Do you have ants in your kitchen? Ants are the #1 pest in the United States according to multiple surveys. And her favorite room in your house is the kitchen.

Yuck! We don’t want ants in our kitchen, so what can be done to keep them away? Several steps can ensure that these workhorses that steal your peace of mind can be banished forever. Efforts are classified into preventive and reactive efforts.

To prevent ants, the first step is to HAVE NO FOOD OUTSIDE! If you leave a dirty pan with food scraps, an uncovered cake, or even leftovers from a restaurant in a takeout box, the ants will find them. Foraging workers are constantly in search of food. If you make it easy for them, they will create a nightmare in no time.

The same goes for the trash can: make sure it’s sealed so no trackers can easily access it. Any kind of access to food is a no-no! Also, seal your pantry items securely. Place open and folded on bags of cereal, flour, sugar, etc. in sealed containers to keep them safe.

The next area to consider is the entry points to the house. Ants are experts at finding access! It can be through a window sill, under the floor molding, or along the insect superhighways of plumbing fixtures and/or electrical wires. The craziest story recently showed ants climbing up a tree that, due to the wind, periodically brushed against the kitchen window of the second floor apartment and managed to get inside! That’s especially strange since they could only transport the food source to their brethren if the winds cooperated… Seriously, very adept at gaining access!

Ensure that all access points are properly sealed, sealed and closed, by any means necessary to eliminate entry points.

Imagine you’ve put in the preventative effort but still have ants in your kitchen, here’s what you need to do to control ants…

Follow the trail of the ants to determine the entry point to the kitchen. Using a safe, non-toxic, natural pest control product, spray liberally around the point of entry. Don’t use a synthetic toxic pesticide as this is the kitchen! You don’t want a neurotoxin near your food prep!

Now go out and find that entry point from the ants’ perspective. Keep in mind that if the ants are going down a path, the point of entry into the house and kitchen may be several feet apart. Again, generously spray the entire area of ​​the entry point to keep them away.

Once you treat this area a few times, it will keep ants out of your kitchen. However, if they do find a new route (tricky little things, right?), then repeat the process of finding the entry points from the inside and the outside and treat it well.

Now you know how to keep ants out of your kitchen!