Random Rants 79: [Impassionating Intensifies]

[jarred!]

They'll bring it back to the nest and feed it to the larvae, which poisons and kills them. Some will gorge themselves in the solution and die where they're eating.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Cool cool. I sprinkled some flakes on the countertop along with the solution for good measure. They don't seem that interested in it though.

 

[jarred!]

I've read that making a perimeter around your house with borax will deter a lot of pests from entering, but there's not a lot you can do in an apartment building.
It's the sugar their attracted to, I'm not sure if they'll see the borax alone as a food source.

 

[Synobun]

If they're in the walls and come from elsewhere in the building, you may not be able to do much more except make your apartment inhospitable, even with tainted food they try to bring back to the colony. That does mean you'll constantly be treating the problem. Something like this is something the management company should deal with, but I reckon they're likely not interested in such an expense.

If you don't have a lot of success with borax, you could try using food-grade diatomaceous earth. That's if you can't affect the nest yourself. The powder will kill them when they cross the line real lickity split. It'll be like Trump's border wall, except real.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

I've read that making a perimeter around your house with borax will deter a lot of pests from entering, but there's not a lot you can do in an apartment building.
It's the sugar their attracted to, I'm not sure if they'll see the borax alone as a food source.

So you have to sprinkle sugar and borax flakes together in hopes they take the wrong thing?

If they're in the walls and come from elsewhere in the building, you may not be able to do much more except make your apartment inhospitable, even with tainted food they try to bring back to the colony. That does mean you'll constantly be treating the problem. Something like this is something the management company should deal with, but I reckon they're likely not interested in such an expense.

If you don't have a lot of success with borax, you could try using food-grade diatomaceous earth. That's if you can't affect the nest yourself. The powder will kill them when they cross the line real lickity split. It'll be like Trump's border wall, except real.

With this management company, they're liable to fault me for the ants even though our home is clean.

Edit: the swarm seems to have taken the bait and gone back to the nest as they are all gone now. There is one dead one and a single straggler but all of the rest have gone back to their nest. Here's hoping they all die.

 

[jarred!]

Not exactly what I meant, sprinkling a perimeter of borax is a deterrent. They'll bring the sugar/water/borax mix back to the nest because they can smell (or whatever sense they use, maybe taste) the sugar. The ants can't separate the solution and end up accidently brining the poison back to the nest too. But if you just leave two solids sitting next to each other they might be able to differentiate, and choose to only bring the sugar back.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Oh....so borax powder is a deterrant, not a poison? But I can make it a poison by mixing it in a sugar water solution? Makes sense.

Also explains why all the ants went skedaddle when I poured powder on the countertop. It seems some did drink the solution though (I poured some of that out too) as there are a couple of dead bodies.

 

[jarred!]

Oh....so borax powder is a deterrant, not a poison? But I can make it a poison by mixing it in a sugar water solution? Makes sense.

I'm not sure if you're being sarcastic?
I don't think they'll just eat the powder if it's laying on the floor, so you mix it with a food source to get them to eat it and bring it back to their nest to feed to their larvae.
It must be dangerous topically as well because some insects won't walk across a line of it. So making a perimeter could deter them from entering, but they probably won't eat it in that case, since it's not mixed with a known food source.

 

[Takhisis]

Hobbsyoyo is a southern Californian now...our ants come in looking for water, primarily.

Then there might be a leak somewhere.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Then there might be a leak somewhere.

Maybe. My ants go right up the kitchen faucet and freight the water from up there back to wherever they live.

Rant: My lunchables got kinda warm and the cheese slices are sticking together. #firstworldproblems

 

[Birdjaguar]

Some ants go for sugar, but not all. You can test which they prefer with a little pile of each. Borax does kill them, but it is not instant. If the clean up one pile of bait, then refill and keep it going. And yes, water can be one attraction in deserts. My wiffe has spent time tracking ants back to where they come into our house and then she blocks that hole and waits to see where they discover a new one.

 

[Takhisis]

Maybe. My ants go right up the kitchen faucet and freight the water from up there back to wherever they live.

All hail the wonders of surface tension.

Rant: My lunchables got kinda warm and the cheese slices are sticking together. #firstworldproblems

Looking up what lunchables are has made me dig into the deep mysteries of Meals, Ready-to-Eat on Wikipedia. Just like AmazonQueen with hobbsyoyo, I blame you for my weakness of character.

 

[cardgame]

Ants can come in through windows, I had them in my second-story apt exclusively from the window.

 

[shadowplay]

damn it I really want Dr. Pepper right now.

 

[Kyriakos]

Hm, I have 36 more pages to read (proof reading) before emailing my massive 57-page-long (24.000 words - that is a book by itself) 3rd part of the literary seminar.
I suppose it will be sent in 2,5 - 3 hours from now.

The good thing is that this is the penultimate part of the seminar, and the final part will be roughly 50 pages and easier to write (due to not being as technical).

 

[Ajidica]

Rant: My lunchables got kinda warm and the cheese slices are sticking together. #firstworldproblems

Aren't you like, 50 years too old for Lunchables.
Fun fact - I've never had lunchables ever in my life. When I was young enough to eat them at school my mom always made me a packed lunch.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Aren't you like, 50 years too old for Lunchables.
Fun fact - I've never had lunchables ever in my life. When I was young enough to eat them at school my mom always made me a packed lunch.

They're just meat and cheese and crackers, so I don't think they have any age restrictions. I acquired two boxes of them because they were past their expiration date so I'll be eating them for a week or so. Definitely takes more than one to make a meal.

 

[Synobun]

They're convenient and portion-controlled.

They have adult versions, but for some reason the adult kind is just various forms of gross salami and sausage.

Both kind of get old real quick. Really easy to eat. No fuss at all. You get an identical product each time and there's no prep whatsoever. But I have to admit the taste devolves after a few trays. There was a huge sale on Lunchables here last year, 20 for $10 (presumably expiration issues), and I ate them exclusively for a week. After that week, well... I haven't had another one since.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Yeah, I expect after these run out that I'll never have another one. These are providing a great example of the absurdity of expiration dates though. I'm tempted to keep one in the fridge for a couple months and then eat it just to prove the point that the date is totally arbitrary and irrelevant.

 

[Broken_Erika]

They put expiration dates on bottled water.