WFMW Natural Insecticide
Hello to the world of WFMW! This is my first foray into the world of carnival blogging. I have been reading the posts of others who participate in WFMW (Works for Me Wednesday) and with the help and encouragement of my friend Kathy (of Duckabush Blog fame 
), I have joined the ranks!
A bit of background, we are missionaries in Chiang Mai Thailand, and have mostly come to terms with the reality of life here. It is just plain buggier than we previously were used to. We have toyed with the idea of hiring an exterminator as many people do monthly, (yikes!), but since the houses are built right onto a cement pad, there is no basement or crawlspace and so the poison is sprayed directly into the corners and crevices in the house.
We are looking for your tips on how to kill pests, ants in particular, without resorting to poisoning ourselves in the process.
Usually we just deal with the ants. You know, keep the food sealed tight, counters wiped, floors swept and such, but the other week we had yet another incident which nearly pushed me over the edge.
This is my timer, can you see the ants that exploded out of it?! I noticed the display was a bit dim and thought the kids may have dropped it in water, but when I took the back cover off, I found an ant colony!
This is, er, was my thermometer which a dear friend sent me from the States. As you can see, it was even more infested than the timer. Not only that, those nasty little ants ate the solder! When my dear husband, (because I was now unwilling to deal with it), tried to clean it out, all the pieces broke off.
So there you have it. I need some ideas on what is toxic to ants, but things they would still be interested in. We are not opposed to finding dead ants on the counter in the mornings so are open to those kinds of ideas as well as ones where they back the ‘food’ to their nests.
I am looking forward to more WMFM with you!
To share your wealth of wisdom with the waiting WFMW world, head over to www.rocksinmydryer.typepad.com
Sawadi Kaa!
October 3rd, 2007 at 3:14 am
Tina, I have heard/read somewhere that ants do not like borox…or they do like and bring it to their nests and it kills them. I’m not sure if this is something you can get in Thailand, but it might be worth a try.
October 3rd, 2007 at 5:26 am
Great pictures, Tina! Yuck. I can’t believe how many ants covered those instruments. My goodness.
Hope you get all sorts of ant killing advice. I’ve read borox mixed with sugar will kill them. Tell us what you’ve tried so far.
Duckabush Blog
October 3rd, 2007 at 5:40 am
I have heard that any kind of powder (baby powder, baking powder) will work because they track it back to their nest and it dehydrates them. Not sure it works, but then again now that I think about it I used baking soda…
and of course it’s non-toxic, but then you have powder everywhere…
Put it across their main pathways or in your corners and see if it helps!
October 3rd, 2007 at 8:33 am
Debbie,
I actually just had someone bring me some Borax from the states. My dear oldest daughter has some funky gym clothes that could use a bit of help in the laundry, but I will try it on the ants too!
Thanks!
October 3rd, 2007 at 8:35 am
I haven’t tried it, but I was reading recently that cornmeal will kill/keep away ants. Don’t know how it works, but the suggestion was to pour lines of it wherever you see the ants coming in, and reapply until the ants are all gone.
Best of luck!!
October 3rd, 2007 at 8:36 am
Thanks for the ideas Krista. I know that many people here use powder in little cups to keep the ants from climbing up the legs of their tables and chairs, but I thought they just did not like to walk through it. I do not mind placing strategic piles of powder, especially if it works!
I wonder if the baking soda/powder causes some kind of chemical reaction in their insides if they eat it? Sorry to be a bit graphic, but there is no love lost between me and these critters. 
October 3rd, 2007 at 9:04 am
Any hot spices. Apparently it absorbs through the skin on their feet and they can’t walk across it! But that only works for places you could leave a trails of spices lying around.
October 4th, 2007 at 1:46 am
I’ve heard that it is Boric Acid, not borax, that works. Apparently they walk in it, then when they groom themselves by licking their feet, they eat the acid. It is not toxic to pets or kids, so you can sprinkle it around liberally.
We also use a citrus-based ant killer. It smells and looks like Simple Green.
October 8th, 2007 at 2:12 pm
I just cracked up at Zoe’s response–hot spices in Thailand! I’ll bet those ants are immune to any hot spice in existence! I’ve heard that borax works, too.
October 10th, 2007 at 12:43 am
Susan,
It is amazing what those little devils will eat and get into. I have found them in an egg of all places. They just drilled a hole into the shell and feasted away! I have never found them in my hot pepper though, ha!
I will be looking for some of that boric acid to paint around the edges of their most common entrances.
I sure do appreciate all the suggestions!