Ants can be a real nuisance when they swarm into your home; especially the kitchen. But the only reason why they have chosen your house is because they get food there. So they best way to get rid of ants is to stop offering a buffet to these unwelcome guests.

You may have left some crumbs on the dining table after breakfast or left a candy stick on the countertop by mistake. This is reason enough to attract ants to your house. And if you have a garden or a backyard, then ants can just barge into your house.

There are few simple steps which will help you get rid of ants.

• Always keep your house clean; especially the kitchen area. Clean the table tops and wipe out all the crumbs after each meal. Sweep the floor and throw away the crumbs into the trash can. Take the garbage out everyday.
• Do not leave ant food items open. Always seal your food in tight containers. Do not leave perishable food items on the kitchen counter; especially during summer. These foods will start to ooze out water which attracts ants.
• Get rid of any standing water around your house. Ants need water to survive so clean out any waste water. Also seal every crack in your house. These cracks are usually ant nests. Spray insecticides into those cracks and then seal them. Also spray them around your house so that the ants don’t enter from outside.
• Make a mixture of boric acid and honey with little water and place them with the help of a dropper in places where the ants visit frequently. You can also use citrus peelings and water mixture as ants cannot bear citrus. You can drop them on ant hills and see them disappear in minutes.
• Feed the ants with cornmeal, wheat or rice flour. They will eat them and also carry them to their nests. But the ants cannot digest these food items and eventually explode and die.
• If ants enter your house through windows then draw lines with chalk around your window panes and sills. This will divert the ants and they won’t enter your house.

These are effective and safe methods to get rid of ants. You don’t always have to use harmful chemicals to keep your house ant-free. Plus if you have pets and children at home then you should avoid using pesticides and use natural methods to keep your house free from ants.