When we first moved into our home almost 4 years ago we discovered that we had several trails of ants that passed through our main level. We battled the ants for 2 months trying to persuade them to not come in. I swept up all the crumbs tirelessly, the children would lay on the floor and smash every ant that came by. And then I remembered something our real estate agent said to us. "Get Diatomaceous Earth". He explained to us that it was made from crushed fossils and that it would cut up the exoskeleton on ants and their little bodies would dry up without an intact protective covering. Within the week we were sprinkling diatomaceous earth around our property and seeing instant results. I also learned that ants do not care for peppermint, so I created a peppermint spray (Windex style plastic spray bottle with water and 15 drops peppermint oil) and would use it where I couldn't spread the diatomaceous earth. Thanks to all these efforts for the last 3 1/2 years that we have been here our home has no longer been the transit stations for these little critters. Although I did keep my floor cleaner when they were a problem ;-)
We have also learned since then that diatomaceous earth has many uses. You can dust your chickens with the powder to keep away parasites, people consume it for health benefits, you can mix it in with your grains you have stored to keep bugs out of your food storage, and it can be used to enrich your garden soil. A warning though, because it is powdered fossils it can also be harmful to humans if you inhale the loose powder particles in the air. So be sure to use a mask of sorts when spreading it around.
You can do a search on the internet and find out all about this nifty powder and its many uses.
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