Comments on: ants!

By: jeff

jeff — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 05:33:20 +0000

Yeah – the book doesn’t really specify how concentrated the acid should be, but I think you can find 30% or so at hardware stores under the name muriatic acid. That should do just fine.
Science!

By: tom

tom — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 14:39:37 +0000

Hmm. This borax solution sounds like fun (although I’ll probably just order some Terro today). Muriatic acid == HCl, right?

By: marceau

marceau — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 13:00:15 +0000

I reccommend using the Iraq theory of ant control: decide who in your office is responsible for collaborting with the ants, then coat his entire area with powdered sugar. Then give him all of your ant bat traps.
That way, you can fight them “over there” instead of “over here”.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 05:01:51 +0000

The Golden Book of Chemistry Experiments tells me that you can make boric acid from Borax, which you should definitely be able to find at the store.
Dissolve 6 g of Borax in 15 mL of boiling water, then add 4 mL of hydrochloric acid and stir. Once it cools, boric acid and sodium chloride will crystallize… pour the crystals into a coffee filter and run some cold water through it to dissolve the salt. The remaining crystals, once dry are boric acid.
Or, I could just bring you some in a couple weeks.

By: Doh

Doh — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 04:07:44 +0000

3rd for Terro– I think it is boric acid in sugar water.

By: Bloix

Bloix — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 21:30:29 +0000

Wipe your surfaces with white vinegar. When it dries the odor will be gone and so will the ants.

By: CJB

CJB — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 20:58:32 +0000

I second the Terro. Those little plastic things do nothing. Terro seems to kill off the colony in 2-4 days.

By: Becks

Becks — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 18:53:17 +0000

You can still buy boric acid if you look enough. I bought some about a year ago to fix a somewhat different problem.

By: the g

the g — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 17:17:07 +0000

http://www.terro.com/dev/products.php?product=liquid_ant_bait this is all you need to know.