Ants in the spring....

[taxlady]

Boric acid works for roaches. Down on the Texas Gulf coast, cockroaches are huge. I'm talking three inches long... and they can fly short distances. We put Boric acid at all the doorways, where they are prone to get into the house, when I lived down there.

CD

When I had cockroaches and the landlord sent an exterminator, I found out about boric acid and insects. I was delighted to learn it was harmless to mammals. I was less enthused about having to leave it in place for a minimum of 6 weeks. Since it doesn't work based on being a toxin, any eggs that the cockroaches had laid would still be viable. It only works when the cockroaches walk across it. Wanted to make sure that any hatchlings would get eliminated too. But, even with the 6 weeks of powder in my cupboards, it was better than having toxic stuff sprayed in my kitchen.

 

[Vinylhanger]

If you get Pharaoh ants, AKA sugar ants in your house, don't spray them with insecticides. The colony will divide into multiple colonies for survival. You need to use ant baits, like Combat. The ants treat it like food, and by the time they start dying, it is too late for them to divide into new colonies. It is also pet safe. You just place them in line with ant trails. A great place to put them is near your sink, as they come in looking for water.

I learned that from an honest exterminator who told me that spraying for Pharaoh ants would just make things worse, and have him coming back in a few weeks to charge me more money.

I had a plumber like that once. I had a problem, and he was booked solid for over a week. I described the problem, and he asked me if I had tools and was handy. I told him I did, and I was. He then told me on the phone how to fix the problem myself. It took me fifteen minutes.

Needless to say, they both earned all my future exterminating and plumbing business.

CD

Our local appliance repair shop is like that. I call, he askes what the problem is. I explain it, he says come on in, I'll have the part on the counter. Or he'll tell me how to pull a part and I can bring it in for testing, then he'll replace it on the part I brought in.