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Health & Fitness

Invasion of the Pharaoh Ant

I am not sure what is worst: Pharaoh Ant or Japanese Beetles.

We moved into our new home May 2012 with a lot of beautiful gardens ready to bloom.  Yeah.  Please note the sarcasm.  There was potential that the garden would be what the previous owner proclaimed, but a few perennials went MIA.

Couldn’t wait to test out the Ole Green Thumb.  I went to Home Depot to purchase some lovely perennials along with some fruits, vegetables and herbs to plant.

My mission on a gloriously hot Saturday afternoon was to have it all planted so I could sit on either the deck or patio enjoy the fruits of my labor.  No sooner did I step into the garden bed, the little ants flustered in a hurry to greet me.  One would think that I was a banana peel left out for them to partake in the nutrients.  Within 60 seconds or less I was covered with these ants on my leg.  Fortunately I am a super trooper and put the perennials to bed.

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A red flag raised in my head.  Just how bad could this ant infestation be, so I tackled the large bed at the rear.  My goal was to plant watermelon, jalapenos, tomatoes, strawberries, green peppers and zucchini.  Guess what I found?  Yes, the little ants back there thought I was a buffet.

One day our neighbors must have discovered these wonderful tiny bugs because they had an exterminator come to their home.  Do you want to know what happened?  Of course you do.  They needed a new home so they came to ours, literally.  We had an ant infestation in our kitchen.

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The invasion of my kitchen was horrific.  The little critters forced me to pull out the big guns: World Wide Web.  My previous years in property management honed my instincts and I needed to make sure my suspicions were correct.  The Pharoahs had indeed invaded our home.

Anyone familiar with this type of any?  They consist of many Queens in one nest.  When they are threatened, their Queen breaks off from the others with her little army and migrate.  They are extremely hard to get rid of.  After weeks of baiting with Boraic Acid, I had to call Guardian Pest Control.  Doug became the leader of our battalion to rid our home of the Pharaoh’s.

The long winter we are having must be a hardship on these little creatures - they are back and invading my home!  I suppose the long winter has them starving and they are scavaging.  I kind of feel sorry for them, yet I don't want ants in my house or taking over my garden beds this year.  I have started with the ant traps in there areas that I have seen them, but they just keep coming. 

It seems that whenever I am having some type of issue, Facebook intuitively knows it.  I stumbled upon this information and thought I would share.  I am sure I am not the only one battling this little buggers.  It doesn't seem to matter how many ant traps, Borac acid, or trips from the pest control companies that have been attempted, the invasion is fierce.

stepintomyworld.com posted this:

Ants hate cinnamon, garlic and mint!

  • Place cinnamon sticks and peeled sliced garlic cloves areound window tracks or holes.
  • Replace the cloves every 3 days until ants are gone.
  • Plant fresh mint around the foundation of the house.
  • Ants leave a scented trail to find their way back into your home; was the trail with equal parts of water and white distilled vinegar to confuse them.


A try beats a fail.  I will begin growing a lot of mint in my mini greenhouse and planting this summer.  I love the smell of cinnamon, so that will be in my window tracks.

Anyone have any helpful tips on Japanese Beatles?  They have already destroyed my flowering bushes.  Outside of spraying them down with Dawn Dishsoap water mixture when they are seen, there isn't much that I have learned.  I am planting creeping lemon thyme around the house to help prevent with mosquitos and other insects; hoping it will help with the beetles too.

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