A
male
age
51-59,
anonymous
writes:We live in the USA and are not really into using poisons. Thus we have a fair number of ants in our house. Mainly the tiny little ones that don't bite or anything LOLAnyway, we have some houseguests coming to visit from Europe (Scandinavia). Do you think they will be horrified to see a few ants?Thank you! Reply to this Question
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female
reader, So_Very_Confused +, writes (10 May 2016):
 My house is built over an ant hill. A HUGE ant hill I have ants every spring and fall in the kitchen for 25 years. Ants in the spring and fall are VERY common and normal.
They are both the tiny "pussy" ants and the larger black ants. and NO they are not eating my house I have had professionals out to check (and treat)
Watching them walk in a line from their hill across my porch and up my wall to get in my house is almost comical.
I am NOT opposed to chemicals at all and this year the ants moved from just the kitchen to the living room... it was WAR.
I suggest you treat with whatever natural items (cinnamon, borax etc) you are comfortable with and see if you can find where they are entering your house and see if you can patch that area. (Mine like this tiny crack in the windowsill of the kitchen window... we patched it and that has helped)
A
female
reader, YouWish +, writes (10 May 2016):
 Yeah! Cinnamon works great on ants!
I lived in a home growing up that was bombed for a roach infestation that the former owner "forgot" to inform us about. We lived in the absolute sticks on the side of a mountain, and if I saw a lot of ants in a house, my first thought would be what's attracting them. Ants go to what attracts them, and unless you've taken precautions to put all of your food in airlocked plastic containers as we had to (all cereal, dog/cat food, flour, sugars, boxed foods had to be double-stored in plastic Tupperware-like containers), then your perishables and dry goods *are* contaminated.
If the ants aren't the carpenter variety, the real question is what sees the ants as food, so I guarantee that if you have an ant problem, you have other insects as well like centipedes, spiders, scorpions, crickets, flies that lay their eggs in ant larvae, beetles (some bombardier ones like the few we had to contend with!), and other ants.
There are many non-poison pesticides and deterrents. We had pets, so my mom didn't like poisons either. I actually caught monitor lizards to set off in my room to get rid of scorpions and camelbacks, but you should take steps to rid the ants if you haven't secured your foodstuffs and figured out what's attracting the ants.
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reader, anonymous, writes (10 May 2016): This is verified as being by the original poster of the questionNo, no ants in the guest room! A few in the kitchen; actually I just went to look and could only find one.
These are not carpenter ants or termites. I looked and I guess the name is 'little black ants' :)
This reminds me, one time I was visiting friends in Arizona, and found a scorpion in the house. I told my friend and he laughed and said, "oh, we don't worry about them, they only come into the guest room!"
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female
reader, CindyCares  +, writes (10 May 2016):
 And are you also against using cayenna or black pepper... cinnamon ... vinegar... lemon juice...baby powder...crushed mint ...tea treee oil ...and another dozen or so of effective, natural anti-ants remedies that anybody can find having a look on line or.... just asking grandma :) ?!
Your Scandinavian guests might also not be horrified , ( although I guess they won't be elated , not because they are Scandinavian but because normally people do not want to share their food, kitchen utensils and bedsheets with ants ) , but regardless of guests the only good reason I can think of to keep an insect infestation , or even just " a fair number of ants ", in your house , is if you are an entomologist.
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female
reader, Honeypie +, writes (10 May 2016):
 Hehe
I think it depends. Where are the ants? Kitchen? Big no-no. Bedroom no-no as well... Have you tried cinnamon? It worked really well on fire-ants and normal ants too. And it's not harmful to the environment and ... smells good (once the ants are gone you just vacuum it up.
I'm from Denmark and no, I'm not scared of ants. Cockroaches though, that freaks me out, because I had heard of them but never saw any till I moved to Louisiana. Ditto spiders. *shudder*
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female
reader, Tisha-1 +, writes (10 May 2016):
 Why assume that all Scandinavians would be the same? Some Americans would be just fine with a few ants; others would be horrified.
You wrote that you are not really into using poisons, does that mean you are opposed to using essential oils or chalk to try to keep the ants out of your home? Have you done any research at all into alternative pest controls?
Okay, enough of the clarification questions.
I visit a plant nursery often, and it posts that they have bees. The bees are friendly, part of the ecosystems and that they don’t want to kill or harm them by using chemicals.
Are your guests paying for the visit or are they friends you know well?
I’d ask something like this, “Hello, Sven, I am looking forward to hosting you at my home. I’m opposed to using toxic chemicals in my home, so I do not spray or apply pesticides. I also have used only non-toxic paint and finishes on my walls, the fabrics in my home are organic and I avoid any furnishings that are high in VOCs. Of course, as I do not use any sort of pesticides, there will be a few cohabitants in the house, in my case only a few small ants that do not bite.”
Or you could just feign shock if and when they notice a few small ants. “Wow, I guess I need my eyes checked! I can’t even see them, they are so tiny! I hate using poisons in my home, what do you Scandinavians use as an ant deterrent?”
One big question for you is if you are okay with a few ants, are you also okay with termites?
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male
reader, Garbo +, writes (9 May 2016):
 The reason why these little ants keep staying inside your house is because they are feeding on the wood that makes up the structure of your house. You may feel nothing with a structure for a while, until all of a sudden your house collapses. Most insurance policies do not cover this damage. If you had this issue for a while you should get professional help to eradicate them.
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female
reader, aunt honesty  +, writes (9 May 2016):
 Well personally if it was me I would not like to sleep in a bedroom that has ants in it, mostly because I would be paranoid they would be crawling all over me. It depends what you mean by a few and if they are in the bedroom as well. However at the end of the day it is your house and your home, which you are kind enough to let them stay so it is your choice.
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