Letter of Recommendation: Terro Liquid Ant Bait

This past summer, I saw more ants in more places than I ever had before - My secretary had them in her desk, I saw them coming out of a usb port at a local college, they were everywhere!

Works like a charm, saves money on pest control services, etc. It won't work with all types of ants but thank goodness it controls the ones that invade our home each year. In our case the ants are controlled quickly. Maybe we have small colonies but even those resulted in a large number of ants on our counters and floors before the Terro came along.

Just some words of caution: don't make the mistake we did amd of drip a few drops on the floor to help lead the ants to the traps. It works but dried Terro is very hard to get off floors! So put the trap and any extra drops on aluminum foil, waxed paper, etc

I second the author -- Terro works very well to deal with Argentinian ant infestations. It's great for lazy/busy people who aren't inclined to make their own boric acid baits.

I live out in the country and have ant infestations inside occassionally. I use Combat Source Kill Max. It works perfectly. Depost a few drops of it where you see the most ants near the wall (or their entrance point). It attracts the ants and you'll see an invasion the likes of which would give you anxiety if you didn't know what was going on. Hundreds or thousands will come out in a feeding frenzy. Then each will bring a little of the "food" back to the Queen, who will die. The poison will eventually kill all the ants and once the Queen is dead, the colony will die too. Actually, the poison makes the ants a little "drunk," so you'll see them wandering around for a bit like drunken sailors. Cruel yes, but better than the alternative.

Ants migrate into our house in March and leave in April. Unlike human guests, they don't cause any problems.

Never thought about it before reading this, but I love Terro! We get an annual infestation of, I believe, carpenter ants (big and black, and actually less disturbing than the smaller, more numerous ants that seem to go for food stores). It takes about two rounds of Terro traps to knock them out for the year.

Most ants prefer to live outside - the invade many houses when their outdoor food supply dwindles.

While you think your ant bait is working over time - all that is happening is that the exterior environment is calling and as they would - without the bait - they resume their foraging outside - and this cycle repeats.

Not unlike that wonder naturopathic flu cure that seems to take a few days to 'cure' your flu.

Hm-m, those Terra ant traps are tempting. I lived in Aqaba, Jordan with my cats and couldn't use the local the local poisons offered for the ants. I tried all the homemade remedies for ant traps on the internet and they did not work. Finally I got to Amman and bought Raid ant traps. Success! I might have ordered those Terra ones and picked them up on a trip home. Now I'm in South Africa and again, ants. I can't figure out the source but outside poison (cat is inside) and ant traps seem to do the trick. The poison is actually fairly benign but it works. I'll stick with local ant traps since they are probably targeted for the local vermin. Every now and then I remind myself, this IS Africa. It could be worse.

Add pantry pest traps for meal moths and the humble mouse trap. Two more kitchen pests effectively eliminated. Now what about roaches?

Terro does not work for a major infestation, such as a colony living under the house. They will come back. We called an exterminator--it was the only option left. It worked.

I second this recommendation. I had ants in my kitchen that didn't respond to any ant bait at the grocery store. The school where I am a librarian used an extermination service, and when I spotted ants in my office, the exterminator used Terro bait. I took one home after the library threat was over and recycled it in my kitchen. Within days my home scourge was over.

This is a brilliant analogy that never occurred to me. I have been battling anxiety and ants for years. I discovered Cognitive Behavior Therapy and Terro at about the same time. Both were solutions that I had never tried but work like nothing else. I will now always thing of them together. Thank you!

The author is using Terro correctly, but she fails to mention the reason it sometimes takes weeks. The ants are bringing the sugary death back to their queen. The little ones die sooner, the queen - presumably because of greater body weight - dies later. If you kill the queen the colony dies. If you can find where the ants are originating from and place the Terro bait right near there you drastically shorten their trip and the amount of time it takes to kill the colony.

The ant problem has never bothered me because my house was never bothered by them until last year. Then we were struck by what seemed to be a militatry attack. But I think I found the perfect solution, without the use of chemicals. The solution, just keep your garbage in the freezer until "pick up day".

I had an infestation I could not get rid of (of course ants are epic here in Central America). I tried every recommendation I could find online. Terro worked the 1st time, but before long they were back - with many, many more who were immune to Terro. Then I got a suggestion to use Dawn liquid & was so desperate I applied a coat of it across my floor & made the floor off-limits for 24 hours. They went away. Now what is working for me is to fill a spray bottle with a combo of Dawn liquid & peppermint oil in h2o - and spray it on their indoor trails 1 x a day - EVERY day, forevermore....so far, so good.

My favorite trick is to backtrack the trail of ants to the source while vacuuming
said invaders with my shopvac, identify the entry point and seal it. Elimination and cleanup in one step. Repeat as necessary.

I live in a rural area. Every spring we get ants. Couple years ago, I saw a lot of ants and put out Terro. The next day, no ants. None at all, and none for the rest of the year. It was scary. Worried about what could be so lethal, I was reluctant to use it again. I'm glad to read that it's only borax. I was afraid it might be radioactive or something.

I dont really get the ant problem. So long as they don't sting...Who cares? When I lived in the jungle I had a constant parade of small ants in the kitchen who's only crime was cleaning up my crumbs.

Here's a formula for making your own. My ants are small Argentinian so different formulations may be needed for others. Mix 2 Tbl sugar, 1 Tbl water, 3/8 tsp Boric acid (usually sold as roach powder). The measurements have to be exact because goal is not to kill the ants before they carry some back to the nest. Locate the point(s) of entry and drizzle a few nickel or quarter-sized as close as possible to entry. Then brace yourself for seeing a huge influx of ants BUT they stay very contained. In fact they line up vary neatly around the edges of the potion blobs. It's been a miracle solution in our house.

Terro works! I use the liquid form. A few drops in the crevice where they emerge is all it takes. The ants carry the Terro back to their nest and the rest is history.

I live in NYC and have had the same problem with roaches. Since I am a Buddhist, I do not kill them and I would never spray any kind of chemical in my house anyway. But I am also determined. I found that the only workable solution to this was to find and seal every crack, hole, nook, and cranny that they could use to get into the place. This cut them back drastically. Then keep everything sealed (especially garbage - I know some people who put it in the fridge!) and no dripping water and in the long term you will win. As for anxiety, there is Mahayana! Love and Peace

When I lived in Florida I encountered ants and lots of other creatures including snakes. The key to eliminating invaders is figuring out where they enter and either repairing that area or spraying or powdering their entrance.

Make your own mix with sugar syrup and powdered Borax. Same ingredients as the commercial brand and you can make much more of it for less money. I put little puddles of it (on thick paper or in jar lids) around the affected areas. Ants eat it, go back to the mothership and share it around and they die.

I have used this stuff for years and it really works! I wish it was kept a secret though as the ant-poison-police will now outlaw its use as insect cruelty or environmentally unfriendly or cancer causing, etc. Oh well, think I'll go stock up on a lifetime supply before its banned.

Was it necessary to fill the page with a graphic of an ant infestation? Please NY Times, if you thought the words alone could not tell the story, send it back for re-write.

In my case it worked when many other traps failed.

This will only work for species that are attracted to this type of bait.

Terro in a tube was recommended by the guy at the hardware store and it's been the only good remedy I've found for indoors. It does sometimes need to be backed up with outdoors sprays around the foundation.
I'll be looking for the box described in the article.

I agree with skeptonomist, BUT I suggest putting some Terro Ant Baits at the source. Because Terro works - thank god.

Washing the kitchen floor with borax seems to work when the Terro didn't. The cat was not happy for a few days but he got over it.

This approach takes a while, in part, because the ants need some time to find the borax solution. Here's what you need to do. Buy some Borax in the supermarket. Mix it with water and put it in a discarded uncleaned food container that once contained something sweet, e.g. a paper ice cream carton. Add some ice cream or anything else that is sweet. Make sure that the fluid level is low enough so that the ants can escape the carton. Now comes the crucial step. Locate the container near the ant trail but don't wait for the ants to walk in. Instead, place a napkin or paper towel between your thumb and forefinger and gently pick up and hold an ant in the towel. Drop them into the container and allow them to escape. They will carry the Borax back to the nest where other ants socialize with them and suffer the consequences. Good luck!

Now...if someone could just find a way to get rid of roaches.

I have used this for several years, works every time, the best!

I am a devoted follower of terro. It Works!! At the first ant, I set out some terro by my sink and also by the porch door. Within a day, no more ants. Yes!!!!

i used this firm very successfully to rid my self of insects - ants and fleas - both will have their numbers greatly reduced when you use an IGR concentrate is a new Insect Growth Regulator - which prevents them from maturing into asults and they starve to death - and lasts 6+ months, another key ingredient is Piperonyl Butoxide (PBO) which prevents insects from removing the poison from their body - better insect control products will have these 2 ingredients - and typically they will be products for indoor use as you dont need as much of the pesticide . most people who buy from from this site and others fail to buy these 2 ingredients - good luck www.domyownpestcontrol.com

I just put out my Terro traps -- with a few Om Mani Padmi Hum's, as I am a Buddhist and want to express compassion for the sentient beings that will die at my hand -- and am relieved at what I know they will do: get rid of the invasion, however small, for the time being. Terros do work best to make sure one cuts the trap help vertical, so the poison, does not drip on the surface where you place the trap. What a surprising piece to find in the ever-surprising NYT. As I live ndear Leah's Berkeley, I found the fact of the 560-mile long colony fascinating.

NYTimes should be a bit more selective

I should've bought stock in Terro. Visited my Home Depot store multiple times throughout the summer as that same Argentine ant colony invaded my neighborhood. The Terro was sold out many times, so I stocked up. They are persistent little creatures, but Terro does the trick, until the next batch of ants invades. Saw two ants stalking my counter the other day. I'm ready and armed.

I find that Terro works quickly. What a great product! Compared to Terro, other ant cups are useless.

Indeed, Terro Liquid Ant Bait solved my ant woes. It's the best.
And for the anxiety? Prozac to the rescue.

Life is very good, indeed.

This ant infestation sounds tame. Come to the South and fight off our Fire Ant infestation. Not an ant to be seen and then one morning you see dozens of nests of the fiercest ants ever imagined. I tangled with them in Miami when I was a boy. I'd sat on a dead tree trunk and was engulfed within minutes. Even being sprayed with a hose barely dislodged them. I had to strip in the yard because they'd filled my clothes with their fierceness.
When you've finished with them I can show you a Yellow Jacket nest where I've counted an average of 90 wasps flying and out a minute. They don't need an excuse to sting. They do it for almost no reason. I dread digging a hole one day and finding the main colony.

Yes! I have been swearing by this stuff for years. The first time I used it I actually had a nightmare though....that I was an ant in the nest with all the ants dying around me, sort of like Watership Down. But when I woke up I was still glad the (real) ants were dead.

I first used Terro in the 1970's when it was glucose laced with arsenic and was extremely effective against sweet eaters. They carry it back to the queen and the colony dies at the source.For grease eaters they said to mix in a little cooking oil but it didn't work as well.

I'm not sure it Terro liquid actually accomplishes its purpose. I suspect its formula is designed to keep the ants in one place while you go broke buying more Terro. The concept does work: boric acid crystals form in their bodies killing them, like lethal kidney stones. I've had much better success making my own boric acid/sugar solution. Boric acid powder is cheap. Sugar and water about 1 part sugar 3-4 parts water. Heat it up or just stir it and wait for it to all dissolve. I put it in small dixie cups, stir in some boric acid. With the powder I use, I get a nice cyan color. Saran wrap over the top to keep it from drying out, poke 2-4 small holes along the edge. Most recipes, there's nothing proprietary, use very low levels of boric acid, I use more. If there's too much the ants won't touch it, too little and they'll never go away-you can adjust right in the cup by adding more powder, more water, or more sugar. I've wiped out successive nests, another is always ready to move in in a couple of weeks. If you set out several cups and monitor what's happening you can clear your kitchen (except for the cup), in two days-a week to kill a nest. Boric acid is reasonably safe (it's in most eye drops). If you see larger sized ants walking in the Argentine Ant streams, those are queens. Their nests have more than one.

I am reminded of Richard Feynman who watched his ants for weeks to see what they were doing. I am reminded of a friend of mine in Berkeley who put boards to serve as bridges over the ant trails in his basement apartment (North Side) so he would not step on them.

Look at your ants. See what they are doing. Seal up the stuff you don't what them to get into. Wash your dishes and take out your garbage. Ants aren't the problem.

As a Buddhist priest, I was looking for an alternative to mass killing. A friend suggested that ants come into the home to eat, so give it to them. Take some sugar around the outside of your home dropping little piles (a tablespoon or so) about every ten feet. Almost instantly (24 hours or so), no ants.
Now if we can just show as much kindness to each other...

Nice column, but there are other low-toxicity techniques that should be discussed. Traps are only marginally effective. We live in the city and the following works for us:

1) Don't ever leave food particles or residue in a place where ants will smell it. You must clean up after meals. Ants can smell sugar or fruit particles or bread from incredible distance away. Organize you pantry so that anything ants would be interested in is kept in sealed containers in a location far from the ants' entry into your house. If they can't smell food, they won't come.

2) When you see a few "scout" ants hunting, watch them and see their paths of entry into your apartment, and spread a little boric acid powder into those pathways. You may be able to inject the powder into cracks. Be generous with boric acid -- it's very safe for mammals, but kills insects, spiders and centipedes.

3) Just keep wiping any area where you see ants with water and a little detergent -- the pheremone trails left by the scouts is what the rest of the colony uses to find their way to the food. Every time you wipe a surface or mop a floor, you are cutting their telephone lines. The scouts will still come but the workers won't because they depend on trails.

I developed a system for dealing with anxiety: When that knot in my stomach wakes me up, I lie there in bed, considering each of the things that might reasonably be the cause. Almost always, something turns up that makes the knot far more intense.

Then I make a plan for dealing with that particular issue. Once I've worked out a plan, i find I go back to sleep. If I don't follow up on my plan, a few days later, the anxiety wakes me up again, as a reminder to get with the plan.

While I still do occasionally wake up during the night, there are no more knots in my stomach. That makes it a little more difficult to identify the problem, but the method still works.

So that works for anxiety. As for ants; I've concluded I need to get used to living with lots of life forms I'd rather not have to share my home with. Here in Taiwan, we keep pretty much everything edible in sealed containers. The natives have mostly made peace with that and I, as an American Expat, try to do the same.

One thing I done is to set up a honey feeding station for ants in a place away from food. It seems that ants CAN be bribed.

If it takes weeks to make a noticeable dent in your infestation you should probably be using a different technique - don't just mindlessly do what you did last time. Trace the ants back to the source or at least back to someplace outside your kitchen. Various sprays will kill the ants immediately. Borax strewn on paths will discourage them.