Ants, like many other insects, hibernate during the colder winter months. When their body temperature drops, they become slack and slow moving. It is during the active summer months that colony preparation sets them up for their isolation period.
In the winter months, most ants go into hibernation mode. Their body temperatures drop and they become sluggish. They prepare their colony for winter, sealing up their ant holes and burrowing into the warmer ground or behind tree bark.
To make matters worse, the ants are more active at night than in the daytime and some colonies go dormant during the winter. (The colony is most active during the spring and summer.)
Here's the thing about ants: They never go away completely. And you don't necessarily want them to. Ants help control other pest populations and enrich the soil. But you still shouldn't have to deal with ants in your home or the parts of your yard where you spend time.
Because ants swarm, once you have an infestation, they can be difficult to dislodge. It takes vigilance and a combination of treatments using both home and perimeter insect control, but an ant problem can typically be resolved within a week or two. Follow-up prevention is key to ensure that they do not return.
It is advised not to squash ants, doing so will only release pheromones and trigger more ants to come to the location and cause more trouble to you and your family. Ants are known to pack a deadly bite that causes excruciating pain for a short time.
Two of the best ways to eliminate ants are Borax and diatomaceous earth. Essential oils, including peppermint and clove, are a natural way to repel and kill ants. Food and moisture attract ants, so keep your home clean and dry to get rid of ants permanently.
Vinegar mixed with water: wipe your floors and surfaces with this solution and this should deter a colony of ants. Boiling water: pouring boiling water into an ants nest. Peppermint: wiping this around any entrances the ants use to get inside your home can put a stop to the problem.
Milder winters provide ant colonies with the resources needed to grow larger and spread out into areas where they may not have thrived before. Because of this, homeowners can expect to see an increase in ant activity in 2022. Some of which may include species of ants that have migrated to a new area.
A sudden ant infestation in your kitchen means there is a food source somewhere. The food can be honey, sugar, syrup, meat, fats, breadcrumbs, etc. Once the ants determine these food sources, they form long trails to connect their colonies to the food source.
Do they go back to the same nest? No they never go back to the same nest and only move if they have been disturbed.
Fire ants can't survive for prolonged periods in conditions that freeze soil as deep as they are nesting. The northern boundaries of fire ant infestation are estimated to be areas with a minimum temperature of 10 degrees F.
Ant activity indoors generally may actually decrease in winter, but observing ants swarmers or foragers during the cold weather months may indicate that an ant colony exists somewhere inside the home.
Ant colonies become less active as cold weather arrives and ants will go into a hibernation mode. However, a satellite colony inside your home, often near the kitchen or bathroom, can remain active during the cold winter months.
Killing ants will, definitely, attract more ants because the dead ants release pheromones that attract or rather alert, nearby ants.
“The most effective method for controlling an ant infestation is using ant baits. Set them out anywhere you see ants and expect a party,” Gangloff-Kaufmann says. “If you still see ants around the house, try a few different brands of baits until you find one that's appealing to this particular colony.”
Cayenne pepper or black pepper
Create a wall of pepper around the area where ants are entering. Much like vinegar and cinnamon, the insects can't stand the strong smell. Alternatively, you can also try mixing pepper with water and creating your own homemade cost-effective spray.
Use your flashlight to look for ants behind or under refrigerators, stoves, microwaves, dishwashers, sinks, and cabinets. Ants may also be found in or around floor drains, inside the motor areas of refrigerators and microwaves, behind wall paper, and in cracks and crevices in cabinets and around walls.
Ant colonies have specialised undertakers for the task. They usually carry their dead to a sort of graveyard or take them to a dedicated tomb within the nest. Some ants bury their dead. This strategy is also adopted by termites forming a new colony when they can't afford the luxury of corpse carriers.
A line of chalk will stop ants in their tracks
Draw a line in chalk along the exterior of any external doors that lead into your home. Chalk is made from calcium carbonate, which ants hate, so they will be deterred to cross.