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Ant baits contain small amounts of pesticide mixed with a food substance that serves to attract the ants. Ants take the bait back to the nest, and share it with the rest of the colony. In this way the entire colony can be eliminated. Here are some tips that will help you better utilize your ant baits:

• Don’t use ant spray around the bait. It will repel ants, and they will not be attracted to the food substance in the bait.
• Use baits with boric acid, borax, fipronil, hydramethylnon, or arsenic as the active ingredient.
• Keep several different baits on hand because ants can change their food preferences. If one bait isn’t working, you may want to try another before deciding on an exterminator.
• Don’t use baits outside when it is raining.
• When ants are gone, remove the bait, so you don’t attract more.
• Baits will take 2 to 5 weeks to kill the entire colony. If the ant trail becomes thick after placing the ant bait, that is a good sign. It means that they are carrying a lot of bait back to the nest. After a few days to a week, the trail should get smaller, until it eventually disappears, along with the colony!

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Grant

When the weather gets cold and dry, you can be sure that ants will be looking for a nice place to stay and forage for food. When that place is your house, you have 4 basic methods at your disposal to reduce the nuisuance, or get rid of the pests:

1. Keep your house clean and free of food crumbs and spills, and garbages emptied.
2. Spray the ants and ant trail with insecticide
3. Locatate and destroy the nest
4. Use ant bait to poison and destroy the entire colony

Keeping your house clean is a good idea, but may not be completely effective. Ants will also be attracted to water, so your house will hold some attraction as a home for the colony.

Spraying your house with insecticide leaves a residue that can be harmful to humans and pets, and will only kill a small number of the ants. It will be an ongoing battle, as the ants can easily rebuild their numbers before you can kill them all.

If the ant nest is easily visible outside, locating and destroying the nest is a good plan. For household infestations this is not always possible, but for some species, such as carpenter ants, it is the only solution.

For most species, however, using ant baits is the easiest and most effective way to control an ant infestation. The two leading ant baits on the market are Grant’s Ant Stakes and Raid Ant Bait.

In our test, Raid Ant Bait looked promising. The bait is hidden inside small structures, so it isn’t exposed to pets or children. Unfortunately, placing the bait along baseboards, and directly in the ant trail did not generate a lot of interest in the ants. In fact, the (black) ants treated the ant bait as any other inanimate object. Several Raid Ant Baits were left out for a week, and had no effect on the ant infestation.

raid ant baits

Grant’s Ant Stakes, on the other hand almost immediately caused an ant feeding frenzy when placed in the ant trail. The feeding lasted for about 3 days, after which no more ants were observed. Grant’s Ant Stakes appeared to be effective, as advertised.

Compare4Consumers recommends Grant’s Ant Stakes for your next ant infestation. For carpenter ants or termites, or if this product is ineffective, please consult your local exterminator.

Tips on Using Ant Baits

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