At-Home Tricks To Keep Ants Out of Your House

When you fight ants alone, you’ll always be outnumbered. Across the many species of ants common in the continental United States, colonies can reach populations well into the hundreds of thousands. These highly coordinated insects don’t just invade—they strategize, sending scouts to seek out food and water before signaling the rest of the colony to follow.

Because of their overwhelming numbers and structured approach, stopping an infestation before it begins is the most effective strategy. So today, we’ll go over some of the best ways to deal with ants in your home, how a home remedy for ants or two can help, and when to reach out for professional ant control.

Spotting an Ant Infestation in Your Home

The first thing you should know about how to keep ants out of your house is how to take advantage of how they communicate. Ants rely on pheromone trails to communicate, laying down scent markers that help their colony navigate. When a scout ant finds a promising food source, it leaves a chemical breadcrumb trail leading straight to it. Other workers follow the scent, reinforcing the trail with each trip until you have a full-scale infestation.

Because of this, you’ll often see ant activity in two distinct phases. In the first phase, a few scouts explore your home sporadically, looking for food, water, or shelter. These lone ants might seem insignificant, but they’re the warning sign of what’s to come. The second phase is when the colony mobilizes, forming organized lines as workers march in formation across your countertops, floors, or pantry shelves. If you see ants moving in coordinated paths, it’s a sure sign you have an infestation.

Pay close attention to areas where food or moisture is readily available—especially sugary substances. A single neglected soda can, a sticky spill, or crumbs left behind on the counter can be enough to attract scouts and trigger an infestation.

Home Remedies for Ant Prevention

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These home remedies can be helpful for prevention, but they won’t always be enough to stop an infestation already taking root. If you find yourself constantly battling ant invasions despite your best efforts, professional pest control is necessary to fully eliminate the problem.

Vinegar and Lemon Juice

Several natural substances that are non-toxic to humans can disrupt ant trails and make it harder for them to establish a path into your home. Vinegar, lemon juice, and peppermint oil are all effective at breaking up pheromone trails. Simply dilute them with water in a spray bottle and apply them to windowsills, doorways, and baseboards.

Diatomaceous Earth

Another effective home remedy you may not have heard of is diatomaceous earth. It’s a naturally occurring soft rock that crumbles into a fine white powder. Like limestone, it is composed mostly of fossilized microscopic organisms.

While harmless to humans and pets, diatomaceous earth has a unique effect on insects. It absorbs the waxy coating on their exoskeletons, causing dehydration and eventually eliminating them. Sprinkling a light layer of food-grade diatomaceous earth along ant entry points can create a non-toxic barrier, deterring ants from entering your home.

Are There Flying Ants in My Home?

Seeing ants in your home is one thing, but spotting flying ants is another situation entirely. If you’ve noticed winged ants around your home, look closely at their behavior.

Are they clustered near windows, seemingly trying to get outside? Have you found discarded wings and fine, wood-colored dust around your home? If so, you might not have flying ants at all—you may have termites.

What Are Termite Alates?

Termite colonies go through distinct life cycle stages, and one of the most critical phases for colony expansion is the emergence of swarmers, also known as alates. These winged termites are reproductive individuals who leave their original colony in search of a new place to establish a nest.

Often mistaken for flying ants, alates shed their wings after mating and burrow into wood, beginning the process of forming an entirely new colony. That means if you see alates in your home, that may be the first sign of an impending termite infestation.

Contact Accel Pest and Termite Control

If you’ve noticed signs of an ant infestation or suspect flying insects in your home could be termites, don’t wait for the problem to worsen. Ant colonies can rapidly expand once they’ve established a food source, and if termites are involved, early detection is the best way to prevent costly damage to your home.
Contact Accel Pest and Termite Control online today to schedule your inspection. This is the first step toward protecting your home against pests!