The Non-Pesticide Advisor
PAN’s Guide to Alternative Pest Management

“It’s happened to all of us,” says Deanna McKinney of the Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides, “You stroll into the kitchen and find ants marching all over your counter. Although it may be tempting to think the world would be a better place without these pesky critters, it’s important to keep in mind that ants play an important part in maintaining healthy ecosystems.”

Trying to eradicate ants is both impossible and unwise. Ants are hard-working eco-heroes. They help control other insect populations and keep soils healthy. Ants are among the most common insects on (and under) earth, with more than 12,000 species identified worldwide. And it’s humbling to remember that, despite the growth of human population, ants still outnumber people—by more than 160 million ants for every human.

Too many humans tend to think of insects as “pests” when, in reality, they are allies. Leave it to E. O. Wilson, the Pulitzer Prize-winning co-author of The Ants, to inject the proper note of humility. “Fifty million years before humankind began farming,” Wilson notes, “ants were already in the agriculture business.” Furthermore, “if all [humans] were to disappear, the world would regenerate back to the rich state of equilibrium that existed ten thousand years ago. If insects were to vanish, the environment would collapse into chaos.”

Still, our ant neighbors can be a real bother when they drop in unannounced. And that’s when you need…

A Pesticide-free Fix for an Ant Emergency

Source: Central Contra Costa (California) Sanitation District

1. Find what ants are after (usually leftover food) and where they are entering the room (usually through a crack in the wall). Mark it so you can find it again. If you can’t find an entry point, see Step 5.
2. Don’t remove the food until after Step 3 because ants will scatter. They are easier to manage in a line.
3. Clean up lines of ants with a vacuum, or spray ants with soapy water and wipe up with a sponge. Soap washes away the chemical trail ants follow.
4. Next, block entry point temporarily with a smear of petroleum jelly or a piece of tape. Use silicone caulk to permanently close cracks in walls, along moldings and baseboards, and in gaps around pipes and ducts.
5. If you can’t find an entry point, clean up the ants (Step 3). Place a nontoxic, gel-based bait station on the ants’ path. Always remove the bait station when the line of ants has disappeared so you don’t attract more ants into the house.
6. If ants are nesting in a potted plant, move it outdoors. Water it thoroughly and place it in a bucket filled with water that comes an inch below the rim of the pot. Using a stick, make a bridge for the ants to get out of pot and bucket without getting in the water. The ants will soon begin carrying their white-colored young to safety. When no more ants emerge, drain the pot and return it to the house.

Bonus Tip: Here’s a simple anti-ant trick from Richard “The Bugman” Fagerlund. Mix a paste of peanut butter (40%), jelly (40%) and boric acid (20%) and smear a smudge on a piece of stiff paper where sweet-eating ants will find it. Boric acid desiccates insects. Ants carry it back to their nest: takes time, works. It is toxic if ingested in large doses, so keep out of reach of children and pets.

PANNA’s Pesticide Advisor offers useful tips on safely dealing with specific pest problems at panna.org/resources/advisor.dv.html. Also see NCAP’s website, www.pesticide.org.