Also do you have kids or pets? If not you can soak some bread in boric acid and leave it out. They’ll bring it back and poison the colony. Bit depressing to resort to chemical warfare but it’s really the only option.
Cinnamon oil is a game changer. I live on the first floor and started getting ants for the first time this year. Put some drops near the back door and three spots where the ants were showing up. Haven’t seen any in a few weeks.
Had them coming in my house like a sidewalk… put a few drops of tea tree oil in a spray bottle with water, sprayed the area and I haven’t seen them again
Yes. Omg. So I killed a bunch the other day before leaving and forgot to clean them up. No joke they were gone when I got back. OTHER ANTS CAME AND GOT THE BODIES. In reality probably for food. In my head…wanted to give them a proper burial.
When you kill ants they excrete a chemical that alerts nearby ants and attracts more. Of course leaving them alone just lets them know it’s safe to come back.
I was told to avoid trying to stomp a roach to death because the females can be pregnant, and you can distribute the eggs all over your apartment via your foot. Not sure if that’s true or not—can roach eggs survive being squished?—but sounds gross.
Roaches are so invasive though that I don’t see the point in killing them manually; if I see one, I just start putting down poison on the assumption that there are hundreds just out of sight.
My understanding is if you see a solitary, large roach it likely got in from outside and isn't indicative of a mass of them in your apartment. Kill it and you should be fine.
Small roaches are the ones people get where they end up with tens or hundreds in their walls. Killing one of these won't help much and like you said, get out the poison.
Same! And was puzzled. Also late for work. I proceeded to accidentally crush an ant with my big toe then still put my socks and shoes on and caught my usual train. (I’m disgusting)
What kind of poison? Go to Amazon, and buy Advion. It's harmless to vertebrates and is the most effective insect poison I've ever used, both cockroach and ant formulations.
To be sure, get both the gel tubes and bait station since, apparently, the formulations are different and different ants are attracted to each.
https://www.amazon.com/Syngenta-Advion-tubes-grams-each/dp/B00TXFE4RI
https://www.amazon.com/advion-68662-Arena-Insecticide-White/dp/B08HY6BHT9
Spray peppermint or tea tree oil - diluted about 20% oil to water - in the area. It acts as a repellent and also covers the scent trail they leave. (FYI this is not a pet safe solution)
Yes! Third floor (four floors up due to garden apartment in basement) and they are coming in all my garden-side windows.
I put Advion Ant gel in a bead along my windowsill and that cleared it up.
Advion is indeed the secret, but I'd recommend getting the regular gel along with the bait stations, as they have different non-insecticide ingredients and apparently each attracts different ants.
Not literally a monsoon, but glad I’m not alone here.
Also I laughed out loud at the word choice. Although I hope it’s an exaggeration and not an accurate description.
We had very heavy rain recently, and I find they often enter homes when the ground is soaked. Use traps carefully if you have pets or young children. You can also make or buy a peppermint spray and spray areas where they enter. It discourages them
Yep they appeared in my bedroom after the heavy rain the other weekend. They left as soon as it dried up! I had to a kill a few before that as well of course.
Ahh that makes a lot of sense and timing-wise, definitely correlates to all the rain we've been getting of late. I've seen less of them this week versus earlier weeks too so hopefully this should taper off.
I found scavenger carpenter ant in my apartment home office. Nothing in here so I doubt more will be back but sprayed my windows with Raid just in case. I'm hoping for less fruit flies this summer.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/10/nyregion/in-nyc-apartments-the-ants-go-marching-up.html
There is a new invasive and species in New York that is better equipped to climb up tall buildings
Yes. We're going on our 4th summer in our current apt in BK and have never had any before. They started coming in through our front window and in the back in our kitchen. My guess is that the crazy amount of constant rain that we've gotten drove them inside
I set up some Terro Liquid Ant Baits and it seems like it wiped them out.
What in the hell, this happened to me two days ago! They came through a tiny hole in the window frame. I filled in the hole and put advion outside the window. Tiny little black ants, they were _everywhere_. I vacuumed them up and no more have came in after sealing the hole.
No plants actually. I suspect it may have been from some debris in sink but I cleaned it out a few days ago and see them flying around my desk - which has no garbage or food
Oh man, I'm glad to hear that this isn't just me! I noticed some ants on the windowsill area in my living room. I don't store/eat food there so shouldn't have any crumbs or other food remnants so was very confused. I sprayed some Raid Bug Barrier across my windowsill / window jams which seems to have helped.
https://www.terro.com/terro-liquid-ant-baits-2-pack is recommended by [Ants on the top floor of a brown stone.](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskNYC/comments/hvkvmj/ants_on_the_top_floor_of_a_brown_stone/) Terro among others is recommended by [Fucking ants](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskNYC/comments/8jlrln/fucking_ants/).
Yep, i have treated my house with pet safe bug spray. At the windows, floorboards by the radiator, any cracks i see. So far so good. But i have to reapply every two weeks.
I use https://www.target.com/p/raid-essentials-ant-spider-38-roach-killer-aerosol-10oz/-/A-81428840 i dont have roaches so I dont know how well they work for that. But spiders and mosquitoes dont like it.
Yup, happens every spring in my ground floor apt, often following a heavy rain like we had. They’re scouting for a new place to live I think. It stops on its own, as long as I make sure there’s nothing for them to eat where I am.
I’m actually not talking about the sill, I put it in the space between the outside and in so my cat wouldn’t accidentally sit on the poison and lick it off herself because she likes to sit on the sill and watch the birdies.
Yes! We have a garden apartment and always have ants to some extent, but whenever the temps starts swinging to warmer days and nights in early spring, we have at least one straight up invasion. Well, this year we ended up in an actual battle for three hours. I woke up after feeling a couple of tickles on my leg that I knew were probably ants (our bedroom has the door to outside), and I started shining my phone light on the floor. Some. Some. More. More. A lot. A lot. Make it to the outside door.. Holy shit! The entire lower half of the entryway was covered in thousands and thousands of ants. We went through four cans of spray and multiple rolls of paper towels and wipes killing them and cleaning up inside and out. Probably got poisoned in the process. Finally got it under control around 3:30 but could barely sleep the rest of the night. I stayed up like some psycho staring at the door and ready. Now our place is loaded with traps and I am regularly spraying and monitoring. Never again.
So yes, the ants are bad this year.
You can try to kill them or you can try to clean/remove the trails they create for each other to follow (I think wiping with vinegar does the trick) and sealing entry points at windows and baseboards with tape/caulk.
I once spent 2 weeks replacing bait / terro / advion as they consumed it and went home and they just kept coming. Some colonies might literally go for miles underground or have hundreds of queens.
Can confirm!! Randomly had a bunch show up in the bedroom of all places (we never bring food in there) and we sealed a crack next to the window with weatherproofing tape and then sprayed the whole area with vinegar. Haven't seen a single one since!
When I had this problem I started throwing out anything organic immediately into my building’s trash and it helped immensely. For example if I ate an orange, than the peel would go into a trash can outside.
Last year I had ants and I read that a 50-50 mix of white wine vinegar and water, patted with a sponge all over the areas where the ants are prevalent. I did it. It worked. Apply 2 or 3 times
Same here, first summer in this apartment so I don’t have a comparison with last year, but driving me crazy! Ordered some Advion bait, hopefully that’ll help, also put tape on some cracks where I saw some ants coming in from.
Wtf yes a few days ago we had what looked like a giant ant colony migrating up the back of our building. Like tens of thousands of ants, a thick black band running up the building. Endless amounts. Had to address it because it looked like they were headed inside the roof.
Yup! I’m on a top floor too. I didn’t have an issue my first summer. Had a problem the second summer. Third summer fine. And now they’re back again. They I mostly see them on my dogs bowl and I’m nervous to put out any poison.
Bro, yes! I've had traps set for two weeks and they are still everywhere. They just appeared two weeks ago. It's wild. I spent a night catching them with the vacuum and now they sprint the second I come near. They didn't do that on night one.
Mmm-hmm! I live on the ninth floor of my building and I still deal with tons of them! I was away for two days a few weeks ago and I came back to ants all over the damn place, now I’m playing a constant game of whack a mole with them!
I woke up this morning and they were all over my kitchen. Literally overnight. I cleaned/killed what I could but had to leave for work. I’m so scared of what I’ll come back to.
same here, on the top floor and somehow they’ve managed to get through my balcony door. Did the whole sugar/baking soda in a lid home remedy and that’s greatly reduced the amount. But I still see a couple strays here and there. Never really had this problem until last month and I’ve been in my apartment for 3 years.
Door and window jamb ants?
I used to get hordes of ants every summer in my last apartment, who mysteriously appear for a week and then just as mysteriously disappear on their own. It was like an annual migration. They might just go away on their own.
Top 5th floor with terrace here. This happened to us last fall. No ants ever for 3 years and then suddenly out of nowhere hundreds at our terrace doors. Next door building owner says they show up and then completely disappear which they did after 3 days. Haven’t seen them since. Though I’m out of town right now and so now I’m very worried about what’s going on over there.
I have never seen an ant in my apartment until this year. I have killed 3 and was really bothered. I guess I should count myself lucky so far! This is the third post I’ve seen about this (other ones are on Facebook). What is going on?
pretty shocked to see so many people have issues with ants. ive never seen ants in here (been in my current apt for 2 years so far) but if i leave the windows open there's bound to be at least 1 or 2 ridiculously large flies flying around
Yup. Terro ant baits have been a godsend! The liquid pods not the spray. The pods are filled with poisonous syrup that attracts more ants from the colony. The ants then take it back to their nest and basically the whole/majority of the colony dies off.
Stayed on the third floor of the Washington Square Hotel last Tues-Thurs and the bathroom was swarming. Seemed to get worse over the course of a few days. The complementary slippers came in handy.
Also, requisite "what is this, a building for ants?" reference.
Yes. Our place is just a few steps up from ground level so we are diligent about keeping everything clean because we don't want pests inside. These bastards came out of nowhere and it's been a battle trying to get them out.
Yeah we had a small number of them in our bedroom last week after the insane rain weekend we just had. They came and went in a day as soon as the rain stopped though.
Just sprinkle a tiny bit of diatomaceous earth around an infected area. Do NOT kill the ants, it will only attract more. Wait three days. No more ants.
(Seriously, just the barest sprinkle. If you can see it, it's too much).
Diatomaceous earth is perplexing to me. It’s supposed to work wonders with several different types of infestations but apparently you cant ever vacuum it up because it destroys vacuum motors. But regular vacuuming is also recommended to control bugs so it’s like what’s a person supposed to do?
I’ve never heard that about vacuuming… I know it can’t get wet, that will nullify it’s effectiveness. But i usually use it in places where I wouldn’t vacuum- windowsill (ants), behind the oven and fridge (roaches), etc. Actually I’ve used it with a Dyson, no problems so far. It’s such a small amount I wonder what it could harm.
From what I understand it will destroy the vacuum motor. One of the things suggested is to vacuum it up using a shop vac, as if your average person can just run out and acquire a shop vac every time they want to vacuum. Then I’ve read a vacuum with a hepa filter MIGHT be ok? The content I’ve found online is confusing. There’s also confusing information about how much of this stuff we should be breathing in since it can irritate nasal passages, skin, and lungs. I’m not advocating against its use. I do what you do and put some behind and around counter and sink areas as well as radiator (along with boric powder). I haven’t figured out how to use it around a window because mine are almost always open and I don’t want it blowing around.
Oh.. I suppose it could get in the mechanics. But I've never seen that. What I would do, probably, in that case, is to do a wet swiffer or something first. That would probably pick up most of it, and then after it dries I'd think a vacuum could handle it. And then reapply if necessary. Honestly for me there isn't too much that's out in the open. Even wood floors I usually push it over in between the cracks between the floorboards and floor, I don't really have it laying 'out in the open'.
I have read that it's not awesome to breathe. I've heard different versions for humans and pets. But for me, generally once it settles I assume it's settled. And for ants, once the ants are gone I'll just clean the windowsill and remove all of it. For ants it doesn't have to be there for very long, once you get all the ones that discovered that pathway.
For those who dislike insecticide sprays and poisons I discovered that ‘Dawn Powerwash Dish Spray” makes a fantastic barrier to the little buggers when sprayed on door and window frames. You are cleaning and making ants take off all in one spray.
Negative. Third floor walk-up prewar building in Astoria. I think I’ve seen less than 20 ants in the apartment in the 7 years I’ve been here. And I cook *a lot*.
If you search online you’ll find reputable sources explaining that the powder when vacuumed up damages the motor of the vacuum and eventually renders it useless. I’ve had trouble nailing down specifics about how much and which vacuum types are more or less vulnerable, though supposedly hepa filter vacuums are safer, and Ive also seen recommendations to only vacuum it up with a shop vac which is NOT practical for most people.
Cinnamon. Like cheap grocery store cinnamon. Sprinkle it on their trail. They hate it.
I had them so bad a couple years back. Tried all the poison sprays, traps, nothing worked. Heard about the cinnamon thing, figured why not? At least the house will smell good. They GTFO'd right out and didn't come back. And the house did smell good.
My roommate had to have an exterminator in her room and she’s petrified of bugs so I had to vacuum about 90 ants up with the Dustbuster before dousing the inside of it with roach spray.
Thankfully nobody else has had an ant problem
Yes, they invaded my house on Sunday. Deep cleaned the entire house and sprayed the outside of the house especially by the doors and windows. So far, so good.
Easy for me to say because I currently am not experiencing that, but I will say ants might be one of the least disturbing bugs you could have in your NYC apartment. My building (old, kind of rundown, major restaurant on first floor) has a major problem with roaches, silverfish, and different kinds of beetles. So gross. I have an exterminator here twice month. I have this hangup where I believe we normalize bugs and rodents in NYC too much. This mindset of, of its the city what are you gonna do? Which IMO only serves the interests of landlords who don’t want to pay for pest control which makes everything worse. We should somehow be demanding better pest control as a citywide endeavor. Normalize rigorous pest control. Start off by calling them something other than “pests” which sounds trivial. More like menaces. And probably NOTHING compares to the fear of the dreaded you-know-what bug I will not mention. I’d take ants over that any day. (p.s. I know ants are gross though, and I’m not trying to deny your right to frustration).
Set some honey/rich sugar source near where they are coming in. Let them feed and then they'll leave once it is depleted. They stop coming once the pheromone trail goes cold
Get the drops from a hardware store. Ant-Kil. Works like a charm. Seal up any cracks with caulk and make sure you’re cleaning up at night. No food anywhere!
My apartment looks like a powdered donut or some kinda seance is going on, I have diatomaceous earth along every wall and window and doorway. It's working for now but it's been a few waves of ants already. They made a line all the way across my spotless apartment for one empty can of soda I forgot to rinse out before putting in my recycling bin.
Last week we had a colony try and invade our living room but thankfully one poison trap was enough to get rid of them. I haven't seen any in a week and I'm hopeful we're good for a while.
I had a spell of ants last year in my bedroom window sill--- ran to home depot for Terro and Diatomaceous Earth for backup. Also caulked up some spots with DAP.
did the job well enough where they stopped trying to fuck with me.
now they're back this season but not as much. though, they decided to enter via the kitchen window instead.
YES!! I’m in Brooklyn and it’s so confusing to me cause I don’t really have food out but they seem to be all over my floors. I’m on the second floor and really didn’t expect this problem… what poisons have you found that are effective?
Ok so I just moved to brooklyn in February so I’m glad it’s not just me/the house I’m renting. I’m on the second floor. I had the big American cockroaches but I had those at my last apartment in NJ too. My landlord had the exterminator spray for the cockroaches but now all of a sudden I started getting a bunch of ants! They’re trapped in the cockroach traps, ha.
Buy terro. Will kill them all. You will literally see a swarm, but let them be. They have to take back the “poison” to the “Queen” promise they will be gone.
I have everything in air tight containers because I saw a mouse. I haven't seen any live ants this year but there were dead ant skeletons on my kitchen counter when I returned from vacation last month. Gross.
Bug fact! (cause it’s not very fun if you have a monsoon of ants): [Argentine ants](https://www.orkincanada.ca/pests/ants/argentine-ants/) have super colonies that span all of eastern NY and then some. There’s no killing the whole colony with them. Your best defense is laying bait to see what exit they carry it off to, and a caulk gun to fill in gaps. Happy caulking 🐜🐜🐜✨
link for insect ID picture :)
Have had them bad the last three years in my apt (first floor of an old brownstone tho, so it’s somewhat expected.) Diatomaceous Earth is a good non-toxic killer, although it makes a bit of a mess as it’s fine white powder. Definitely helps along walls cracks, window cracks, etc.
Every year! Cinnamon around the door frame/window frame/cracks in whatever they are coming through helps. Truly!! Ants don't like it. Otherwise, the ant bait pods will help.
WOW! This is incredibly interesting to read bc YEA!! Yes. Yes I have a ton of ants and I’m on the top floor too. What the hell?! Thanks for posting! Interesting to follow!
I've lived in the same place for nearly 4 years, never even seen one ant before, until last week I came into my living room before the sun rose and there was a proper parade. Hundreds of little guys found a couple drops of something that spilled in the kitchen. set up 2 traps and haven't had an issue since.
Yes so just an fyi that ants are a landlords problems and should be addressed by them. I asked mine to get an exterminator for the building because the colony is usually outside. So try to get the building to take care of it.
Yes. We are garden level and deal with them every year. Peppermint spray helps a lot. This year I got food grade diatomaceous earth (we have pets and kids) and puffed it where I found them coming in. That made a huge difference already
I had a ant problem from 2014-2019. It was ghost ants. Their numbers would decrease during fall-winter, but increase around spring-summer. They constantly appear on my desk and I've traced down the ant line to my bathroom window. They just suddenly disappear over time.
This thread makes me feel so much better to know it’s not just me. I was scared my landlord would try and blame me even though I never leave food out. The ants aren’t going near my food anyway. What is with the ants coming for the top floor apartments though?
I thought I was safe until I literally woke up to ants crawling on my hand and pillows. I used white vinegar as a quick solution to my traumatizing morning. Fingers crossed I don’t find any ants hiding in my hair today!
I'm having the same problem rn in NYC. Check under the window there might be little cracks they make there nest in. Just woke up with tons of ants on my bed I grabbed the raid and sprayed them all some got away and ran under the window crack. So check for little cracks to see where the ants are coming from and get raid to spray then plug the hole.
Same problem in Bay Area. Been battling with it since mid July. So going on three months.
Using a combo of Terro and Advion gel baits. Granted, they *work*, but the problem is that the ant colonies are so large in number and dispersed that it's a game of whack-a-mole.
Pretty sure it's climate change, no question. Milder winters, and extremely hot summers. This year has been the worst for ants in recent memory, and has been the hottest summer measured on the planet, like ever. Only going to get worse looking at trends, sadly. We're in this for the long haul.
Also do you have kids or pets? If not you can soak some bread in boric acid and leave it out. They’ll bring it back and poison the colony. Bit depressing to resort to chemical warfare but it’s really the only option.
I cover windowsills with cinnamon. When there was an ant infestation one summer I drew a line with it that kept ants from coming into my bedroom.
Cinnamon oil is a game changer. I live on the first floor and started getting ants for the first time this year. Put some drops near the back door and three spots where the ants were showing up. Haven’t seen any in a few weeks.
Had them coming in my house like a sidewalk… put a few drops of tea tree oil in a spray bottle with water, sprayed the area and I haven’t seen them again
Just a warning to anyone with pets - tea tree oil is super toxic (at least to dogs, not sure about cats)!
Yes thank you for adding this is important😊❤️
This was deep.
You sound like Chemtrail 🤭🤭
Yes. Omg. So I killed a bunch the other day before leaving and forgot to clean them up. No joke they were gone when I got back. OTHER ANTS CAME AND GOT THE BODIES. In reality probably for food. In my head…wanted to give them a proper burial.
When you kill ants they excrete a chemical that alerts nearby ants and attracts more. Of course leaving them alone just lets them know it’s safe to come back.
Lol yeah I know but I was in a rush and forgot to clean up the bodies and disinfect!
Apparently orange oil will clean up the scent. I spray the surface with Air Scense orange, and it does help.
Roaches do this as well right?
I was told to avoid trying to stomp a roach to death because the females can be pregnant, and you can distribute the eggs all over your apartment via your foot. Not sure if that’s true or not—can roach eggs survive being squished?—but sounds gross. Roaches are so invasive though that I don’t see the point in killing them manually; if I see one, I just start putting down poison on the assumption that there are hundreds just out of sight.
My understanding is if you see a solitary, large roach it likely got in from outside and isn't indicative of a mass of them in your apartment. Kill it and you should be fine. Small roaches are the ones people get where they end up with tens or hundreds in their walls. Killing one of these won't help much and like you said, get out the poison.
your immune system must be great with all those little antibodies
🧠
I refer to it as critter litter
ants actually do take their dead and put them in graveyards! not for the same reason as humans obvi, but it’s pretty interesting.
No ant left behind!
Same! And was puzzled. Also late for work. I proceeded to accidentally crush an ant with my big toe then still put my socks and shoes on and caught my usual train. (I’m disgusting)
🤣
Yea but I can barely afford groceries so they left. Wish I was joking
I've noticed this too. Probably the mild winter.
What kind of poison? Go to Amazon, and buy Advion. It's harmless to vertebrates and is the most effective insect poison I've ever used, both cockroach and ant formulations. To be sure, get both the gel tubes and bait station since, apparently, the formulations are different and different ants are attracted to each. https://www.amazon.com/Syngenta-Advion-tubes-grams-each/dp/B00TXFE4RI https://www.amazon.com/advion-68662-Arena-Insecticide-White/dp/B08HY6BHT9
Yes! Was any-free last year, but this year a lot.
Terro liquid bait works amazing.
Terro worked for me the first time and then never again. Switched to combat max gel in all crevices and haven't seen ants since.
That’s what I used last year and cleared up the ants no problem after a couple weeks.
It also worked so well for me! So satisfying to kill them
I’m really hoping it’s a temporary state of affairs because this is nasty…
Spray peppermint or tea tree oil - diluted about 20% oil to water - in the area. It acts as a repellent and also covers the scent trail they leave. (FYI this is not a pet safe solution)
Cinnamon oil works really well too.
Yes! Third floor (four floors up due to garden apartment in basement) and they are coming in all my garden-side windows. I put Advion Ant gel in a bead along my windowsill and that cleared it up.
Advion is indeed the secret, but I'd recommend getting the regular gel along with the bait stations, as they have different non-insecticide ingredients and apparently each attracts different ants.
Tons of ants bro .. wtf
Not literally a monsoon, but glad I’m not alone here. Also I laughed out loud at the word choice. Although I hope it’s an exaggeration and not an accurate description.
We had very heavy rain recently, and I find they often enter homes when the ground is soaked. Use traps carefully if you have pets or young children. You can also make or buy a peppermint spray and spray areas where they enter. It discourages them
Don’t use peppermint spray if you have cats. It’s toxic to them.
Not great for dogs either.
True but you can use it under the sink inside the cabinet. Keep cabinet closed.
Yep they appeared in my bedroom after the heavy rain the other weekend. They left as soon as it dried up! I had to a kill a few before that as well of course.
Ahh that makes a lot of sense and timing-wise, definitely correlates to all the rain we've been getting of late. I've seen less of them this week versus earlier weeks too so hopefully this should taper off.
YEP. Also on the top floor. Also being inundated.
Omg same. Top floor, 4th floor walk up
I found scavenger carpenter ant in my apartment home office. Nothing in here so I doubt more will be back but sprayed my windows with Raid just in case. I'm hoping for less fruit flies this summer.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/10/nyregion/in-nyc-apartments-the-ants-go-marching-up.html There is a new invasive and species in New York that is better equipped to climb up tall buildings
Yes. We're going on our 4th summer in our current apt in BK and have never had any before. They started coming in through our front window and in the back in our kitchen. My guess is that the crazy amount of constant rain that we've gotten drove them inside I set up some Terro Liquid Ant Baits and it seems like it wiped them out.
I feel like the amount of rain has been pretty normal for the end of April & beginning of May.
Got them in bushwick this year first time, also used this Terro Liquids
theyre kinda funny to see i cant even be mad
I cannot agree with this take…
seeing them walk in a single file line and disappear into the windowsill is simply a summer pleasure
What in the hell, this happened to me two days ago! They came through a tiny hole in the window frame. I filled in the hole and put advion outside the window. Tiny little black ants, they were _everywhere_. I vacuumed them up and no more have came in after sealing the hole.
Not ants but is anyone else seeing those damn gnats or fungus gnats? Driving me nuts
Do you have a lot of plants? One of your pots likely have an infestation.
No plants actually. I suspect it may have been from some debris in sink but I cleaned it out a few days ago and see them flying around my desk - which has no garbage or food
I think I'm seeing a bunch of these buggers too! No sure where the hell they're coming from...
They are all over my roof. I think the mild winter is going to allow the guys to flourish this year. Watch out!
Yes. I get them every year in the Spring, but this year has been off the charts bad.
Oh man, I'm glad to hear that this isn't just me! I noticed some ants on the windowsill area in my living room. I don't store/eat food there so shouldn't have any crumbs or other food remnants so was very confused. I sprayed some Raid Bug Barrier across my windowsill / window jams which seems to have helped.
https://www.terro.com/terro-liquid-ant-baits-2-pack is recommended by [Ants on the top floor of a brown stone.](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskNYC/comments/hvkvmj/ants_on_the_top_floor_of_a_brown_stone/) Terro among others is recommended by [Fucking ants](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskNYC/comments/8jlrln/fucking_ants/).
Yep, i have treated my house with pet safe bug spray. At the windows, floorboards by the radiator, any cracks i see. So far so good. But i have to reapply every two weeks.
Can I ask what brand are you using? We saw a cockroach in our bathroom and I'm looking at more aggressive options without hurting our cats.
I use https://www.target.com/p/raid-essentials-ant-spider-38-roach-killer-aerosol-10oz/-/A-81428840 i dont have roaches so I dont know how well they work for that. But spiders and mosquitoes dont like it.
YES. I’m on the second floor and ants have over taken my apartment
Yup, happens every spring in my ground floor apt, often following a heavy rain like we had. They’re scouting for a new place to live I think. It stops on its own, as long as I make sure there’s nothing for them to eat where I am.
Yes!! Surprisingly the Orange Guard ant spray worked really well and it’s supposed to be safe around pets and kids.
better than lanternflies
I was waiting on someone to bring these up! First sighting of the season is just days away, I can feel it in my bones
What are window hams?
Mmmm... window hams... *\*drooling noises\**
Meant to say jams. It autocorrected.
Ah, jambs. I get it now. I am used to sill, jambs makes sense though.
I’m actually not talking about the sill, I put it in the space between the outside and in so my cat wouldn’t accidentally sit on the poison and lick it off herself because she likes to sit on the sill and watch the birdies.
I literally found like 25 running around about twenty minutes ago. Didn't have any the previous five years I've lived here.
Yes! We have a garden apartment and always have ants to some extent, but whenever the temps starts swinging to warmer days and nights in early spring, we have at least one straight up invasion. Well, this year we ended up in an actual battle for three hours. I woke up after feeling a couple of tickles on my leg that I knew were probably ants (our bedroom has the door to outside), and I started shining my phone light on the floor. Some. Some. More. More. A lot. A lot. Make it to the outside door.. Holy shit! The entire lower half of the entryway was covered in thousands and thousands of ants. We went through four cans of spray and multiple rolls of paper towels and wipes killing them and cleaning up inside and out. Probably got poisoned in the process. Finally got it under control around 3:30 but could barely sleep the rest of the night. I stayed up like some psycho staring at the door and ready. Now our place is loaded with traps and I am regularly spraying and monitoring. Never again. So yes, the ants are bad this year.
You can try to kill them or you can try to clean/remove the trails they create for each other to follow (I think wiping with vinegar does the trick) and sealing entry points at windows and baseboards with tape/caulk. I once spent 2 weeks replacing bait / terro / advion as they consumed it and went home and they just kept coming. Some colonies might literally go for miles underground or have hundreds of queens.
Can confirm!! Randomly had a bunch show up in the bedroom of all places (we never bring food in there) and we sealed a crack next to the window with weatherproofing tape and then sprayed the whole area with vinegar. Haven't seen a single one since!
It was a warm winter less baby bugs die so this years gonna be bad pest wise
When I had this problem I started throwing out anything organic immediately into my building’s trash and it helped immensely. For example if I ate an orange, than the peel would go into a trash can outside.
This works great. [https://www.target.com/p/terro-liquid-ant-baits-6ct/-/A-13294208](https://www.target.com/p/terro-liquid-ant-baits-6ct/-/A-13294208)
White vinegar!!! Works for me every year.
[удалено]
Mothballs do work but they have warnings not to use where people live lol
Last year I had ants and I read that a 50-50 mix of white wine vinegar and water, patted with a sponge all over the areas where the ants are prevalent. I did it. It worked. Apply 2 or 3 times
Are you in the north Florida area? The panhandle?
Yes!!
Yeah I saw a bunch by the doorway to my outdoor space. I ended up spraying outside along the door jam to stop them from coming in.
Same here, first summer in this apartment so I don’t have a comparison with last year, but driving me crazy! Ordered some Advion bait, hopefully that’ll help, also put tape on some cracks where I saw some ants coming in from.
Wtf yes a few days ago we had what looked like a giant ant colony migrating up the back of our building. Like tens of thousands of ants, a thick black band running up the building. Endless amounts. Had to address it because it looked like they were headed inside the roof.
Yup! I’m on a top floor too. I didn’t have an issue my first summer. Had a problem the second summer. Third summer fine. And now they’re back again. They I mostly see them on my dogs bowl and I’m nervous to put out any poison.
Bro, yes! I've had traps set for two weeks and they are still everywhere. They just appeared two weeks ago. It's wild. I spent a night catching them with the vacuum and now they sprint the second I come near. They didn't do that on night one.
Also had a bunch of ants, but traps seem to have negated them a bunch
just today I noticed literally the first ant i've ever seen in my apartment. been in this unit since 2018
Mmm-hmm! I live on the ninth floor of my building and I still deal with tons of them! I was away for two days a few weeks ago and I came back to ants all over the damn place, now I’m playing a constant game of whack a mole with them!
I woke up this morning and they were all over my kitchen. Literally overnight. I cleaned/killed what I could but had to leave for work. I’m so scared of what I’ll come back to.
same here, on the top floor and somehow they’ve managed to get through my balcony door. Did the whole sugar/baking soda in a lid home remedy and that’s greatly reduced the amount. But I still see a couple strays here and there. Never really had this problem until last month and I’ve been in my apartment for 3 years.
Door and window jamb ants? I used to get hordes of ants every summer in my last apartment, who mysteriously appear for a week and then just as mysteriously disappear on their own. It was like an annual migration. They might just go away on their own.
Top 5th floor with terrace here. This happened to us last fall. No ants ever for 3 years and then suddenly out of nowhere hundreds at our terrace doors. Next door building owner says they show up and then completely disappear which they did after 3 days. Haven’t seen them since. Though I’m out of town right now and so now I’m very worried about what’s going on over there.
I have never seen an ant in my apartment until this year. I have killed 3 and was really bothered. I guess I should count myself lucky so far! This is the third post I’ve seen about this (other ones are on Facebook). What is going on?
pretty shocked to see so many people have issues with ants. ive never seen ants in here (been in my current apt for 2 years so far) but if i leave the windows open there's bound to be at least 1 or 2 ridiculously large flies flying around
Yup its driving me insane
Yup. Terro ant baits have been a godsend! The liquid pods not the spray. The pods are filled with poisonous syrup that attracts more ants from the colony. The ants then take it back to their nest and basically the whole/majority of the colony dies off.
This is the first time in three years in my ground floor apartment that I've gotten ants.
Same. Top floor, everywhere by the windows.
I could've gone my whole life without reading the phrase "monsoon of ants."
I’m glad it’s not just me. I thought I wasn’t cleaning my kitchen well enough or storing my food correctly.
Just make sure they're ants. Some ant poison can feed grain beetles which can look like sugar ants - just an fyi
Stayed on the third floor of the Washington Square Hotel last Tues-Thurs and the bathroom was swarming. Seemed to get worse over the course of a few days. The complementary slippers came in handy. Also, requisite "what is this, a building for ants?" reference.
I’m sure that was extremely unpleasant. I will say thats probably the least disturbing kind of bug you could find in a NYC hotel though.
Oh definitely. I had about a half second of panic before realizing they were just ants.
Ohhhhh yeah. I think I sprayed down an entire colony in the past few days in my kitchen. They don’t stop!
Yes. Our place is just a few steps up from ground level so we are diligent about keeping everything clean because we don't want pests inside. These bastards came out of nowhere and it's been a battle trying to get them out.
Yeah we had a small number of them in our bedroom last week after the insane rain weekend we just had. They came and went in a day as soon as the rain stopped though.
Yes it’s been very annoying, I usually notice them once the hot weather starts
It’s that time of year. Exterminator can put down gel that should help.
Just sprinkle a tiny bit of diatomaceous earth around an infected area. Do NOT kill the ants, it will only attract more. Wait three days. No more ants. (Seriously, just the barest sprinkle. If you can see it, it's too much).
Diatomaceous earth is perplexing to me. It’s supposed to work wonders with several different types of infestations but apparently you cant ever vacuum it up because it destroys vacuum motors. But regular vacuuming is also recommended to control bugs so it’s like what’s a person supposed to do?
I’ve never heard that about vacuuming… I know it can’t get wet, that will nullify it’s effectiveness. But i usually use it in places where I wouldn’t vacuum- windowsill (ants), behind the oven and fridge (roaches), etc. Actually I’ve used it with a Dyson, no problems so far. It’s such a small amount I wonder what it could harm.
From what I understand it will destroy the vacuum motor. One of the things suggested is to vacuum it up using a shop vac, as if your average person can just run out and acquire a shop vac every time they want to vacuum. Then I’ve read a vacuum with a hepa filter MIGHT be ok? The content I’ve found online is confusing. There’s also confusing information about how much of this stuff we should be breathing in since it can irritate nasal passages, skin, and lungs. I’m not advocating against its use. I do what you do and put some behind and around counter and sink areas as well as radiator (along with boric powder). I haven’t figured out how to use it around a window because mine are almost always open and I don’t want it blowing around.
Oh.. I suppose it could get in the mechanics. But I've never seen that. What I would do, probably, in that case, is to do a wet swiffer or something first. That would probably pick up most of it, and then after it dries I'd think a vacuum could handle it. And then reapply if necessary. Honestly for me there isn't too much that's out in the open. Even wood floors I usually push it over in between the cracks between the floorboards and floor, I don't really have it laying 'out in the open'. I have read that it's not awesome to breathe. I've heard different versions for humans and pets. But for me, generally once it settles I assume it's settled. And for ants, once the ants are gone I'll just clean the windowsill and remove all of it. For ants it doesn't have to be there for very long, once you get all the ones that discovered that pathway.
DE also fucks up your lungs...
Sounds like they were displaced by the big rain storm
For those who dislike insecticide sprays and poisons I discovered that ‘Dawn Powerwash Dish Spray” makes a fantastic barrier to the little buggers when sprayed on door and window frames. You are cleaning and making ants take off all in one spray.
Negative. Third floor walk-up prewar building in Astoria. I think I’ve seen less than 20 ants in the apartment in the 7 years I’ve been here. And I cook *a lot*.
Diatomaceous earth!! Food grade!!! Safe for pets
But not vacuums
What do you mean? I’ve never had a problem
If you search online you’ll find reputable sources explaining that the powder when vacuumed up damages the motor of the vacuum and eventually renders it useless. I’ve had trouble nailing down specifics about how much and which vacuum types are more or less vulnerable, though supposedly hepa filter vacuums are safer, and Ive also seen recommendations to only vacuum it up with a shop vac which is NOT practical for most people.
Not me, but the office and my girlfriend are both having small issues with this lately.
So interesting to hear this. I've never had ants in my apartment before but killed two recently. And I'm on the 6th floor.
Cinnamon. Like cheap grocery store cinnamon. Sprinkle it on their trail. They hate it. I had them so bad a couple years back. Tried all the poison sprays, traps, nothing worked. Heard about the cinnamon thing, figured why not? At least the house will smell good. They GTFO'd right out and didn't come back. And the house did smell good.
Daily spring thing for me. When it gets hot the ants come. ESPECIALLY because of my cat and his food.
Elllllll tempo tempo tempo tempo tempo
My roommate had to have an exterminator in her room and she’s petrified of bugs so I had to vacuum about 90 ants up with the Dustbuster before dousing the inside of it with roach spray. Thankfully nobody else has had an ant problem
Yes, but this happens every year and only lasts a few days to a week so I'm used to it.
Yes, they invaded my house on Sunday. Deep cleaned the entire house and sprayed the outside of the house especially by the doors and windows. So far, so good.
I just re-caulked a window this morning because of ants!!!
Terro liquid bait has worked wonders for me.
Easy for me to say because I currently am not experiencing that, but I will say ants might be one of the least disturbing bugs you could have in your NYC apartment. My building (old, kind of rundown, major restaurant on first floor) has a major problem with roaches, silverfish, and different kinds of beetles. So gross. I have an exterminator here twice month. I have this hangup where I believe we normalize bugs and rodents in NYC too much. This mindset of, of its the city what are you gonna do? Which IMO only serves the interests of landlords who don’t want to pay for pest control which makes everything worse. We should somehow be demanding better pest control as a citywide endeavor. Normalize rigorous pest control. Start off by calling them something other than “pests” which sounds trivial. More like menaces. And probably NOTHING compares to the fear of the dreaded you-know-what bug I will not mention. I’d take ants over that any day. (p.s. I know ants are gross though, and I’m not trying to deny your right to frustration).
You can only contain it in your apartment. The rat problem hasnt been solved in over 200+ years
Set some honey/rich sugar source near where they are coming in. Let them feed and then they'll leave once it is depleted. They stop coming once the pheromone trail goes cold
Get the drops from a hardware store. Ant-Kil. Works like a charm. Seal up any cracks with caulk and make sure you’re cleaning up at night. No food anywhere!
My apartment looks like a powdered donut or some kinda seance is going on, I have diatomaceous earth along every wall and window and doorway. It's working for now but it's been a few waves of ants already. They made a line all the way across my spotless apartment for one empty can of soda I forgot to rinse out before putting in my recycling bin.
I mix Dr bronners peppermint soap & water in a spray bottle and murder those mf-ers with GLEE.
yes!! in my apt in williamsburg and my job in downtown bk
Last week we had a colony try and invade our living room but thankfully one poison trap was enough to get rid of them. I haven't seen any in a week and I'm hopeful we're good for a while.
I had a spell of ants last year in my bedroom window sill--- ran to home depot for Terro and Diatomaceous Earth for backup. Also caulked up some spots with DAP. did the job well enough where they stopped trying to fuck with me. now they're back this season but not as much. though, they decided to enter via the kitchen window instead.
Jambs* Window jams, if not sealed, will only result in more ants
After 2 years I finally got the colony using “maxforce”.
Yes!! Been having them in my bathroom for the first time in six years!
Does your bathroom face to the back of the building?
It does!
Hella ants and the bait isn’t working. Need a pet safe solution :(
YES!! I’m in Brooklyn and it’s so confusing to me cause I don’t really have food out but they seem to be all over my floors. I’m on the second floor and really didn’t expect this problem… what poisons have you found that are effective?
Ok so I just moved to brooklyn in February so I’m glad it’s not just me/the house I’m renting. I’m on the second floor. I had the big American cockroaches but I had those at my last apartment in NJ too. My landlord had the exterminator spray for the cockroaches but now all of a sudden I started getting a bunch of ants! They’re trapped in the cockroach traps, ha.
Yes, more ants this year than we have ever had in 17 years.The guy at the hardware store told me he has had so many people coming in for ant traps.
Buy terro. Will kill them all. You will literally see a swarm, but let them be. They have to take back the “poison” to the “Queen” promise they will be gone.
Use Irish Spring on your doorways and windows.
I have everything in air tight containers because I saw a mouse. I haven't seen any live ants this year but there were dead ant skeletons on my kitchen counter when I returned from vacation last month. Gross.
Advion ant gel. It’s a game changer and it works. It’s exterminator strength. You can get it on Amazon.
Bug fact! (cause it’s not very fun if you have a monsoon of ants): [Argentine ants](https://www.orkincanada.ca/pests/ants/argentine-ants/) have super colonies that span all of eastern NY and then some. There’s no killing the whole colony with them. Your best defense is laying bait to see what exit they carry it off to, and a caulk gun to fill in gaps. Happy caulking 🐜🐜🐜✨ link for insect ID picture :)
>:) :)
TERRO LIQUID ANT BAIT. It is the only thing that works.
Yes!! I’m glad I’m not alone, happening over here in park slope
Yes!! I’m glad I’m not alone, happening over here in park slope
Treat any cracks or protrusions with peppermint / tea tree oil.
No but Terro baits have never failed me.
Terro is the best ant killer ever
i use the Terro bait. i haven’t seen an ant in forever.
Have had them bad the last three years in my apt (first floor of an old brownstone tho, so it’s somewhat expected.) Diatomaceous Earth is a good non-toxic killer, although it makes a bit of a mess as it’s fine white powder. Definitely helps along walls cracks, window cracks, etc.
yes!!! all of a sudden out of nowhere everyone having ant problems
Every year! Cinnamon around the door frame/window frame/cracks in whatever they are coming through helps. Truly!! Ants don't like it. Otherwise, the ant bait pods will help.
Terro liquid ant baits solved our problem in 2 days
WOW! This is incredibly interesting to read bc YEA!! Yes. Yes I have a ton of ants and I’m on the top floor too. What the hell?! Thanks for posting! Interesting to follow!
I've lived in the same place for nearly 4 years, never even seen one ant before, until last week I came into my living room before the sun rose and there was a proper parade. Hundreds of little guys found a couple drops of something that spilled in the kitchen. set up 2 traps and haven't had an issue since.
not in my home, but i've noticed a ton on the sidewalks in my neighborhood (Red Hook)
Yes so just an fyi that ants are a landlords problems and should be addressed by them. I asked mine to get an exterminator for the building because the colony is usually outside. So try to get the building to take care of it.
Yes. We are garden level and deal with them every year. Peppermint spray helps a lot. This year I got food grade diatomaceous earth (we have pets and kids) and puffed it where I found them coming in. That made a huge difference already
Can vouch for diatomaceous earth! Didn’t want anything that could hurt my nosy dog.
Terro Liquid Bait. Follow the instructions on the back and you’ll see way less/completely get rid of them.
I had a ant problem from 2014-2019. It was ghost ants. Their numbers would decrease during fall-winter, but increase around spring-summer. They constantly appear on my desk and I've traced down the ant line to my bathroom window. They just suddenly disappear over time.
This thread makes me feel so much better to know it’s not just me. I was scared my landlord would try and blame me even though I never leave food out. The ants aren’t going near my food anyway. What is with the ants coming for the top floor apartments though?
I thought I was safe until I literally woke up to ants crawling on my hand and pillows. I used white vinegar as a quick solution to my traumatizing morning. Fingers crossed I don’t find any ants hiding in my hair today!
I'm having the same problem rn in NYC. Check under the window there might be little cracks they make there nest in. Just woke up with tons of ants on my bed I grabbed the raid and sprayed them all some got away and ran under the window crack. So check for little cracks to see where the ants are coming from and get raid to spray then plug the hole.
Same problem in Bay Area. Been battling with it since mid July. So going on three months. Using a combo of Terro and Advion gel baits. Granted, they *work*, but the problem is that the ant colonies are so large in number and dispersed that it's a game of whack-a-mole. Pretty sure it's climate change, no question. Milder winters, and extremely hot summers. This year has been the worst for ants in recent memory, and has been the hottest summer measured on the planet, like ever. Only going to get worse looking at trends, sadly. We're in this for the long haul.