Ants

This is the answer I gave in the FMCA Forum:

Some say you can spread a dry powder (Ortho Fire Ant killer) or spray (Home Defense) all around the coach, but this will not help for those that spring out under the coach. I just look around every day and treat those areas that crop up as they do so. You should be able to reach areas under the coach with the spray.

Fortunately we are now on a concrete pad so just have to spray around the coach as they crop up.

the best treatments not only prevent but kill the queen. You need a bait that will be taken back to the colony to wipe them all out. And then the obvious; clean clean clean. No food anywhere. Put all items in sealed containers. Ants are after food and/or water and will set up when they find a good source for both.

If you have access to an animal feed store - (grain elevator) that sells dried molasses (horse feed supplement, used to sweeten horse feed and add flavor), it works great against ants. Wet molasses will not work. It has to be dried.

Put some in a soft drink plastic cap, or a plastic milk bottle cap and put leave out anywhere you see ants.

Here's how it works. The ants come in, they take the molasses granuals back to their nest, they consume it (as does the queen). Because ants are hard shelled and their shells do not expand, once the molasses is consumed, it expands (because it gets wet), and the ants explode! Dead! There goes the queen! There goes the nest!

Outside: Just sprinkle on the ground around your house, camper, whatever, like you're spreading chicken feed or grass seed. The ants will find it, take it back to their nests, and the rest is history.

Ant hill? Sprinkle a generous handfull on the top of the hill. 2 days later, you wont' have any ants at that hill.

And here's the benefits. It will not hurt birds, raccoons, pets, mice, or anything else. Is safe for human consumption (I've eaten my share of it when demonstrating to people it's safe), and it smells really nice!

My wife discovered this bit of information from Bird Talk Magazine several years ago when we had birds and ants, and using chemicals to kill the ants were just out of the question because the fumes would hurt the birds. The article also said you'll never see ants on a farm where they feed horses if they've been using the molasses. So I checked with a couple horse farmers I know and sure enough, they never equated the molasses with lack of ants around their feeding stations.

So we've been using this for some ... 20 years now, in 2 different houses. I just bought a bag last Monday (again), to share with my neighbor. He's having a bad ant problem at home. I'm not having any problems. We live in the country, so I'm waiting for this round of rain to end and will sprinkle both yards and around his house (probably this week-end).

I take a small bucket (with a lid) with us when we go camping and the first thing I usually do is sprinkle it around the camper on the ground. No need to put it inside.

There are 4 down-sides to using the dried molasses. 1) it comes in 50 pound bags. 2) it dries hard and crusty on the exposed surface if you don't keep it sealed tight. 3) its hard to find if you don't live in a farming community 4) it's deadly to any ant that values his life!

Others swear to Ortho, or some of those types of chemicals. And yes, they do work, but they are also poison to everything else that breathes also!

If you leave FL you might not have an ant problem, if you stay in FL you my always have an ant problem.

A mixture of sugar and boric acid(easily bought at any pharmacy) dissolved in hot water, and then put in little cups or bottle caps around the areas of the coach that has a problem. This will kill all of the ants and they will carry it back to the queen to kill the entire colony.
Since we keep the small bait cups in our coach, we do not have a problem with ants at all. This works for the black, red, and fire ants.
This also kills other insects but since you are asking about ants.......

I got them one year while in Fla. I think they may have gotten in by dropping from a tree as I saw no signs on the ground. What worked for me was Boraxo soap. I even had them in the ceiling and had to drill a small hole in the closet so I could spray it into the area using a ear syringe. No more ants. You can also sprinkle some in areas where they will track through it and carry it back to the nest. Also safe to use.

Just remember when you bait you will draw them into the RV. If they are not inside don't bring them in.
Never heard of the molasses trick. I don't know if I can buy the dried molasses. I should be able to buy a jar of wet and put it in the dehydrator right?

IMO best stuff around
Clicky

You can spread a powder such as baking powder around your tires and anything else that provides a path. This won't kill anything but it will discourage them from coming in as they won't cross the powder. This is inexpensive and pet friendly and works well if you are not at that location for a long time.



I asked God for a bike, but I know God doesn’t work that way. So I stole a bike and asked for forgiveness.

Hondavalk wrote:
IMO best stuff around
Clicky

X2. This is borax and (probably) sugar, and it works! You can get it at Lowe's, Home Depot, Walgreens, Walmart, etc.