ants vs toddlers

Hi,
My lawn is very sandy, as such ants love it and I have at least 4 colonies some black, some orange.
It is geting to the point where I am struggling to find a safe place to put down a towel to sit the baby on or a position to put the slide for my toddler.
I have tried the white powder but that only stops the ones that crawl through it, it's bad for bees and kids so I'm a little reluctant but have had to try it.
I can't use jeyes or boiling water as this would make my patchy grass even worse.
Last few days have seen the lovely flying fellas which have forced us indoors.

Any suggestions please, we only have a small garden so keeping away is not an option.

Thanks
David

 

Hi there exlabman
Unless you can find any nests to powder try this...
Mrs Pal is a childminder and she spreads out an old bed sheet ,then a smaller blanket and any ants are spotted easily and 'despatched'before any nipping can be done

 

I seem to remember playing with ants when I was a kid.

Dont think anyone actually sat me amongst them though:D

I dont think you will kill an established colony, its just best to try and live with them.
Ants indoors is something else.:WINK1:

 

I would spread the white sheet then (:WINK1: and heres the science bit) wait till they are all on it then ..... Set fire to the sheet???? :roflsign:
Sorry....not really helpful

 

I saw something in Wilko's once that this thread reminded me of. It was marketed as an 'ant trap' but the description said it contained little nuggets of poison that were the same shape and size as ant eggs, and to ants, smelled like a combination of any eggs.

Really they are poison to ants, and they release a vapour when exposed to moisture which poisons ants.

The idea is, the ants find these 'eggs' and mistakenly think they belong in the nest, so they collect them and carry them underground, when they react with moisture and poison the whole colony.

I couldn't remember if I'd remembered this right, or if I'd dreamt it, so I did a quick search and found this:

Home Defence Antstop Bait Station 10g x 2 | Slug & Insect Control | | Weedkillers & Insecticides from Wilkinson Plus

I also came across a number of articles suggesting that 'bait traps' are the most effective form of ant control.

I've never tried it myself, I prefer the satisfaction of pouring boiling water into the nest, and watching the survivors run about looking for someone to fight.

 

They have stopped being so aggressive since they flew last week, before that I couldn't even put a cup of tea down without them attacking. Weeding has been a nightmare this season.