Ants can be a major pest in the garden because they ‘farm’ aphids and scale – they safeguard them in their nests over winter, then bring them out in spring and carry them onto the new plant growth, then collect the honeydew that aphids and scale excrete as they feed off the plant’s sap.
To make matters worse, ants defend these pests from their natural predators, but ants are easily excluded from fruit trees by using horticultural glue bands around the trunks. Once ants are prevented from climbing trees, the unprotected aphids and scale are quickly eliminated by predators.
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The activities of ants aren’t restricted to the garden though, they do have a habit of annoyingly invading kitchens in search of food, and bringing pest insects onto indoor plants too.
When ant populations become excessively large and invasive, they can be sensibly reduced with the use of ant baits which have a low environmental impact.
The best way to reduce ant numbers is to use a bait which is toxic to them but doesn’t kill them instantly, so they can take it back to their nest and feed the rest of the ants there, slowly destroying the whole colony.
Borax is a natural occurring mineral salt, sodium tetraborate decahydrate, and is commonly used as a laundry detergent booster and a multi-purpose cleaner. Like other laundry products, it’s poisonous when swallowed, so be sure to keep out of reach of children and pets.
When insects ingest borax, it acts as a stomach poison. The exact mode of action is not yet understood, but when borate salts dissolve inside an insect body they form boric acid. After ingestion, insects reduce their feeding, dry out and are eventually killed.
The following materials are required to make borax-based ant bait insecticide:
To make the ant bait, follow the steps below:
To mix up bigger batches of the borax ant bait, just double the quantities of ingredients, combine 1 cup of sugar, 4 level teaspoons of borax and 700ml (24 ounces) of water. That much ant bait should last quite a while, and stores well in a cool, dark place such as a laundry or kitchen cupboard.
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The following materials are required to make an ant trap to use with the borax-based ant bait insecticide:
To construct the ant bait trap for indoor use, follow the instructions below:
With this indoor ant trap, the holes for the ants to enter through are located at the top of the container. This isn’t suitable for outdoor use as the container will fill with water if left out in the rain.
It’s also possible to use the indoor trap outside by making a simple rain cover for it from a plastic bottle, as shown below.
When baiting ants outdoors, the trap needs to be protected from rain, otherwise it will flood and overflow, diluting the mixture and ruining it.
A simple rain cover that fits over the ant bait trap can be made from an empty soft drink bottle.
To make this ant bait trap rain cover:
Once the rain cover is placed over the ant bait trap jar, it should stay in place on its own, but if strong winds are blowing the cover off, a rock or other heavy object can be placed on either side to secure it better.
In very hot weather, the water may evaporate from the bait solution in the trap. To get around this problem, mark the water level on the side of the jar, and when it evaporates, top up with some plain water. Be aware that as the ants consume the liquid, its level will reduce, so don’t top up the water level if ants are coming, top up with more bait solution instead!
For a more permanent outdoor solution to ant problems, I’ve designed an ant trap specifically for outdoor use, made out of a plastic take-away food container that isn’t affected by rain for outdoor use in the garden, and to protect fruit trees, as pictured below. It also works indoors perfectly well too!
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Further instructions for making the outdoor ant bait trap can be found in the article – How to Build a DIY Outdoor Ant Trap to Protect the Garden and Fruit Trees
The key is that the ants will get into the jar to eat the sugar and return to the nest and pass it on to the rest of the colony.
If many dead ants are found beside the jar, then the mixture is too strong, so dilute the solution by adding more sugar and water, or make a new batch with less borax and try again.
Some recipes specify using 2 tablespoons of borax rather than 2 teaspoons, which is three times as much (1 tablespoon = 3 teaspoons). Even using the amount in this recipe, I found some dead ants around the jar on the second day, so I suspect it’s strong enough. If the mix contains far too much borax, the ants will reject it and refuse to eat the bait.
With a proper mixture the colony may be destroyed in a few weeks, though it does take the destruction of the queen to completely eradicate a colony.
Though it may be sometimes necessary to control ant populations in the garden, or remove ants from the home, the goal is never to completely eradicate them from the garden, because they’re beneficial insects.
Here is a range of ecologically beneficial functions carried out by ants:
It’s important to keep in mind that natural ecosystems are in a state of balance, and when dealing with garden pests, we should only do just enough to address the problem, and no more than that. A heavy-handed approach, such as spraying with toxic synthetic pesticides, always throws nature out of balance, needlessly killing off the more vulnerable beneficial predator insects and causing population explosions of pest insects.
For more information on ant control, see article – How to Make an Outdoor Ant Trap to Protect Fruit Trees from Aphid and Scale Pests
More articles on Garden Pests, Diseases and Problems
Source: https://gardencourte.com
Categories: Recipe
This post was last modified on 03/11/2023 18:35
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