Boric Acid for ants -where to get

[– Colonel –]

both work - i've tried them.

[Charles Spitzer]

another is oxalic acid, used by woodworkers to neutralize tannic acid.

[– Colonel –]

Wrong.

Ask me how I know.

Ants around here won't TOUCH commercial ant baits. However they DEVOUR homemade baits.

BTW, there's not much that's LESS toxic than boric acid (eye wash) or sodium borate (laundry detergent booster).

[Kelly E Jones]

Yes, both work. Borax can be obtained in most any grocery store in the laundry detergen aisle; I've seen Boric Acid at Home Despot in the pesticides aisle.

Kelly

[Joseph Meehan]

No need for an acid to be a liquid. Trying to remember back many years to my chemistry classes. Acids as I recall are proton donors. For give me if I have this wrong, it has been a long time since I had those classes.

As I recall Boric Acid (a powder) is used, not because it is a weak acid, but rather because it is a very find powder that clogs the small holes that the insect breaths through. Good for cockroaches as well.

[gfretwell]

That's what I use. Sometimes it works but on those nasty little white foot bastards all it does is teach them to eat another food. I mix it about one part in 12 to the food they are eating. I never had sweet ants, they all were grease ants. The little white foot bastards got so good they would only eat dog food if the dog had it in his mouth first. I finally got rid of them with a nasty perimeter spray along with spot spraying the suspected nesting areas.

[Joseph Meehan]

[Frank Boettcher]

Drugstore. It is used to mix eyewash.

[Chuck]

drug store

they have boric acid powder This is higher concentration than Borax... very cheap.. buck or two.. Chuck (in SC)

[Oren]

I think it dissolves the cockroaches, having seen a dead one that obviously walked through it and the next day there is little (less) of the damn thing...

Oren "My doctor says I have a malformed public-duty gland and a natural deficiency in moral fiber, and that I am therefore excused from saving Universes."

[Lar]

In article , [e-mail] says... :) On 2006-01-13 15:46:51 -0500, Lar said: :) :) > Unless you are just trying to cut costs, just about every other ant :) > product on the market will be less toxic, more effective :) :) Wrong. :) :) Ask me how I know. :) :) Ants around here won't TOUCH commercial ant baits. However they DEVOUR :) homemade baits. If they are attracted to a food source it doesn't really matter if it is a commercial or a home made mixture, they need to eat it to be effected. If you have protein feeding ants and you buy a sugar bait they won't eat it...if you have ants feeding on sugars and you mix a protein based mixture, they probably won't feed on it. Where as you have ant getting into spilt jelly, you will get results on a home made sugar bait. :) BTW, there's not much that's LESS toxic than boric acid (eye wash) or :) sodium borate (laundry detergent booster). :) Eye wash's are not boric acid...eye washes are a solution that contains a percentage of BA...eye drops can contain Hydrochloric Acid, but I would hardly claim hydrochloric acid could be used as an eye drop. As with most insecticides the amount of active ingredient used is a percentage in the solution, boric acid "solutions" are more times than not more toxic than than other insecticides, after all about 1/5 of a tablespoon of BA will have a 50% chance of killing a 2.2 lb animal.

[SJF]

Probably cheaper to go to Lowe's or HD and buy one of the roach and ant killers that contain a high percentage of boric acid. I got one pound of a Roach and Ant mixture (dust) containing 40% boric acid at Lowe's for less than $4.00.

Ants do set up housekeeping indoors. After an extended ant problem several years ago, we found a complete nest inside a box of Reynold's foil wrap on a cupboard shelf -- queen and all. With that exception, an occasional intrusion of ants has been the result of outdoor explorers finding their way in though cracks around doors or windows in this old house. Easy to stop with outdoor bug spray around the point of entry and along their trail after cleaning up inside.

[Oren]

Take away the motive (sugar/protein), don't they die also by walking on boric acid?

Oren "My doctor says I have a malformed public-duty gland and a natural deficiency in moral fiber, and that I am therefore excused from saving Universes."

[Lar]

In article , [e-mail] says... :) On Fri, 13 Jan 2006 16:45:37 -0600, Lar :) wrote: :) :) >If they are attracted to a food source it doesn't really matter if it is :) >a commercial or a home made mixture, they need to eat it to be effected. :) >If you have protein feeding ants and you buy a sugar bait they won't eat :) >it...if you have ants feeding on sugars and you mix a protein based :) >mixture, they probably won't feed on it. Where as you have ant getting :) >into spilt jelly, you will get results on a home made sugar bait. :) :) Take away the motive (sugar/protein), don't they die also by walking :) on boric acid? :) :) :) Oren :) "My doctor says I have a malformed public-duty gland :) and a natural deficiency in moral fiber, and that I am therefore :) excused from saving Universes." :) When using it as a powder it is most effective if you can barely see the coverage. As insects crawl through it, it adheres to tiny hairs and they then ingest the BA while grooming causing death. There is a slower action in way of desiccation in which they may also die. But, the down fall to BA is that when used as a dust it usually is way over used acting as a repellant, just moving the insect out of sight giving the appearance of effectiveness, but not really solving the problem.

[ds549]

i get it at walmart

[ds549]

i mix it with pancke syrup. get it at walart

[George E. Cawthon]

Drug store/grocery store. Commonly used as an eye wash.

[George E. Cawthon]

No, don't think Borax. Boric acid and Borax are not the same any more than Borax is the same as Boraxo.

[George E. Cawthon]

Finally! Some people call mean Borax when they say Boric acid, but it ain't so. Yes, Borax will probably kill the little buggers.

[George E. Cawthon]

Duh! Boron is a mineral nutrient for plants but at an extremely low level and it is toxic at only a slightly higher level. Putting a boron compound on the ground can poison the ground for a long time.