Ants Are Drawn To Glucose, Warmth & Water

Getting rid of ants during the winter months can sometimes be a tricky proposition because an infestation can quickly spread from one area of the house to its entirety at a pretty alarming rate. Ants are drawn to glucose and water, and during the coldest parts of the year, your home is a particularly attractive foraging ground. While driving ants away from your home is obviously an important aspect of pest control, it’s equally important to actually keep them away.

Ants usually establish a nest close to their food source, so they’ll likely try to nest in walls, floors, and crawlspaces. While it’s true that ants are generally less active in the winter than they are in the summer, they still have the capacity to expand their populations alarmingly quickly as long as they have sufficient access to food, water, and warmth. Nevertheless, there are a number of proactive steps you can take to reduce the chances of ants making incursions into your home in the first place.

One of the most important is to seal all food containers and clean spillages and crumbs thoroughly as soon as you can. Ants can detect even minute traces of glucose - which is in nearly all of our food - so maintaining a clean living space is a critical precaution. If you spot a solitary ant wandering around your home, chances are high that there are many more of his fellows lurking around. If possible, try to make a note of where the ant goes - if it enters a crack in the wall or slips under a door - which will help indicate where these pests are entering your home.

While it’s never ideal for ants to be living inside your home, some species, like carpenter ants, for example, can prove particularly damaging to walls, floors, and ceilings. These ants burrow through the wood in much the same way as termites, although carpenter ants don’t actually eat the wood in which they nest. Over time, a large population of carpenter ants can weaken the structural integrity of buildings.

Naturally, your first step as a homeowner if you suspect that your home may also be hosting an ant infestation is to get in touch with your local pest control professional. Despite a number of commercially available ant baits and traps, it’s extremely unlikely that a non-expert will be able to fully eradicate an infestation on their own, and such an attempt may end up costing even more time and money in the long run.

Cantu Pest & Termite is proud to be the first company in Texas to offer a Cantu Green Service to our customers in search of a more prevention-based solution to their pest removal and ongoing pest management needs while minimizing the use of pesticides.

If ants or other pests have made unwanted appearances around your home or business, call Cantu Pest & Termite and schedule an appointment today with one of our friendly, experienced ant removal experts.