I want to create an ant-free zone on a table

[cracker1]

There is a product that looks like a large stick of white chalk, obviously impregnated with some chemical.

You just need to draw a circle around the "prohibited" area and you will find the ants will not cross the line.

[Freddy42OZ]

8 hours ago, Hummin said:

No complications for the cat or dogs using the chalk? 

The cat and dogs don't have thumbs so they won't be able to use the chalk. 

You'll have to apply it yourself.  

????

[Grumpy one]

Be thankful the ants were not from the 50's movie THEM  

[roietfortress]

i love that this is already on page 2. it shows how crazy the ant problem is in Thailand. i've sent at least 10 million ants to their next life. ARS is what we use. it comes in those little green containers. they sell it everywhere.

 

when we got back to Thailand after 2 years forced holiday in the states, our house was overrun with ants. i put these green things in every room and it got rid of them within days.

 

the ants take the poison back to their home and it kills the queen. great stuff.

 

one issue i had is some of the ants are microscopic. so i crush up the little grains and put them on the end of our desks and under a placemat on the table. gotta feed the little ones too!

 

ARS powder is great for outdoors around your buildings. i've wiped out huge colonies with that stuff.

 

good luck and kill them all!

 

#

[VocalNeal]

10 hours ago, StayinThailand2much said:

4. Give them an alternative (e.g. sugar) in another place.

Q. How to keep flies out of the kitchen

A. Put a heap of ????in the living room

[jimn]

2 hours ago, geisha said:

My question to the OP. How on earth can you live somewhere infested with ants or any other insects ?? Did you not treat your home immediately to get rid of them ? I would not last one day there. First day in any new home, I clean, look and treat everything floors, drains, etc for a few days. Never had a problem in 38 yrs, even living in a Thai house near a forest on Phuket . There, we put cups of oil or water ( can’t remember) under each bed leg because of the forest and no glass windows.  

The first sensible answer in this topic. The OP should get his property professionally treated for termits and pests and lo and behold no ants. Ever since I had a bad termite infestation 8 years ago I  have done this yearly with quarterly top ups and no termites or ants since. Like you I couldnt live surrounded by ants.

[VocalNeal]

1 minute ago, jimn said:

The first sensible answer in this topic.

No that was post #3???? 

[roietfortress]

13 minutes ago, jimn said:

The first sensible answer in this topic. The OP should get his property professionally treated for termits and pests and lo and behold no ants. Ever since I had a bad termite infestation 8 years ago I  have done this yearly with quarterly top ups and no termites or ants since. Like you I couldnt live surrounded by ants.

depends where you live. not many "professional" services where we live ????

 

#

[jimn]

14 minutes ago, VocalNeal said:

No that was post #3???? 

No the only cure is prevention not reacting to stopping them once they are there, this will only be temporary.

[jimn]

3 minutes ago, roietfortress said:

depends where you live. not many "professional" services where we live ????

 

#

I am sure there must be rent a Thai pest control even where you are. I am in the Pattaya area and I use a professional non Thai company that does it on a yearly contract.

[roietfortress]

1 minute ago, jimn said:

I am sure there must be rent a Thai pest control even where you are. I am in the Pattaya area and I use a professional non Thai company that does it on a yearly contract.

Isaan life is not Pattaya city boy life XD

 

#

[VocalNeal]

8 minutes ago, jimn said:

No the only cure is prevention not reacting to stopping them once they are there, this will only be temporary.

Not in our house. Ant powder works wonders. I hardly ever see an ant. Vigilance is the key. There is no permanent solution.

Edited April 18, 2023 by VocalNeal

[JustThisOnePostOnly]

2 hours ago, geisha said:

My question to the OP. How on earth can you live somewhere infested with ants or any other insects ?? Did you not treat your home immediately to get rid of them ? I would not last one day there. First day in any new home, I clean, look and treat everything floors, drains, etc for a few days. Never had a problem in 38 yrs, even living in a Thai house near a forest on Phuket . There, we put cups of oil or water ( can’t remember) under each bed leg because of the forest and no glass windows.  

I'm in a condo.  They start out innocently enough, but there's something about electronics that drives them crazy almost.

 

It's not like I have ants everywhere.  It's just, because they are so attracted to electronics, and because I will (or did) use my laptop on my lap, that even one or two starts becoming annoying if encountered on a regular basis.

 

For instance, I have a conventional monitor with a keyboard, mouse on the same table, using these the ants aren't nearly as annoying.  I'm guessing the USB power for the keyboard and mouse isn't enough to excite them?  And I'm not putting any of these things on my lap, so they have less/no opportunity to get on me in the same way.

[roietfortress]

49 minutes ago, JustThisOnePostOnly said:

I'm in a condo.  They start out innocently enough, but there's something about electronics that drives them crazy almost.

 

It's not like I have ants everywhere.  It's just, because they are so attracted to electronics, and because I will (or did) use my laptop on my lap, that even one or two starts becoming annoying if encountered on a regular basis.

 

For instance, I have a conventional monitor with a keyboard, mouse on the same table, using these the ants aren't nearly as annoying.  I'm guessing the USB power for the keyboard and mouse isn't enough to excite them?  And I'm not putting any of these things on my lap, so they have less/no opportunity to get on me in the same way.

could be food or other substances in/on your laptop. ant bites on the balls aren't fun XD

 

#

[JustThisOnePostOnly]

31 minutes ago, roietfortress said:

could be food or other substances in/on your laptop. ant bites on the balls aren't fun XD

 

#

No it's pretty clear that it has something to do with electromagnetic fields, all kinds of stuff about that online. I'll see an ant running along the power cord one way, then it stops and turns around and runs back the other way, then it does it again, and again.

[roietfortress]

1 hour ago, JustThisOnePostOnly said:

No it's pretty clear that it has something to do with electromagnetic fields, all kinds of stuff about that online. I'll see an ant running along the power cord one way, then it stops and turns around and runs back the other way, then it does it again, and again.

might be fastest route to your delicious laptop? ????

 

#

[Pdavies99]

Wash the table or buy a new one? 

[thecyclist]

Have you tried talking to the ants ? You gotta talk to the queen ,the worker ants have no authority.

 

[thecyclist]

2 hours ago, JustThisOnePostOnly said:

No it's pretty clear that it has something to do with electromagnetic fields, all kinds of stuff about that online. I'll see an ant running along the power cord one way, then it stops and turns around and runs back the other way, then it does it again, and again.

Must be an ant athlete training for the ant Olympics.

[fredwiggy]

I find ants in and on my phone a lot, and they must be attracted to the electricity and heat. Use vinegar in a spray bottle. Kills ants and they stay away for quite awhile. Safe too

Edited April 18, 2023 by fredwiggy

[CharlieH]

Stay with the bowls under the legs, as for the cable, sprinkle talcum powder on it.

It screws up the ants GPS!  It confuses them as they cannot follow the preceeding ant trail.Baby powder etc ants won't go near it ????????

[ThaiFelix]

On 4/18/2023 at 5:54 AM, gargamon said:

Maybe you're asking the wrong question. The right one might be “what is it about my laptop that attracts ants?“. I have never had ants attack my laptop after spending most of the last 20 years in SE Asia. Only similar situation I had was on a UPS being used on a NAS. 

Yeah it happens, Ive seen it with two friends laptops and with a kettle I used to have.  The kettle eventually burnt out from all the dead ants but strangely there were no more bothersome ants attracted to the replacement kettle??

[FritsSikkink]

Mix 50% baking soda with 50 % sugar, gone within 24 hours. 

[Tmoney]

Take care using the chalk, it contains Cypermethrin - this from Google:

 

Human Risk
Mild acute occupational exposure may result in transient dizziness, headache, nausea, anorexia, and fatigue. At high doses, such as dermal soaking with concentrated pyrethroids or intentional ingestion, skeletal muscle fasciculations, convulsions, pulmonary edema, and coma have been reported.

and, it is not pet safe

 

[SunsetT]

On 4/17/2023 at 5:43 PM, JustThisOnePostOnly said:

The ant chalk is great stuff to be sure but it doesn't solve the power cord problem.  How do I use ant chalk to do that when the outlets are on vertical surfaces to which chalk just falls off?

 

If there was like a sticky version of ant chalk, I could see that.

Rub some on the base of the power cord too. And a line all around the table under the table lip and around the base of the table legs.