Everything You Need to Know About Using Ant Bait for Grass

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A fly is sitting on top of a blade of grass.

Ant species are small, social insects that usually sting and live mostly in a complex colony with one or more breeding queens. Ants are quite common insects, but they do have some unique characteristics. There are more than 10,000 species of ant populations that are known  around the world. Be it cornfield ants, ghost ants, harvester ants, carpenter ants, or pavement ants, we see them everywhere,even in our lawns and gardens!

So how do you use ant bait for grass? A few things you can do are ranking the mounds and spreading the dirt around, choosing to spray an eco-friendly insecticide, or using canola oil as an ant repeller. Having an ant invasion in your home, especially on your lawn, can be a nuisance especially if you don’t know a thing or two on how to set up ant baits. There are several ways to get rid of ants in your lawn. 

Learn More: Best Time to Bait Carpenter Ants

How Does Ant Bait Work?

Ant baits work well so long as you have the right attitude and patience to execute them. The traps work by luring in the ants for some sugar or something sweet, making them give in to their heart’s desires. Little do the ants know that these sugary sweets contain a small dose of toxin that’s detrimental to the health of the ants. This may be a natural substance or sometimes a chemical concoction. This method works slowly but surely allowing the worker ants to make repeated trips to the queen and back causing health troubles to all its fellow ants and the queen itself. 

The workers eat some of the bait then they feed it to their queen. Nothing happens at first, but after several days, the first of the worker victims gets sick and dies instantly. Within a week or so, comes the queen's death. Without its queen, the colony quickly dies as well following their ever so beloved queen. 

So then again, whenever you spot worker ants near your lawn, always remember that the main target is the queen. You can kill as many worker ants as you want but so long as the queen still lives, the ants will never be driven away. 

What Causes Ants to Stay in Your Grass?

Ants on direct contact that are mostly from your grass or from your entire lawn are there especially during the late summer, mainly because of food and shelter. They are attracted to the cozy environment that your grassy lawn provides! Be it from bugs, honey, leftovers as a source of their food, or they may be in search of water, and your lawn provides a habitable environment for these crawling creatures. 

Being social insects, ants live in large colonies in which they also form mounds or ant hills as their homes. An entire colony consists of a queen ant which could be one or more, fellow female working ants, soldier ants, and reproductive male ants. The queen ant is a type of ant which is the fertile female who’s always up and laying eggs to build her empire of ants in the colony. 

Female workers support and make sure they maintain a steady number of growing ants, while the soldier and male ants bring food to the colony every day. These ants prefer to build their nest in damp places. This explains why most ant colonies are seen in grassy areas. 

Read More: What Are Good Carpenter Ant Baits?

Is Ant Bait Safe to Use on Your Grass?

To most people, having ants in their lawns can be a total nightmare since they bite and spoil the beauty of the grass in general. If you have ants in your lawn, you may want to exterminate them soon before things get worse and you may encounter a larger infestation problem any time soon. Like what they say, kill the ants but don’t kill the grass too! 

Some of the most common types of ways in which you can eliminate ants at the same time, save your grass are the following: using soap and hot water to get rid of them, which one of the most basic and most common methods ever; using canola oil as an ant-repeller, this method is also easy to use and find; another method is by raking and removing the mound or the anthill, which is pretty self-explanatory. 

It’s always best as well as the easiest way to seek professional help in dealing with growing numbers of ant colonies to make sure you get to save your soil surface grass and lawn. Nobody wants their grass to die in the process of eliminating the pesky creatures.

If not treated, these crawlers can even invade your home looking for more food. Although most commercial outdoor ant & termite killers are designed to kill the ants, they’re not fully guaranteed that they can’t damage your grass as well. So it is always more effective and more efficient to call the ant exterminators who really know what they’re doing. 

Homemade Alternatives

Following our previous ant colony discussions, when there is one ant, there is surely definitely more to follow! There are several ways on how to eliminate ants and their colonies and some of these methods do not involve having chemicals or toxins. 

Here are some examples of how to set up homemade alternatives for ant baits: by using glass cleaner, garden hose, liquid bait detergent, hand soap, pepper, peppermint, tea tree oil, eucalyptus oil, ornamental plants, individual mound treatments, white vinegar, cornstarch, hot water, coffee grounds, cutting out their food source, and using other essential oils. 

As you can see, there are actually a handful of liquid ant killers and contact killers on how you can exterminate these ants using your everyday bathroom, kitchen tools, and an active ingredient.

Pros

Pros of these methods can be very cheap, easy to use, and easy to find. Also, this does not involve toxins and chemicals which can be very good and favorable for your health. This also serves as a more permanent solution to a larger infestation. 

Cons

The cons of this DIY procedure, however, may not work for all types of carpenter ants. It can also take days or even weeks before effects take place. Another thing, some of the substances may be harmful to pets and kids. It is always a safe route to trust the experts whenever things go way out of hand.

Learn More: Everything You Need to Know About Using Ant Bait in Your Pantry

Benefits of Getting Professional Pest Services

Ants are considered to be common invaders of our lawns, backyards, and homes. They can be quite difficult to get rid of especially the unsightly mounds but, fear not, because it is certainly possible. Many household products and DIY repellents can certainly help eliminate these creatures over time. Cleaning your place of leftover food can also be an efficient way of driving them away. 

However, if all else fails, it is best to call for professional exterminators to deal with them the right way. These professionals analyze and use the latest technologies in locating and exterminating the ant colonies. They can easily determine the right amount of pesticides and chemicals to use. Also, these guys just get the job done right every time in an efficient and effective manner.

Eliminate Ants with Pinnacle Pest Control Services

Ant infestations can feel frustrating, especially when these ants keep coming back despite setting up baits and trying all sorts of measures like poisons and traps to keep them away. You can use the tips above to control your ant problems, but in some cases, their problems proved to be persistent even if they’ve followed the tips and rules on controlling and solving their ant infestation problems. If you find yourself in a similar situation, then it’s time to call up the professionals.

Pinnacle Pest Control is Sacramento’s best pest control solutions company. They have offices located at East Bay, Roseville & Stockton. You may also reach them at 916-381-5793 should you wish to avail of their free quote today. It’s time to get rid of the nasty ants in your lawn for good. Leave the rest to the experts and have a worry-free mind, and ant-free lawn soon. Contact Pinnacle Pest Control today.

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