Ants generate more business than any other group of insects. With greater government regulations about how you can use pesticides, particularly residuals, the need for an integrated pest management (IPM) approach becomes more important. Power spraying around a structure’s entire perimeter is no longer possible. With that in mind, it’s time to review what IPM weaponry you need in the fight against ants.
1. Map it out. Google the location and view the surrounding area from an aerial view. It will help predict from where and how ants are invading a structure. It also can help set up a more efficient, proactive, preventive control program.
2. Get cooperation. Develop a customer responsibility list you can review with the client. Examples include removing debris, raking excess leaves, trimming shrubs and storing firewood away from the structure.
3. Look for leaves. Leaf build-up in moist areas makes excellent ant-nesting sites. Where appropriate, suggest installing rain gutter guards.
4. Gather the garden hose. Remind clients to lift hoses off the ground instead of leaving them stretched out on a lawn. Ants will use a hose as a line to reach the building.
5. Inspect the mulch. Use a hand rake to pull back mulch surrounding the perimeter of a structure. Ants commonly trail under the mulch in the daytime. If present, you see them easily and know where to make a target application.
6. Tame the landscape. Ants commonly visit structures through touching plants. Recommend clients trim back branches and shrubs touching the building. Consider doing (and charging for) the service yourself.
7. Try a night inspection. You don’t have to make an evening call on every account, just the troubling ones. Darkness encourages pest activity and helps spot ant trails. It doesn’t have to be at midnight, either: About 30 to 60 minutes after dusk will work.
8. Deputize children to help look for ants. They do a great job of finding ant trails. (Sometimes they do a better job than a doctoral entomologist.)
9. Use honey, the universal ant attractant. A few drops can help pinpoint ant activity within a few minutes, especially on a sunny day.
10. Monitor with sticky traps. Place them inside small rodent bait stations or PVC pipes along the exterior perimeter.
11. Block holes with caulking compound. Use it where ants enter, including where plumbing and electrical wires enter.
12. Check interior walls with moisture meters. More than once, I have found a carpenter ant nest this way.
13. Select the correct ant bait for the correct species. There are a plethora of excellent ant baits on the market to make you look good. The art of baiting properly, of course, is an article for another day.
14. Use chemicals wisely. Consider a systemic residual on shrubs harboring aphids, scales and other carbohydrate producers that are attracting ants. IPM doesn’t imply the use of no pesticide. It means you should use it when and where it’s needed.
Contact Frishman, an industry consultant since 1967 and president of AMF Pest Management Services, at mypmp@northcoastmedia.net.
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