So I found a little line of ants a few days ago. I didn’t know they went this far off the ground, but I found a little cluster of them mobbing a forgotten piece of breakfast cereal that was under the couch, so maybe it was my fault and they were highly motivated by whatever else is under there.
Anyway, I don’t want ants. I tried a couple of different things. I don’t want to poison them or anything like that, I just don’t want them in my house. Eventually, what I arrived at that seemed like it worked was this:
- Smush a bunch of the ants. It doesn’t actually take that many, I think I did 10-15.
- Leave the corpses in place. They won’t really react all that much to them, they’ll just keep doing their thing and periodically getting smushed. And then, at some point, they seem like they specifically switch over as a team, and start gathering up the corpses and taking them away.
- Ever since I did that (and specifically since I let them gather up the corpses and let them take them), I haven’t seen any ants.
I know that ants have a specific way they operate by laying down scent trails: They wander around at random, laying down a trail of “this is the way back to the nest”, and if they find a bunch of food they will return along the same trail laying down a “this way to the food” trail. So it kind of makes sense that they would also have a function to lay down a new trail “this is we found all those bodies so let’s not go there anymore.” I don’t know that that is what’s happening but that’s what it seems like.
Anyway, ever since the described operation, I haven’t seen any ants. I share this in case my logic is sound and it is a good solution and one that is useful for you.
Stairs?
They are probably living in someones pot plants, or in some wood, or in a wall…
The future queens and the drones fly at breeding time, and the new queens then land and start a nest, so that can be anywhere an ant can fly or be blown to
I heard you do lemon zest, vinegar or chalk. Ants don’t like that or strong odors. So last time they came into the house I didn’t crush any of them, just placed a towel with some vinegar in their way for 2 days and that was it. Btw, they came out of a flower pot that I had moved too close to the door.
In the 4th floor I’d likely just use the vacuum cleaner on them and immediately empty it outside into the trashbin. And maybe check where they came from. Maybe there’s food or a crack somewhere. Or your neighbour is deceased or has a marijuana farm next door.
I can verify the chalk from personal experience
I keep checking next door, hoping my neighbours are deceased and left me some weed, but no luck so far.
TIL ants like to get baked
I have seen ants form nests in decomposing organic litter on roofs higher up than you are.
Some species of ants may travel 100m to forage, but that is rather exceptional a distance for most varieties.
My guess is some foundation ants or similar have a nice easy shot into the building and the scouts discovered your place.
It would be prudent to report it to the management, so long as you do not expect some negative outcome for you. Otherwise just keep your place clean and kill them as you see them and they should only be a problem once or twice a year.
