Great service! Leo, our technician was very knowledgeable and professional, he helped me understand the do's and don'ts and how to keep my house free of pests. The green company is very pet and child friendly so we didn't loose time from our daily lives. For privacy and out of respect for your property, technicians do not open closed doors so you gotta let them know which rooms you want service in. Price is great, and includes unlimited follow-ups. Great job, thank you.
Caroline Canning
Tim Cloud is thorough and well spoken when it comes to explaining treatment. He gets the job done and we do not experience pests in between sprays, which is really appreciated.
M Hughes
Nathan green services : it was such a pleasure to meet your technician Mr Raul Espinosa. He was very knowledgeable about his job and meticulously checked the property and explained to us that unluckily we are connected to other neighbors which would’ve made his work impossible since the others apparently don’t care about the presence of mice in their attics and the six owners would’ve had to decide to do the job. We really appreciate his time and knowledge . Such a great asset for your company.
victor barbee
Great job. Cheerful, efficient, thorough.
Catherine Raines
Tim is very professional and kind. This is his 2nd time to do our pest control and just like last time was very thorough and made sure we were satisfied. Excellent customer service!
Hitesh Bhakta
Natran serviced my previous home and when I moved to my new house, I contacted them again since their service is excellent and they pay attention to detail.
Cindy Davis
Alex was very thorough and informative of the pest/roach problem I am experiencing. He cared and listened to my concerns. I am hopeful the pesticide and bait work to get rid of these pests.
Radeen Kabir
Whether you have Marc, Raul, or Damion coming by your home for your pest control needs, you will be very pleased with their service. They are highly professional and thorough. After the first pest control folks we used incorrectly told us we had American cockroaches when in fact we had mice, we reached out to Natran and they came by right away. Natran's traps helped us exterminate a number of mice and they also sealed the openings at our home. I highly recommend their services. And Kate at their office is great and will connect you to the right pest control professional, who is very well trained and dependable.
Debbie Hall
Very attentive, articulate, and thorough service person. We appreciate the effort he put in to find the dead rat that had escaped the trap.
Julie Brandom Atun
Thorough and professional!!!
Doug Block
Great pest company. Highly recommend them for fast, effective, and professional pest control. We'll be using them for regular service from now on!
Kevin Bice
Fast, friendly service. They seem to know what they’re doing, and I look forward to working with them in the coming year.
The term “sugar ants” may sound sweet, but they’re anything but a treat when they move into your home. Sugar ant is a generalized term that refers to multiple ant species that feed on sweet substances. You could say they’re the sweet tooths of the ant family.
Since most modern homes contain many sweet substances, it only makes sense that sweet-seeking ants will find their way indoors from time to time. If that’s happening at your home, we have some simple tips to help you get them back outdoors as quickly as possible.
What Attracts Sugar Ants to Your Home?
Sugar ants are attracted to your home because they believe they can score a sugary meal somewhere inside. Some species, like carpenter ants, may take up residence inside your home, coming out whenever they detect a drop of syrup on the counter or a few crumbs of cake on the floor. By the time you start seeing them regularly, you may have a large colony established somewhere within your home.
Other sugar ant species prefer to live outdoors but may come inside your home if they believe sugar is available in some form. While they aren’t establishing a large colony inside your home, their presence does tell you that there is an easy point of entry into your home that small pests can use. That may include roaches and other pests in the future.
Multiple sources of sugar may bring ants into your home, including:
White, brown, and powdered sugar
Honey
Syrups
Fruit
Preserves, jams, or jellies
Sweet corn
Candy
Cake
Nectar
Soda or soft drinks
Ants can feed on small crumbs you don’t clean up immediately or splashes of sweet substances left on countertops. More and more food products contain sugary substances, including Hawaiian-style bread and the fruit gummies your kids may love to find in their lunchboxes.
Will They Eventually Go Away on Their Own?
Some scenarios exist where ants may come into your home for a short period and then return to their colonies outdoors. For instance, ants may come inside in search of dry ground after you thoroughly water your garden or the ground outside your home is flooded due to rain or a storm. They’re likely to go right back outdoors rather quickly.
When sugar ants come indoors in search of food, there are two potential scenarios:
The ants are colonized nearby and find your home convenient for a quick snack or delicious meal from time to time.
The ants are colonizing your home for easy access to sugar sources.
The first scenario means the sugar ants may go away after feasting, but they’re likely to return or send their friends at some point. The second scenario is a bigger problem because you have an active sugar ant infestation inside your home. In that case, they aren’t likely to leave without being exterminated or forced.
You don’t want to guess why the ants are in your home or wait to see if they leave alone. It’s best to act quickly to get rid of them and then ensure they can’t return.
Simple Yet Effective Ways to Get Rid of Sugar Ants Indoors
There are many ways to get rid of sugar ants that make regular appearances in your home. We’re going to talk about simple ways to kill the sugar ants you’re seeing right now. You want to get them out of your home so that you can stop them from coming back.
White Vinegar Spray
Fill an empty spray bottle with white vinegar and spray it around areas visited by sugar ants. You can dilute the vinegar by filling the bottle halfway with water if you want to reduce the smell of vinegar in some areas of your home. Spray around the outer edges of cabinets, in the corners of shelves, and around doors, windows, or other potential ant entry points.
White vinegar can kill any ants that make direct contact. If you see ants, try spraying them directly to see how well it works. The smell may also serve as a deterrent that convinces ants to move away from that area.
Ant Bait Traps
A bait station is designed to lure ants into a trap to kill them or feed them a poison they will take back to their colony. These are effective at eliminating many ants without your active participation. You don’t have to stand guard with your spray bottle, waiting to take them out one by one.
Ant bait is more effective if you take the time to determine where ants are coming into your home. Place the bait trap close to that area, encouraging them to go into it rather than venture further into your home. You can also use caulk to seal that entrance to your home, and we’ll talk a bit more about that in a moment.
Natural Ant Deterrents
Some natural smells are believed to deter ants from entering an area. Some of those natural deterrents include:
Peppermint oil
Tea tree oil
Coffee grounds
Garlic
Lemon oil, juice, or peels
Bay leaves
You may also see some natural ant deterrent sprays in stores. Study the ingredients to ensure they’re safe for pets and children before spraying them in your home.
Place natural deterrents in areas you’ve seen sugar ants. That may include along doorways and windows or under your kitchen sink. You can mix peppermint or tea tree oil with water and spray around key points of your home without introducing toxic chemicals into your home. That natural spray may also deter other small pests from coming indoors.
What About Outdoor Sugar Ants?
If sugar ants colonize too close to your home for comfort, do some exploratory work to determine where they nest. Once you identify the nest hole, pour about one cup of bleach down the hole or sprinkle baking soda in and around any nesting areas on top of the ground. White vinegar may work outdoors as well.
You can often quickly eliminate sugar ants with water. Use a garden hose to saturate the ground in the nest area for up to 15 minutes. Just do this with caution because flooding a nest too close to your home may cause some ants to enter your home in search of dry ground and safety. An alternative method is to pour boiling water into the nesting hole and over any above-ground nest areas.
Finally, the diatomaceous earth is a good resource for eliminating ants outdoors. You can sprinkle it in ant holes and around visible nests. If the nest is in a high-traffic area of your property that you use, you can clean up the diatomaceous earth when the ants are gone.
How to Get Rid of Sugar Ants Permanently
Now that you’ve learned what attracts sugar ants to your home, you may have some simple ideas for keeping them away for good. It starts with a few simple things that you can do in daily life:
Immediately clean up any mess that involves sweet substances. Don’t leave crumbs or puddles on countertops, floors, or even inside the microwave.
Tightly seal all food in your kitchen. You can use plastic kitchen storage containers with lids to contain cereal and other foods that don’t seal tight in their original containers. Some foods are easily stored in the refrigerator to avoid easy access by ants or other pests.
Identify entry points into your home that ants can exploit. Look for foundation cracks, gaps under doors or around windows, and small holes and gaps under counters. Seal these vulnerabilities with caulk to avoid future entry by ants or other small pests.
Control aphids on houseplants. Aphids can produce a substance known as honeydew, which is a deliciously sweet treat that sugar ants enjoy. Caring for plants that have aphids to prevent honeydew buildup is important. Consider calling a professional pest control service for safe, green solutions if you have an aphid problem on outdoor plants or trees. Eliminating outdoor attractions can help keep ants from coming indoors.
Vacuum your floors regularly. It’s easy to suck ants up and discard them with the trash. Making this a routine habit will eliminate some ants before they can establish long-term residence in your home.
When to Call in the Professionals
If you’ve tried everything on your own and sugar ants continue to appear inside your home, it’s time to call the professionals at Natran. Our green pest control technicians are armed with safe, effective solutions to eliminate existing ant populations and stop them from returning. That may require ongoing treatments to protect your home from ants and other pests.
To get started, call Natran today at (281) 326-9911.
