Doesn’t seem to matter what the season is: ant infestations are never welcome in homes. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to completely seal off your home from these little black crawling insects. However, there are some steps you can take to keep their presence in your home to a minimum.
Here’s what you’re inadvertently doing to welcome ants into your house.
1. You Are Leaving Food Out
Ants, like every other living thing, need food and water in order to survive. They come into your home in search of easy food sources, and your kitchen and pantry are great places for that. Fortunately, you can do something about it.
Clean up spills in the kitchen right away, keep fruit in the fridge and off the table, clean crumbs off the countertop throughout the day, don’t leave dirty dishes in the sink, and store food in airtight containers. Bay leaves seem to repel ants, so you may want to leave a few of those in your dry goods containers.
2. Your Surfaces Are Greasy
Grease and sticky food-residue are very tempting to ants. You may not spot these right away, as they can hide on your stove top or on the sides of your food storage containers. They can even be dripping down the sides of your fridge.
Regularly wipe down honey bottles, jars of jam, and syrup containers. Wipe down all surfaces of your stove top after you’re done cooking, especially when you have made foods that have splattered such as pasta sauce or bacon.
3. Your Garbage is Sticky
It’s easy to neglect cleaning out your trash and recycle bins but you should make this a priority. Rinse out soda bottles and canned food jars before you put them in the recycling. Wipe down the trash bins to remove bits of sugar or sticky residue. You should even seal up plastic baggies that previously held sugary snacks before throwing them away.
4. You Have Leaky Pipes and Faucets
Ants are drawn to water sources, and leaky pipes and faucets are no exception. Check your toilets and sinks for leaks on a regular basis and make sure all your windows are sealed and closed when it rains.
5. There’s Decaying Wood Around Your Home
Moist wood attracts ants as well, so be sure to replace rotting wood in your home, clear tree stumps and fallen branches out of your yard, and don’t place firewood stacks too close to your house. Keep those bundles at least 20 feet away from the foundation.
Think You Have Ants? Professional Ant Exterminators
If you have ants in your home, Contact at 480-550-9220. Our Phoenix AZ exterminators know how to remove these insects once and for all so you can live ant-free. Local pest control in Chandler & Gilbert, Arizona
