The Trick: Borax and Sugar Solution My aunt’s trick is both simple and effective. It uses a common household item, borax, combined with sugar to create a potent but safe ant killer. Borax, also known as sodium borate, is a naturally occurring mineral that is often used in cleaning products. When ingested by ants, it disrupts their digestive system and eventually kills them. The key to this method’s success lies in the sugar, which acts as a bait to lure the ants to the borax.
Here’s how you can do it: What You’ll Need: Borax: Available at most grocery stores in the laundry aisle.
Granulated Sugar: Regular table sugar works perfectly.
Water: To dissolve the mixture.
Cotton Balls or Small Pieces of Cardboard: To place the bait around your home.
A Small Container: For mixing.
Instructions: Prepare the Solution: Mix one part borax with three parts sugar in a small container. The sugar will attract the ants, and the borax will do the rest. For example, if you use 1 tablespoon of borax, mix it with 3 tablespoons of sugar. Add Water: Slowly add enough water to the mixture to create a syrupy consistency. The solution should be thick enough to stick to a cotton ball or piece of cardboard but not so runny that it drips everywhere. Set the Bait: Soak cotton balls in the solution or place drops of it on small pieces of cardboard. Then, place these baits in areas where you’ve noticed ant activity. Common spots include along baseboards, near windows, and in corners of your kitchen or pantry. Wait: Now, here’s where the magic happens. The ants will be attracted to the sweet sugar and will carry the borax-laden bait back to their colony. Because it doesn’t kill them instantly, they have time to share it with other ants, including the queen. Within 3 minutes of the ants finding the bait, they will have ingested it and started the process of taking it back to the colony.
