Ant control in Knysna

In Knysna, the ants come in with the weather. A wet week on the lagoon and they're over the kitchen counter, up the walls of the scullery and into the dog's bowl. Wiping them up only works until tomorrow.

Ant trails in a Knysna house keep coming back until the nests are dead, so the treatment is aimed at the nests, not the trail. Bait that acts slowly is placed on the trails and beside the nests; the workers carry it back to feed the queens and young, and the colony dies from the inside. A barrier at the points where ants get into the house holds off the next wave. Shop sprays kill what's in sight and push the survivors to break into more nests, which is how a small problem gets bigger after spraying.

We treat ants in homes, holiday houses, guest houses, restaurants and businesses across Knysna.

What draws ants into Knysna homes

Knysna's damp, mild climate and lush gardens suit ants all year. When rain soaks the ground, flooded nests in lawns, beds and paving send the ants uphill and indoors. Many Knysna homes are built on slopes, with retaining walls, terraced gardens and timber decks, all of which give ants places to nest right against the house. The forest and dense indigenous gardens around many properties add even more.

The ant behind most Knysna kitchen trails is the Argentine ant: small, plain brown, moving in neat, steady lines. It's an invasive species that lives in huge networks of nests with many queens, which is exactly why spraying makes it worse.

Ants and timber homes

Knysna's timber houses have one extra twist. Some ants nest in wall cavities, behind cladding, under timber floors and in damp, softened wood, especially where there's been a leak. If ants keep appearing from the same spot in a wall or floor, there may be a nest inside, and sometimes a damp problem behind it. Damp timber is also attractive to termites and wood borer, so it's worth a look. If winged insects swarm from a crack after rain, check what they are before you relax: our flying ants or termites guide puts the two next to each other, and termite control in Knysna picks up from there.

How we treat ants

1. Find where they're coming from Back along the trail to the entry point, and to the nests when we can.
2. Bait inside and out On the trails and near the nests. Seeing more ants on the bait for a few days is a good sign.
3. Barrier Non-staining residual treatment at door thresholds, window frames, cable and pipe entries and along the foundations.
4. Terraces and walls Nests in paving, retaining walls, garden beds and lawns close to the house.
5. What to change We'll tell you what's drawing them inside.

You can stay home, the cupboards stay packed, and when everything's dry the family and the dog can go back to normal.

Guest houses and restaurants

In a guest house kitchen, a breakfast room or a restaurant, ants are a hygiene problem and a guest-experience problem. They're drawn to sugar, jam, syrup, fruit and spills. Treatment needs care around food and prep surfaces, and timing that suits service. Through the wet season especially, a commercial pest control service with regular visits keeps them in check.

Holiday homes

Ants find holiday homes empty and quiet, and the first thing guests see is a trail across the counter to a forgotten jar of honey. A holiday home pest control visit before you arrive sorts them out, along with anything else that has moved in. And when you lock up, take every jar of jam and honey with you.

What you can do

• Use soapy water, not spray, on trails, so the nest isn't pushed to split
• Store jam, honey, sugar and pet food in sealed containers
• Rinse tins and bottles before they're recycled
• Cut back branches and creepers that touch the house
• Fix leaks and pull mulch back from the foundations
• Leave bait stations where they are and keep spray away from them

Complexes and neighbours

Argentine ant colonies don't respect boundary walls. If you're in a complex or a row of houses close together, treating several houses, or the whole complex, gives a far longer result than treating one unit. We'll gladly work with a body corporate or managing agent.

Ants in restaurants on the waterfront and in town

Restaurants and coffee shops along the waterfront and in town deal with ants most in the wet months and again in midsummer. The usual entry points are gaps where pipes come through walls, expansion joints in floors and the base of timber decks and outdoor seating areas. Sweet spills under bar counters and coffee stations keep them coming back. Cleaning those areas thoroughly at closing, and treating the entry points regularly, keeps the trails out of sight of customers.

What it costs

We price on how big the property is, how many colonies there are, where they're nesting and whether you want a single treatment or ongoing control. A single kitchen trail doesn't take long. A hillside property with nests in several terraces and retaining walls does.

Ant biology and our general approach are on the ant control page, and the rest of our Knysna work is under pest control in Knysna. Seen a trail in Knysna? Tell us about it on 044 012 5011, or through the contact page.