck

You can make ant bait by mixing equal parts borax and powdered sugar. That doesn't have to be poured directly on the brick, just somewhere the ants will find it.

Or you could try any of the other ideas: boiling water, salt water, vinegar. 

CodyAnn

We used boric acid to get rid of huge carpenter ants - it worked amazing!  

ArcticFox

I already tried vinegar, cinnamon, and boiling water.  Oh and peppermint too. 

But it would be nice to have a 2-in-1 to keep the weeds out too!

sunshine_day_dreams

Borax and a little powdered sugar should definitely do the trick.  We use it, diluted to about 10% borax in a little container and set it out in their path.  They'll find it and be swimming within a couple of hours.  I always just make sure I put it outside the house in the path I think they're using to get in, rather than inside so the cats don't get into it.

nooniesinlove

I had an insane ghost ant infestation when I lived in Miami.  They don't respond to most pesticides anyways since they're so tiny that they usually die before taking any poison back to the queen (aside from the other, obvious pesticide-related concerns), so I found this article that helped me make an borax concoction for my ants: http://hubpages.com/hub/How_To_Get_Rid_Of_Ants_Naturally.

It worked like a charm.  I put the mixture out on small plates or directly on the walls where I saw the ants coming in.  Since it is a clear-ish, thick liquid, there wasn't much discoloration; if you let it sit for a while, it might discolor as it dries out, though.  Your ants are probably bigger than the ghost ants, so you could probably up the amount of borax in the mixture to work faster.

Borax might be dangerous if you have small pets that you let outside, though, so maybe the cinnamon is better.