Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS
Mike Stewart
Hello, and welcome to the Faith Pest Control podcast. I’m your host, Mike Stewart. And today we’re going to be talking about pest problems with sugar ants. You know if you live in Jasper, Georgia; Blue Ridge, Georgia; Ellijay, Georgia; Big Canoe or Ball Ground, Georgia, and you have sugar ants in your home, that’s a problem you want to get rid of. So I have the pest expert Fred Talley here from Faith Pest Control. Fred, are you ready to tell us about sugar ants?
Fred Talley
I’m ready, Mikey.
Mike Stewart
Well, what are they? How did they get my house? Why are they bad? And what can Faith do to get rid of them?
Fred Talley
So Argentine ants, which are commonly known as sugar ants, were probably imported in this country in in the 1800s, from coffee ships out of Argentina and Brazil into New Orleans. While they’re found throughout the United States, they’re mainly found in the southeastern US. And during spring and summer when our days grow warmer and longer, we’re more likely to see Argentine ants as well as other ants and insects on your property. Argentine ants do have stingers, but they only bite humans when they’re provoked. But they’re they’re basically classified, by me anyway, as a nuisance and because if you go you know to have a picnic, or you want to grill out on the grill with your buddies on the weekend, and food and water or liquid or you know attracts them. Especially, like sugary drinks that are sweetened with sucrose and hence the name sugar ants. To make your property less attractive, get rid of any standing water. And a lot of things that people don’t think of when I say standing water is flowerpots. Because when you water your potted plants, the water kind of percolates down through the soil, then it gathers into the tray on the bottom. And that’s bad for mosquitoes as well. But birdbaths, your grill covers – sometimes get they’ll get a concave hole in the top or something, and then they’ll hold water. In your baby swimming pools or a little toddler swimming pools. Another thing that needs to probably be done is to trim back tree tree branches that are hitting the house and or roof and branches from your shrubs. Because ants will come up the trunk of the shrub and or tree and use that limb as a bridge to cross over and get on the siding and or the roof of your house and then they get on the structure of the house. They’re inside. There’s absolutely no doubt about it. And if you don’t have a fairly well trained technician and generally homeowners themselves aren’t aware that this happens, you won’t find out why they’re coming in. If you store firewood or building materials around your home, make sure that it’s a minimum of 25 feet, preferably 50 feet from your home. Grass clippings – If you bag your grass or collect your clippings when you mow your grass, make sure you dump those clippings 50 feet away from your home because these are fabulous nesting areas for these ants.
Ants will live up under the mulch in your flowerbeds, unbeknownst to you, and you may never see any activity outside, but they’re showing up inside, then you have no clue where they’re coming from. I’m not telling you to get rid of the mulch, just be aware that that is one source of the problem. Inside your house, clean up food spills as soon as possible. Don’t leave dirty dishes in your sink. Keep your food in tightly sealed containers. These are some things that that will help on the inside to deter the ants. Unfortunately, sugar ants are very resilient. Your pest control guy can be doing a great job and get rid of the infestation, but they reproduce so quick that they can reinfest in a very short amount of time. If you think you have an infestation, it is very important to contact a pest control professional. They should inspect your home, identify the source of the infestation if they can, sometimes it is not possible, sometimes their nest may be actually on your neighbor’s property, not even on your property. And then they should come up with a solution for getting rid of the problem at your house, as well as a plan to protect your home from any future attacks. If you think you might have a problem with Argentine/sugar ants, or any pest for that matter, if you just have a question, call Faith Pest Control, please 770-823-9202 and asked to speak to me, Fred Talley. I’ll be more than happy to help you and speak with you anytime.
Mike Stewart
Well, if I get those sugar ants, I know who to call – Faith Pest Control. You know for those folks that live in Jasper, Blue Ridge, Ball Ground, Big Canoe, the whole North Georgia area, you know, Faith Pest Control are the pest experts and Fred is the expert that said so take him up on it.
Call him ask a question, no obligation to find out the answers and let Faith Pest Control solve your pest problems. Well, I’m Mike Stewart for the Faith Pest Control podcast today on sugar ants and Argentine ants. didn’t know they were from Argentina. But now I understand why they’re called that but you don’t want them in your home. Let Faith Pest Control take care of that problem for you today.
