The reason why the dish soap method works is because it's a surfactant and Dawn's concentrate just happens to be great. Like a lot of insects, ants breathe through tiny openings in their abdomen called spiracles, they also have protective cuticles around their body and surfactants breaks the cuticle coating and at the same time smother the spiracles. This leads to the ants suffocating while water enters their body. Pouring the soap and water solution on top of their colony may not always lead to success because ants build their colonies in a way that some chambers act as an air pocket which prevents water from penetrating their tunnels, they also pick out certain grains of the soil that would absorb water and dry quickly which they would pile along their entrances and water hitting the convex dirt would bead and run off to the sides. To increase the chances of success, water the area to pre-moisten the soil once or twice in advance (adding humic acid is bonus) during the day when they are most active, this would rally all the ants back to the colony in an effort to try to fix any damages or fortify their tunnels and that would be the perfect time to apply your soap solution. Their tunnels are built in a way that increases soil porosity, this means the soil around the tunnels has many spaces or pores that can absorb water which adds an extra layer of protection for their colony and pre-moistening the soil could fill these pores with water and would make it harder for the soil to absorb more water. This would increase the chances of water penetrating the tunnels and overall increase the chances of wiping the entire colony. Love the channel btw! Subbed.
@@Ssp-sv7dp Yes the effects can be seen within hours after applying the solution because if it didn't work the ants will resurface and continue to forage. It's actually best if you don't wait to see if they re-surface after the first application because if they re-surface it just means they finished fortifying their tunnels so water penetration would be more difficult, so you technically helped them make their colony stronger. A second application or even a third one right after another is often necessary. It's important to note that when it comes to insects with colonies, a strong chemical application or pesticides is often needed because they are designed to affect the entire colony and eradicate the species without the chance of recovering. If you really want to avoid using pesticides with your ant problems, you can try a mix of borax and honey. Borax or sodium tetraborate, is an alkaline mineral that disrupts the digestive processes of ants and starves them to death. The ants are attracted to the sweetness of the honey and would consume it. The effects are slow which gives them time to distribute it to their colony and queen. Just make sure your ratio is 1 part borax and 3 parts honey to fully mask the borax. In addition, while this method is effective, it may not work on ALL species of ants because some ants prefer protein-based baits to sweet ones. Always use borax with caution because it can be harmful to pets and humans if ingested or prolonged skin contact.
1:38 you need to flood the tunnels by injecting the soapy water until it reaches the nesting and breeding area where the queen and larva reside… you need to use a sprayer that you can put pressure onto and put nossle on exit and spray it under pressure into the tunnels until it sprays out, wait and do it again a few times
This method 100% works on wasp nests though, and kills them on contact. No more wasp spray. I do landscaping work, and haven't bought wasp spray for 5 years.
I think it’s because it only kills ants on contact. It doesn’t prevent ants which imo is why there were still ants in the yard because additional ants migrated over.
The difficulty comes from getting the solution down into the nest. The box planter probably retained the water until it got down deep where it ran off the others. Just a guess.
I use a liquid multi pesticide and Dawn dish soap mixed...I put it into a sprayer that hooks up to the Lawn water hose ....I spray and saturate the whole yard in about 10 minutes or less...It has been very Successful and I have a very beautiful yard today...
I have the talstar granular , n hasn’t got rid of them. Yard right on water n a lot of sand. So hard to get rid of them. Will treat n they go deep, n then come back
Absolutely, I’d highly recommend any product where Bifenthrin is the active ingredient. Here’s a product I like that is super concentrated so you only use like an ounce per gallon mixed in a pump sprayer, it goes a long way! Offers control on mosquitos, and lots of other insects, works perfectly for Boxelder. Can be applied to almost anything, dries clear, etc. you’ll be amazed how fast it clears up your problem. amzn.to/4ar1Hht
Here’s my original ant control video where I had MUCH better results.
ua-cam.com/video/Yz7OFr0NLoE/v-deo.html
The reason why the dish soap method works is because it's a surfactant and Dawn's concentrate just happens to be great. Like a lot of insects, ants breathe through tiny openings in their abdomen called spiracles, they also have protective cuticles around their body and surfactants breaks the cuticle coating and at the same time smother the spiracles. This leads to the ants suffocating while water enters their body. Pouring the soap and water solution on top of their colony may not always lead to success because ants build their colonies in a way that some chambers act as an air pocket which prevents water from penetrating their tunnels, they also pick out certain grains of the soil that would absorb water and dry quickly which they would pile along their entrances and water hitting the convex dirt would bead and run off to the sides.
To increase the chances of success, water the area to pre-moisten the soil once or twice in advance (adding humic acid is bonus) during the day when they are most active, this would rally all the ants back to the colony in an effort to try to fix any damages or fortify their tunnels and that would be the perfect time to apply your soap solution. Their tunnels are built in a way that increases soil porosity, this means the soil around the tunnels has many spaces or pores that can absorb water which adds an extra layer of protection for their colony and pre-moistening the soil could fill these pores with water and would make it harder for the soil to absorb more water. This would increase the chances of water penetrating the tunnels and overall increase the chances of wiping the entire colony.
Love the channel btw! Subbed.
@@Ssp-sv7dp Yes the effects can be seen within hours after applying the solution because if it didn't work the ants will resurface and continue to forage. It's actually best if you don't wait to see if they re-surface after the first application because if they re-surface it just means they finished fortifying their tunnels so water penetration would be more difficult, so you technically helped them make their colony stronger. A second application or even a third one right after another is often necessary. It's important to note that when it comes to insects with colonies, a strong chemical application or pesticides is often needed because they are designed to affect the entire colony and eradicate the species without the chance of recovering. If you really want to avoid using pesticides with your ant problems, you can try a mix of borax and honey. Borax or sodium tetraborate, is an alkaline mineral that disrupts the digestive processes of ants and starves them to death. The ants are attracted to the sweetness of the honey and would consume it. The effects are slow which gives them time to distribute it to their colony and queen. Just make sure your ratio is 1 part borax and 3 parts honey to fully mask the borax. In addition, while this method is effective, it may not work on ALL species of ants because some ants prefer protein-based baits to sweet ones. Always use borax with caution because it can be harmful to pets and humans if ingested or prolonged skin contact.
1:38 you need to flood the tunnels by injecting the soapy water until it reaches the nesting and breeding area where the queen and larva reside… you need to use a sprayer that you can put pressure onto and put nossle on exit and spray it under pressure into the tunnels until it sprays out, wait and do it again a few times
This method 100% works on wasp nests though, and kills them on contact. No more wasp spray. I do landscaping work, and haven't bought wasp spray for 5 years.
Great tip, thanks for posting. I’ll have to give that a try for a future video.
@suburbanacreage Not as common as an ant pile, but that would make for a good video! The less chemicals in our environment, the better.
Me too... You are right on point 👍😎...
I think it’s because it only kills ants on contact. It doesn’t prevent ants which imo is why there were still ants in the yard because additional ants migrated over.
The difficulty comes from getting the solution down into the nest. The box planter probably retained the water until it got down deep where it ran off the others. Just a guess.
I use a liquid multi pesticide and Dawn dish soap mixed...I put it into a sprayer that hooks up to the Lawn water hose ....I spray and saturate the whole yard in about 10 minutes or less...It has been very Successful and I have a very beautiful yard today...
Why not use Sugar and Borax and hot water to melt the sugar or honey. 1 Tbls Borax, 3 Tbles Sugar, 1 cup water
I’ll have to give that a try!
If you have sandy soil pour water on your yard every day ❤
LOL
Spray the dawn platinum NOT POUR IT ON.
I have the talstar granular , n hasn’t got rid of them. Yard right on water n a lot of sand. So hard to get rid of them. Will treat n they go deep, n then come back
Non chemical solution? 😅
sodium lauryl sulfate, sodium laureth sulfate, lauramine oxide, sodium chloride, phenoxyethanol, PEI-14 PEG-10/PPG-7 copolymer, methylisothiazolinone,
It didn’t kill them, they just migrated to another part of the yard…..
Being a fellow Minnesotan, do you have recommendations for boxelder bug nests?
Absolutely, I’d highly recommend any product where Bifenthrin is the active ingredient. Here’s a product I like that is super concentrated so you only use like an ounce per gallon mixed in a pump sprayer, it goes a long way! Offers control on mosquitos, and lots of other insects, works perfectly for Boxelder. Can be applied to almost anything, dries clear, etc. you’ll be amazed how fast it clears up your problem. amzn.to/4ar1Hht
@@suburbanacreage thanks!
Add soap water and Canola oil
I’ve wiped out hordes of boxelder bugs just spraying dawn dish soap and water each day until you don’t see any more. Then check back every few days.
What has hairy legs and eats ants?
Uncles 😂
I found Isopropyl alcohol worked with a mist spray works well.
Borax
I tried boric acid, boiling water and spectricide with soap and still see new burrows every day.
I tried the whole borax sugar trap, and the ants just ignore it. I thought they would come to drink it but they didn't
You didn’t use enough water you’re supposed to use the soap in a hose end sprayer 😂and load that area with water for like 40 min