Ant control and removal services in Lakewood

Now that spring has sprung and the weather has started to warm, ants have come out of hiding! A new Cowleys client was frantic about the “Grand Central Station” level of ant activity that discovered in her home today. She was also baffled as to why these ants seemingly popped out of no where. I was more then happy to explain the circumstances as to why all of these ants came out of the woodwork to pay her a most unwelcome visit.

During the winter, ants hibernate. Underground temperatures are much warmer during the winter months and ants survive in their colonies during this time. Prior to hibernating, the the ants gather food to keep the queen from starving, and they prepare the colony. While hibernating, the ants stick together to help increase the heat in the colony and keep the queen warm. They also have a special “social stomach” (called the crop) that allows them to regurgitate and share liquid food with other members of the colony. When you see ants “kissing,” they are actually sharing food with another ant (a process called trophallaxis). And, believe it or not, if this strange behavior weren’t enough, ants are able to produce their own natural “antifreeze” to help them survive the winter months. So, during the winter, ants don’t fall off the face of the earth. They just keep a low profile underground, and armed with a number of evolutionary adaptations, they are able to survive until spring!

Now, as temperatures rise and the ground begins to thaw, we’ll start seeing ants (and insects of all kinds) come out of their overwintering hibernation. After a long winter of nesting, ants are on a singular mission to replenish themselves and their colony, and the’ll start seeking out moisture and food with a vengeance — often winding up inside your home. Ants have amazing senses that can find food and water hundreds of yards away from their nest. With enough patience, and you can actually follow an ant trail from their colony to wherever the ants are gaining access inside your home. 

The best treatment for ants is using non-repellent formulations. These products do not merely push and re-direct ants from one area to another, which, at the end of the day, accomplishes nothing. The idea behind non-repellent formulations is to not kill the ants immediately upon contact.  Instead, this product acts like a “Trojan Horse.” It keeps the ants alive long enough to take the product back to their nest where they then feed it (technically, trophallaxis it!) to others. Like a virus, just one ant crossing through this barrier and picking up the product can potentially kill thousands of other ants in the colony by unknowingly spreading it. 

I like to be as safe and thorough as possible, so I treat all of the crack and crevice areas with a highly regarded non-repellent aerosol available only to licensed applicators. After I treat all of the crack and crevice areas, I treat the exterior of the home as well as any other hot spots.   

For homeowners, it’s important to keep in mind that because of the delayed action of these products, they may actually see more ants over the course of the next couple of weeks. However, during this time, the ants are busy transporting the formulation back to their colony. Soon after this interim period, there will be a precipitous drop in foraging ant sightings in your home.