Effective Homemade Ant Bait that Actually Works
on Apr 27, 2024
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I don’t know how it is in your neck of the woods, but out here in Eastern Iowa it seems to be a bad year for ants. I’ve got ants coming into my house and I don’t like it. I also don’t like using pesticides in my home. So I am sharing my favorite and effective homemade ant bait with you.
There are several homemade ant trap solutions out there, but I haven’t had good luck with most of them. I like solutions that use simple ingredients, frugal, and natural. This DIY ant bait isn’t toxic to humans but is deadly to ants!
Table of Contents
Why Do I Need Effective Homemade Ant Bait?
Ants, especially sugar ants, tend to come in to the house in the spring and summer. Ants are attracted to all those little crumbs in your kitchen they leave pheromone trails inviting their friends.
If you have ants, this doesn’t mean your house is dirty or that you’re a bad housekeeper. It means that ants like your house for the same reasons you do. It gives them food, water, and shelter.
None of us want our kitchens crawling with ants, though, so it’s important to get rid of the ants. You can use store bought ant killers but these are more expensive and generally have chemicals in them.
Homemade ant killers tend to use more natural products. Just because it’s natural doesn’t mean it’s non-toxic, so always check if the ingredients are harmful for children or pets.
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Best Homemade Ant Bait Ingredients
Making your own DIY ant trap is easy. I bet you have the ingredients in your pantry too! Here’s what you’ll need:
- 1 TBS powdered sugar
- 1 TBS baking soda
- 1 tsp dry active yeast
To make your own homemade ant bait, mix together equal parts of powdered sugar and baking soda and then add the dry active yeast.
The sweet sugar attracts the ants and the baking soda essentially blows them up! The smell of yeast attracts ants. It also adds to the build up of carbon dioxide in their digestive systems which kills the ants.
Watch for the ant trail and place your ant control mixtures in their path. I usually put it in a yogurt container lid or a mason jar lid. It makes clean up easier.
Other Ways to Prevent Ants
Ants are usually attracted to the kitchen because it has both water and food sources. Make sure you clean everything up and close containers well. Ants are especially attracted to peanut butter – screw that lid on tight!
Other pest control recipes call for boric acid or dish soap. Borax is effective, but I don’t like leaving it around my house as it is dangerous for both pets and kids.
Use a dish soap-vinegar combination to wipe away any trail left by the ants. You don’t want their friends following in their footsteps.
This baking soda-powdered sugar-yeast mixture has been the most effective homemade ant bait I’ve found. Do you have any other DIY ant bait solutions?
I wonder if older yeast would work. The only yeast I have is pretty old (a couple of years), not sure how ‘active’ it would be…
I made this without the yeast the first time and it seemed to be a good deterrent for a day or so. I’m not sure it killed them, but they did go away for awhile. I’d really like to figure out what the yeast does. It doesn’t make sense to me. You could always try it with your old yeast and see what happens! Good luck!
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I will be setting some of this out this week. We don’t have problems with ants in the house, but they are everywhere around the house and all throughout the garden beds. I hate spraying even with “natural” sprays because we have wild turtles and I’m afraid of harming them. This sounds like a great solution to my problem. I’ve heard exterminators say that Albuquerque was built on one big ant hill which keeps them quite busy.
You’re welcome, MJ! I hope it works for you. If you don’t want to kill the ants, you could also just spread a perimeter of baking soda. They won’t go through it, from what I’ve read. Come back and let me know how it worked for you!
If the ants are outside why kill them they are beneficial to the ecosystem…
I think the yeast may act as a carrier for the sugar/baking soda so the ants can carry it back to their nest. Sandy L.
If only this formula would work on bed bugs too. That would be awesome. But thanks for the tip!
now that i have small grandchildren, i will make a batch of this in the spring, especially since i have an ‘ant’ phobia. spiders, no problem, but ants…
This is great, I actually needed something like this last summer!
This is wonderful! I am definitely going to try this homemade bait. Thanks!
The best part is, it works!!! Good luck!
really great post
That is such a great idea! Thanks!
This is brilliant!
Wow, thanks for this tip. I get ants in the Summer, I will try it out.
I tried making this ant bait because in my village which used to be a sugar plantation farm, there are ants everywhere. And just like you, I don’t want to use pesticides These stuff really works, I tell you. You ought to try these!
We have a huge problem with ants, every year — they make me insane! Like you, I hesitate to use strong chemicals, because we have kids and pets in the house. Ours have been a pain in the butt to get rid of.
I’ll try this recipe this spring and see how it works. Thanks a bunch!
I think we’ve chatted on Twitter before? I’m stopping by today from the BYB challenge!
Yes – we have chatted before! I’m not sure where though, but I recognize your name and blog. 🙂 Let me know how the ant bait works out for you. <3
I am loving all of your DIY cleaning products. I always try to only bring the best, most natural ingredients into my home, so this is amazing! Thanks!