Yesterday it was 95* in San Francisco (a place where literally NOBODY has air conditioning) and I guess that was hot enough to trigger an ant mating swarm at our house. First we noticed a massive swarm of ants coming out of every crevice around our front windows. I put out Terro Liquid Ant Baits and let them be. Then, we noticed some flying ants on our living room table and I kind of freaked out because I had a horrible flying ant situation during my first month living abroad in Spain that has stayed with me for literally 20 years. Some quick googling reminded me that flying ants swarm for a brief period when they are trying to mate and start a new colony. I, of course, didn’t like the sound of that at all.
I read online that spraying them with a mixture of Dawn, water and peppermint oil would kill them, so I quickly put some of those three things in a spray bottle and went at it. About an hour later I realized that our two hanging light fixtures were SWARMING with flying ants. After a mini-freak out, I grabbed a chair and sprayed a ton of that solution into our hanging light fixtures. Then I retreated downstairs, hoping that in the morning the flying ant swarm would be over.
The next morning, the two light fixtures looked like this:
While there are still some ants around two of the liquid baits, the massive swarm by the windows has abated. I’m really hoping that we stopped the new colony’s creation before it could get started.
Every once in a while we have some massive ant invasion that makes me think that, if we ripped out our drywall, the foundation would just be ants swarming in the shape of a house. We have so few significant insect problems in California, and as someone who has had to deal with bed bugs I know how minor ants are in comparison, but I still really hate ants. Last night was super stressful.
Of course my parents live close enough to a grass fire on the peninsula that they’ve been without power for almost 24 hours. So I guess I should just count my blessings and be happy the antvasion has ended.
Also, it’s a lovely 75* here today, and I’ve VERY THANKFUL for that.
THANK you for sharing. THis was exactly the post I needed just now. Educational, interesting, inspiring of gratitude for the problems I do not have and even some laughter because Ants currently not happening in my house which is really good. Way hotter here today and muggy to boot. VERY glad the swarm happened while you were at home, not teaching, not in midwest, so you could discourage becoming a new nest. Hope you could vacuum up the remains. Wishing you joy and laughter (and your parents electricity really soon)!
Ugh… we had ant issues several times at our house the last few years that we lived there. Some years were better/worse than others — I think the weather had a lot to do with it — they would be worse after a milder winter (I guess the cold killed them off when it was colder??). They tended to be in the front foyer and the kitchen (right next to it). Dh sprayed around the door & windows outside, and poured water down any anthills he found out there. Inside, we put whole cloves along the baseboards to repel them (my mother’s suggestion) and sprayed vinegar on the countertops, which seemed to help some. But it was a real pain in the you-know-where, and I was very tempted to call in the professionals.