We once had an ant problem out in the country under the patio... They did no harm, but made it unpleasant to sit out there. Our gardener noticed and recommended petrol. "Ants hate petrol". After discussing how long the smell would last for we agreed to let him have a go... Later that week he returned with a can of petrol and a little funnel and poured the petrol in a very measured way into all the little cracks he could see leading down to the ant colony in the sandy foundations of the patio...

Then to our horror he lit a match.

No more ants. Ever.

Country ways, eh ?


Please do not let your sister try this in your new apartment.

Best -

Jim.

My experience with ants is that once you get them, they'll return every year no matter what. We had some ants come in from the front door last week and made it to the dining room table. We put the latest poison down and seems to have done the trick, but normally, the ants build an immunity pretty rapidly, so expect them to be regrouping and ready to invade with a super breed of half orc-ant at any moment.....

The petrol sounds just the trick, either that or some agent orange from Silk Road.

Plant some peonies.  Ants will walk across burning lava and ignore a jelly doughnut to get to a peony bush.  We have an anthill the size of a basketball in our backyard but we never see an ant in the house because they're all out humping the peonies.

I have an older sister who still tell stories about when at the age of seven  her habit of taking the top off a fruit tart and inspecting the innards prior to biting in saved her from a mouthful of red ants that had it seems colonized a shop bought tart. Just think about that next time you go to the confectioners.