FWIW - aother option to consider, I saw this post decades ago on some forum. Its advantage, safe approach for those with pets, even small ones (birds). I used this at home with lots of trees and all kinds of ants. It clears out the nest, the source of the problem;
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Here is how we adopted the method inthe article.
The first thing to be done isto prepare the containers. We prefer the small plastic tubs thattake-out food restaurants use to hold salad dressings. They are about2 1/2 inches in diameter at the top and approximately 1 1/2 inches atthe bottom. The next size up is a container for potato salad or coleslaw for a take out order. The fall back position is a tub for butteror cottage cheese. Be sure to wash the container to avoid thosewonderful spoiled food odors. Then cut four (4) openings at the majorcompass points on the bottom of the tubs. Each opening should be alittle smaller than a garden pea at the widest point, big enough forthe ants to enter. The lids should be retained and used to retardevaporation.
We purchased a 4 ounce bottleof boric acid powder for $1.79 at the local pharmacy. If all you areusing boric acid for is to make ant traps, this maybe a lifetimesupply. Sugar and water are the other two ingredients. The basicformula is:
1 teaspoon of boric acidpowder
6 tablespoons of sugar
2 cups of water
We found that using hot waterimproved the dissolving time and effectiveness.
The original method used cotton ballsto soak up the potent potion. However we liked using rolled absorbentcotton better. One can cut the width of the cotton to beapproximately the height of the container. When this width is rolled,it produces a package that almost fills the container. And, as itstarts to dry out, one can remove the lid and pour some more of thepotion onto the rolled cotton. In this configuration, the cotton willabsorb the fluid. Replacing the lid retards the evaporation rate.
We suggest that you userubber gloves and/or tongs to handle soaking the cotton and placingit in the containers. With the boric acid this diluted, one should beable to handle it with bare hands. And, in this concentration, itshould not kill birds and/or
other pets (so we have beentold). We prefer to err on the side of caution.
The last issue was todetermine if the darn things worked. The goal is to have the ants eatour potion and take it back to the nest to feed the queen and killthe entire population. Place the tubs in the path of the ants so thatthey can be easily found.
We used two tubs on the floor of thebird gym the first time and two tubs on the floor of the bird roomthe second time. In just an hour or two we began to see two streamsof ants, one entering and one leaving, the tubs. When used with thesmall ants, these two lines of ants lasted almost three days andthen disappeared. There must have been over a hundred ants at a timein these streams.
Start with the recommendedconcentration and wait three days. If no ants appear after that time,you did a good thing and it worked. If there are still a lot of ants,increase the amount of boric acid in the formula and try again.
A second formula we found forants and roaches was: 3 cups of water, 1 cup of sugar, and 4teaspoons of boric acid to be placed in small dishes or bottle caps.Notice that this is stronger than the basic formula we used. If atany time, you find dead ants around the traps, you did it wrong. Theants are dieing before they return to the nest. Reduce the amount ofboric acid in the formula to allow the ants to take it home to thenest.
And relax, the ants are smaller thanyou and they don't have a union.
Winged Wisdom Note: Ken and wife Carolhave owned pet birds for over 13 years and are co-creators of theBirds n Ways, Winged Wisdom and Cockatoo Heaven websites.
