No matter where you live or work, it is a common sight to see ants crawling around outside. And as they thrive in warm temperatures, they can certainly be a nuisance when you want to enjoy a hot and sunny summer’s day.

If your neighbours have many ants in their own yard, all competing for limited resources, it makes sense that they’ll wander over to your property to look for food.

Ants are always scouting for food to sustain the colony, so if you have uncovered edible items in your yard, such as rotten fruit, pet food and rubbish, there’s a good chance they’ll find their way to it quickly. Once they’ve located viable food sources, they may bring along other ants and choose to set up their colony in your yard.

If you’ve identified the tell-tale signs that ant colonies are living in your yard, don’t panic. There are many ways you can try to manage them and prevent them from coming inside.

Boiling water

Pouring boiling water into a nest can kill many ants upon contact. However, it may not penetrate deep enough within the ground to reach the entire colony, including the queen, who is responsible for laying eggs and producing more ants.

Water hose

Turning a hose directly into an ant nest enables water to penetrate deep inside the ground and drown all the ants within a colony, including the queen.

Soapy water

For a powerful mixture that damages the outer coating of ants, you can use household items such as detergent or liquid soap mixed with water and oil to spray directly onto ants.

Regular yard inspections

Check your yard regularly for signs of ants. If you notice ant mounds or an increased number of ant trails around your property, you can take steps to prevente them and avoid an outbreak by applying insecticide products to ant colonies.

Professional ant control

Many supermarket ant control solutions can be highly toxic, so if you have a serious ant problem, it’s best to leave it to a professional ant exterminator.

When it rains, or if the weather is very hot, ants may be drawn indoors to seek protection and enjoy an abundance of resources such as food and water.

Insecticide spray can be applied directly to ants as a spot treatment if there are only a few ants. For serious infestations, this method is far less effective. It’s handier to prevent ants from coming inside in the first place. Inspect your home and use fillers such as silicone and caulk to seal off cracks, crevices, openings, gaps and holes that enable easy access for tiny ants.

You can also make your own natural baits which are safer for children and pets than store-bought insecticides, such as baking powder mixed with sugar.

At Allstate, our highly trained and knowledgeable team can assist you with your ant problems any time. No matter if you’re at home or running a business, we can come up with an effective way to manage pest ants in accordance with Australian standards and laws. Here is our four-step ant control method:

Initial assessment

We will carefully inspect your yard and building and see if we can locate the source of the outbreak. From this, we’ll be able to decide the best approach to treat the problem.

Ant removal treatment

We use a combination of the following treatments, depending on the extent of your outbreak:

• Ant control dust is sprinkled into roof and wall cavities
• Insecticide is applied to designated treated zones around the sides of the building
• Chemical baits containing insecticides can be placed in locations around known feeding sites, nesting sites and areas which ants heavily traffic

Follow-up treatment

As treatment can take some time, patience is the key to success. That’s why we’ll schedule you in for a review, if necessary, so that we can replenish the treatment until the problem has been completely resolved.

Pest control report

We’ll prepare a report for you to keep regarding the treatment. This means that you can refer to it anytime should any further outbreaks occur.