We are being overrun by tiny brown ants. Maybe it is a wet season thing: they come indoors to take shelter from the wet outside. We have been battling them for weeks.
Boyfriend Maiyuu bakes. After he has taken his baking from the tray, he puts it on a plate which he leaves on the dining table.
However, these days he takes precautions to stop the ants getting to it - by building a moat.
He takes another plate, puts water in it, and places an upended glass in the centre. He puts the plate with the baking on top of that. Any ants who want to have a go at the sugary baking on top will have to cross the moat first. None do.
The first time I saw his moat contraption, I didn't understand it (with technical things, I am dim). 'You've spilt water on this plate,' I said, as I set about dismantling it.
'It's to keep away the ants!' Maiyuu said abruptly from his seat in front of the television, where he manages household goings-on.
Really, these farang are so thick!
We use anti-insect spray in a can. Next year, we might have to try something more effective.
we do the same as ur bf does. my mum always does the moat thing whenever she has anything sweet to keep in the kitchen. it works...
ReplyDeleteThose tiny ants nearly drove me nuts when I had my own rooms in Bangkok! Forget about leaving fresh fruit out to ripen. Forget about leaving out a bowl of hard candies for guests. Forget about that tin of throat lozenges in the night stand drawer. Do you buy cooked food in the market? They’ll find the containers within minutes of your setting them down. They’ll even swarm all over a perfectly sealed energy bar trying to get at the source of the very faint aroma emanating from within.
ReplyDeleteI could be wrong, but I suspect that now that they’ve found your building they’ll hang around even after rainy season ends.
Spraying works well when you can see them but, short of fumigating the entire building, there are two other equally cheap remedies you might try as well. The first is a small cardboard trap baited with poison that the worker ants are supposed to carry back to the colony causing the death of the queen ant. I think it was called “Stop Ant” and was available in most Thai supermarkets. The second remedy is a paste that is applied around doors and windows. It provides a barrier that the ants refuse to cross, thus theoretically preventing any new “colonists” from entering your flat –– assuming they’re not coming in through the walls, electrical outlets, or pipe openings in the floor.
You may want to discuss the problem with Mum and others who work with food for a living. Good luck!
Thank you for the advice on how to tackle ants. I shall look for 'Stop Ant' or the boric acid powder in the supermarket.
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