Invasion of the tiny ants

And how do I get rid of them ? They're in my basement kitchen where everything edible is kept in storage tins or jars.  I tried to pull my washing machine away from the wall because that's where they seem to be coming from but I'm not able to do that on my own and there's loads of rubbish underneath some of which keeps it level.  So my basement kitchen will eventually be tiled rather than just having a cement floor , until I can afford that how do I get rid of the ants?

@kaththomas700 hi kath throw some rice down they take to nests and it explode killing ants

My usual method probably won't work for you, unfortunately, as it needs repeated applications and access to where they're getting in. I dribble strong smelling essential oils -- usually either peppermint or eucalyptus, the really cheap Chinese oils are fine for this! -- to completely block their route in. You'd have to put it all around the washing machine to block their path in and out. Depending how absorbent the surface is, you may need to do it once or twice a day till they give up. The strong smell interferes with the pheromone trails scout ants leave saying "food here!"

Then at least you only have the ones already in the kitchen to deal with. The slight catch is they won't cross the line to leave, either.


It's worked for me with the tiny ants in my house here.

@kaththomas700

Try black pepper along edges of walls or where any holes are and also common cat flea spray along edges of your walls and where any holes are good luck, let me know how you get on ozzy

Will do Ozzy

@kaththomas700


At least it's not Invasion of the Giant Ants! :-)

True

@geoffreywebb21 rice?  NORMAL  rice

Sounds if they are particularly small and around food like you have Pharoah Ants. The problem with them is that the nest will have more than one Queen and you really need to use a liquid ant bait that the workers will take back to the nest to eradicate them or you will never get rid of them with natural deterrents.

If you can get a photo of them and attach it i can id them for you.