Ant bait stations are the most popular solutions available when it comes to dealing with ant infestations. There are outdoor or indoor baits that interfere with the ant digestive system and slowly kills them. When placed near where ants enter or pass through, worker ants will bring the bait back to the rest of the colony and work slowly in killing the ants.
The slow-kill process is a crucial point as it allows ants to have time to make more trips from the bait to their nests and spread the bait throughout their nest. With baiting, you are able to get rid of the ants that you see trailing in your home and also those that are hiding in their nest. Using the right type, you can possibly achieve complete control within two weeks or so.
Make sure that you follow the instructions on using whatever type of bait you chose. Get to know how you can maximize the use of liquid baits or other bait stations to get successful results.
Tips to Using Ant Bait Stations Effectively
There are specific things that you must keep in mind and you must do to make your ant bait stations work effectively. Some of these tips are the following:
- Search for the trails.
Make the bait more effective by placing it along the ant trails while foraging. If you see several trails in your home, it is recommended that you place one bait station along every trail that you find. Remember that bait placement is a crucial part in getting rid of these pests once and for all.
- Make sure that you refill the bait regularly.
Whenever the baits are fully consumed or almost consumed, refill the bait until you no longer see any ants near the area. You can stop refilling the bait and removing the stations once you notice that there are no ant trails.
- Use another type of bait, if the ones you currently use were not consumed.
If you are using grease or protein-based baits, you can change it with a sweet liquid bait or vice versa to see which of the baits attracts more.
- Have more patience as it will take a certain period of time to make sure that ant activities decrease and the entire colony dies.
During the first few days of bait placement in different areas, you will initially see the same number of ants in the area. However, it will eventually die down for the next couple of weeks until ants are no longer visible.
- Achieve successful ant control by placing all baits on trails you find inside and outside your home.
Don’t just focus on the indoor ants you see. To successfully eliminate ants and their colonies, you should focus baiting ants both outdoors and indoors.
- Protect and preserve baits by using those with station plates.
- Never use insect repellents near the baits.
Regardless if you have residual or contact sprays, make sure that you don’t use any of those near the baits, as it will decrease ant activity in the areas.
- Avoid placing the baits on top of the mound, as foraging ants will find it difficult to bring the bait back to their colony or queen.
Make sure that you place the baits around the base of the anthill instead.
- Get rid of other food sources around the baits.
Make sure that there are no other attractants around the baits, as it will make the baits less effective in luring ants and potentially killing them. Place the bait stations away from trash cans, pet dishes, chicken houses, and dumpsters. Scale insects and aphids are also common competition, so try to treat plants with aphids first and then place the baits away from vegetation.
- Always use fresh or new baits.
See to it that you use freshly opened baits within the expiration period. Using stale baits will never be touched nor consumed by ants.
- Ant killer baits are more effective when the temperature is above 70°
Since the temperature during daytime is above 90 degrees, then it is highly recommended you use the baits during the day. If there are ants in your suspected area and the conditions are favourable for them, they will immediately go near the bait in less than an hour.
- Place the baits on dry areas.
It is less likely for ants to go through wet grass, so see to it that you place them on dry areas regardless if you are using liquid ant bait or granules.
- Try broadcasting baits than mound treatments.
Economical and labour-wise, broadcasting baits are better than mound treatments. You may consider using such types of baits, especially when trying to treat a larger area.
- Take time to spend much time when baiting.
Aside from patiently waiting for results, you should also have a lot of patience in locating every single entry point to make your baiting process for carpenter ants or any other ant species more effective.
- Avoid disturbing the ants as soon as they start feeding.
You want the outdoor and household ants to bring the bait back to their nest, so avoid disturbing the area as soon as you see some of the ants feeding.
Take these tips into consideration when you plan on using ant baits in and outside your home. These will help you achieve better results and eventually get rid of ants and their colonies successfully.
