[High Praise! to Transterrestrial Musings]
We’ve been having an infestation of ants. They find a hole somewhere around the sink, and if the slightest bit of food is left overnight, they will be swarming it in the morning. While I take no particular pleasure in it, I have to grab the removable nozzle of the sink faucet, and relentlessly wash them down the drain (despite the severe drought in California), picking up stragglers on the counter with a wet paper towel. Then, having noted where they seem to be coming from, I spray an insecticide in the area and wipe it down. It seems to work.
What are his recommendations for dealing with wasps/hornets?
Imagine if ants (small, blind, crawling insects) could transform into hornets (large, sighted, flying insects with stings) if you just left them alone long enough.
The critics of direct intervention seem to take the view that if we would only leave the ants alone, they will be content to remain ants, (unhygienic pests, but no real danger to us).
Perhaps they fear that the added environmental pressure of opposition will force an evolutionary mutation from ants into hornets, which never would have happened If We Had Only Left Them Alone.
“Don’t make them Angry! You wouldn’t like them when they’re Angry!”
I don’t like them now! Get the spray!
Moth balls are a great ant repellent… I have just recently learned.
After months of dealing with them I put out some moth balls and the next day they were gone! : )
Sometimes when it rains really hard, ants will come in through my dirt crawl space. I have found that an ant bait setup works best to permanently end the problem – the bait is just poisonous enough that the ants will carry some back to the queen and kill her off. That dooms the entire colony.
Self destructing ant colonies – kind of funny if you think about it.
Spray is more entertaining, though.