If you have located ants inside your home, you are likely eager to find the best ant poison available. The ideal choice often depends on the type of ants that you need to get rid of. For example, sprays are usually best for killing ants that normally live outside, but come into your house to look for food. On the other hand, baits are typically used to get rid of ants that actually live in your house. Note that you can form your own bait with a few materials purchased from the store, which may be the cheapest type of ant poison when you are dealing with a rather large colony.
Ants that live outside often send a few scouts inside the home to find traces of food, and are typically easy to kill with ant poison spray that can be found at most grocery stores. If you do not spot these scout ants in time, they will likely return to their colony with the crumbs they find in your home, marking a trail to the food with pheromones. This usually results in thousands of ants using that same trail to return to your home in search of food. Fortunately, you will have a second chance at getting rid of the ants by spraying the trail with ant poison. Check the label of the spray to make sure that it is safe for pets and small children, as many are only considered safe to be around once they have dried.
You may notice ants that appear to come out from behind cupboards or even electrical sockets, as these pests reside in your home. It is typically best to get rid of such ants using bait rather than spray, as the latter usually kills the workers who travel to get the food. Bait, on the other hand, will usually be consumed by all the ants in the colony, including the queen. You can typically buy this type of ant poison at the store, and most contain some type of food that appeals to ants, as well as poison that is placed inside it. This way, the ants will either eat the bait on the spot, or bring it back to their colony for the queen, after which they should die quickly.
It is possible to make your own bait to kill ants, which may be a cheaper option in the long run. One of the best methods is to mix boric acid with a sweet product, such as honey or jelly. This mixture can be applied to walls, tile floors, and any other areas that ants may pass by, though of course it is not advised that you place it on carpet or fabric due to the mess it creates. Like the bait bought from the store, most ants will be attracted to the sweetness of this mixture, both consuming it on the spot and bringing some back to their colony. The benefit of this option is that as long as you have some boric acid and a sweet product on-hand, you can use it to exterminate ants at any time.
