How To Keep Ants Away From My Computer ?

[real]

Hi,

I am a buddhist and I try to keep 5 precepts in daily life.

The other days, I found a few ants walking on my new notebook computer. Some come in and out of it .

What should be done so that I can keep them away from my computer ?

Best wishes

[neverdie]

Well since killing them is out, perhaps you could perch you computer upon several bowls of water, with drinking glasses as the support columns.

You see if the ants can't get to the notebook there is no problem, is there?

You could plug in one of those electronic pest devices that don't actually kill the ants, they just drive insects etc out of the house because they can't bare the frequency.

[Brucenkhamen]

If don't move your laptop much paint a ring of insect repellent around it on the table surface, also the cords if they climb up those.

[camerata]

Lemonene works well, and it's a natural product.

[londonthai]

stop eating while using laptop. No food falling inside through the keyboard - no more ants munching on it.

might be worth as well to clean it inside (shaking with the keybord downwards) and outside, including keybord (maybe there is some smell of fruit or icecream on it) with some smelly detergent/cleaner

[real]

Thanks everyone for all your input.

Yes, I ate fruit and snacks a few times while using my computer.

Hi, camerata,

Could you please let me know where/ which shop I can get the Lemonene here in Thailand?

Thanks

[phetaroi]

Thanks everyone for all your input.

Yes, I ate fruit and snacks a few times while using my computer.

Could you please let me know where/ which shop I can get the Lemonene here in Thailand?

It's still an insecticide and causes death to insects by asphyxiation.

Personally, I try to be reasonable about this precept. I never kill any living thing if I can reasonably avoid it, including even insects on the sidewalk. On the other hand, insects...or for that matter snakes...that might harm me (or my property)...they're dead meat!

[camerata]

Hi, camerata,

Could you please let me know where/ which shop I can get the Lemonene here in Thailand?

All the big department stores in Bangkok have it, AFAIK. Emporium, TOPS and Villa are the ones I know.

There used to be a low-concentration spray, but some legal problems over whether it qualified as an insecticide resulted in the concentration being increased. For ants, just spray it on the area you want them to stay out of and they will get the message. I don't know if any die as a result, but I've never seen any ant corpses lying around. Just don't spray it directly on the ants and they shouldn't die.

Lemonene ad banned from TV

The Consumer Protection Office has ordered a ban on commercial spots by Lemonene for advertising itself as an insecticide agent which, said scientists, was not true. The aromatic substance D-Lemonene, extracted from citrus peels, was yet to be proved effective in killing insects, they said.

Though the substance is highly acceptable to the fact that it is free of side effects when used in repelling mosquitoes, it was necessary that the advertisement be honest to customers, said the office. Lemonene solvent would kill insects only if it was concentrated enough, 15 percent at least, and when sprayed directly, with sufficient amount, to the body of insects, scientists said.

The CPO said though Lemonene’s "non-poisonous" label was acceptable, its claim as a non-poisonous insecticide was untrue and must be corrected. Lemonene has been on the market for several years and has already become popular among health-conscious households annoyed by mosquitoes and other insects.

CPO introduces tough measures against several untrue and "dishonest" ads; experiments in the US found D-Lemonene effective in paralyzing nerve and breathing systems in insects but not killing; the Medical Science Department is to find out the facts.

[real]

Hi camerata

Thanks for your kindness again.

[real]

Hi camerata

Thanks for your kindness again.

Since I have not found out Lemonene yet , I tried other ways introduced here and there on Interenet.

So far, the best seems Baby Poweder

Ants hate Baby Powder .

[IMA_FARANG]

Well since killing them is out, perhaps you could perch you computer upon several bowls of water, with drinking glasses as the support columns.

You see if the ants can't get to the notebook there is no problem, is there?

You could plug in one of those electronic pest devices that don't actually kill the ants, they just drive insects etc out of the house because they can't bare the frequency.

You don't want to kill the ants...okay I understand that.

Here's the thing...ants follow a scent path to their food. One ant finds food, it leaves a scent track to the food source. Other ants follow that scent track to the food. Then they reinforce the scent track with their own scent.

So what you have to do is interrupt that scent track. The ants will follow the track until they can no longer get the scent. Once they lose the scent track, they will search around to find it again.

So first you clean the area where your computer is with some cleanser that leaves a scent, like a lemon smelling cleaner. It will mask the scent trail in the food area. The stonger the smell, the better.

Then you put a ring around your computer of a very strong smell, like ammonia water or camphor. The stong scent overides the scent trail. When the ants lose the scent trail they start searching for it again. So make the area wide enough that the ants can't find the scent track on the other side of the barrier. After the scent trail doesn't lead to the food source any longer the ants will eventually give up. After a long enough time, no more scent trail, and no ants will follow it.

So basically the method you use is:

1. First clean the food out of your computer and keyboard as best as you can. Wash the area where your computer sits with a lemon scented cleanser to help cover the scent trail.

2. Use something like camphor or ammonia to make a ring around the computer area. Make it wide enough so the ants will be discouraged from crossing it and picking up the scent trail on the other side.

3.Eventually if the scent trail doesn't lead to a food source, the ants will stop coming, and the scent trail will fade away.

It make take a few days for the ants to give up. They will eventually learn. It's just their instinct to follow a scent track to food.

No need to kill them, just discourage them from following the scent track.

Edited March 14, 2009 by IMA_FARANG