Keeping ant pest out of your Worcester property can be challenging. They’re persistent and sneaky about getting indoors and creating trouble. It’s a task to figure out what draws them, how they get in, what risks they present, and how to get them gone for good. That’s where Big Blue Bug Solutions can help.
Here are four tips on how to protect your space from pesky ants. There are several different kinds, and they all have their own way of operating. Getting an understanding of various subclasses in Worcester will help prepare you for preventive action.
Tip #1 Check Out Your Property’s Structure
Ants often enter homes and businesses through cracks around foundations and openings around doors and windows. When you find these, seal them as soon as possible. Add sweeps to all of your exterior doors, and ensure your screens are in good shape. If you have any plumbing leaks or other moisture problems, have them repaired. Critters such as odorous house ants thrive in damp settings.
Odorous house ants: These indoor insects have black or brown bodies that are about ⅛ of an inch long. They typically build nests in structural gaps, heaters, and piping. When you stomp them, they release a “spoiled coconut” scent.
Tip #2 Give Your Lawn Tender Loving Care
Part of why ants are such a recurring issue is that they’re close by in the yard. Your land will be less attractive to these bugs if you regularly trim and groom it. This includes plants and flowers. Furthermore, greenery should be at least two feet from your front door. Remove organic debris such as logs and dead leaves. Carpenter ants inhabit logs and trees.
Carpenter ants: This type ranges in size and color. They can grow to ½ of an inch long. Many are black, but they can be brown, reddish-black, red, orange, yellow, or tan. Swarmers have wings. Causing cosmetic and structural damage, these pests build tunnels in wood.
Tip #3 Handle Food and Garbage Properly
One of the main reasons ants head indoors is because of the food supply and easy access to the trash. Food should be put in air-tight storage containers. Crumbs and spills need to be wiped up immediately. Routine vacuuming will assist in getting specs that you might miss. Wash your dishes after dining. Thoroughly clean your kitchen and pantry often. Habitually take out the garbage and use canisters that have tight-fitting lids. Ants such pharaoh ants go straight to kitchens; they love sweets, meats, and proteins.
Pharaoh ants: These ants are 1/8 of an inch long. They have black or red marks on their yellow to yellow-brown bodies. You’ll find them in dark areas, wall and floor voids, gardens, and fabrics.
Tip #4 Call Big Blue Bug Solutions to Fight off Ants
Not all ants bite, chew upland or destroy property. However, all can spread disease because they can carry germs on their bodies. When they come in contact with surfaces and food, they can contaminate them. This is a huge threat to human health, especially since ants reproduce at a rapid rate. Trying to exterminate them with retail pesticides and “do-it-yourself” tricks may only make things worse. Different treatments are required to eliminate different types of ants, and many types of ants react to a threat by "budding" which will only increase their numbers.
Big Blue Bug Solutions has been at work for over 80 years. Our licensed technicians use advanced and eco-friendly products, and our affordable plans are comprehensive. Call us today; we’ll free your place of ants!