View Full Version : OT: 8.8 on the scale, Cupcake Catastrophe!
My wife brought home two plates of cupcakes yesterday. You know, those really nice cupcakes with fluffy frosting and sprinkles.
We left them out on the kitchen counter. Well, this morning they were covered with 10,000 ants! Darn.
Probably better that way anyway, because I would have eaten them all in two days.
arlis_1957@yahoo.com
02-28-2010, 06:17 PM
you could avoid this if you moved to the midwest:D
robwest
02-28-2010, 06:35 PM
But not the Southwest. I've found it better to feed and water them well when they start foraging, then they go away for a month. Got cats, too risky to use sprays.
robert
02-28-2010, 06:37 PM
Ants are definitely a California thing. Spray WD-40 on all of your outside door jams, sliding glass door bases, etc. - ants won't cross it. It only works if they aren't already in, though. Learnded that when I lived in San Diego!
Cheers / Robert
Mark65
02-28-2010, 07:20 PM
Ants are definitely a California thing. Spray WD-40 on all of your outside door jams, sliding glass door bases, etc. - ants won't cross it. It only works if they aren't already in, though. Learnded that when I lived in San Diego!
Cheers / Robert
Nope, they're an Arizona thing, too. I "learnded" (:D) that from living here....:rolleyes:
Rob, what part of the southwest are you in? I'm dying to meet up up with another DIY'er, and have had little success so far!
Mark
robwest
02-28-2010, 07:34 PM
Nope, they're an Arizona thing, too. I "learnded" (:D) that from living here....:rolleyes:
Rob, what part of the southwest are you in? I'm dying to meet up up with another DIY'er, and have had little success so far!
Mark
Las Cruces, NM.-There's a group right there in Phoenix, isn't there? I've seen a few posters with locations in AZ...I'm hoping to get my project finished and tuned by the next SW event and before I mail them off to Vegas.
Mark65
02-28-2010, 07:49 PM
That's right, I guessed that in another thread, didn't I?
Sorry, I've slept since then...:D
All the phoenix dudes are keeping quiet, if they're here, LouC lives in Tucson, I am going to go down there someday, but I'm still hoping for someone just down the road, like in Mesa, or Avondale, or Surprise, or something.;)
Mark
PS: Sorry about the ants, Alan!
lunchmoney
02-28-2010, 09:08 PM
Now they've got extra sprinkles... and protein.
critofur
02-28-2010, 11:45 PM
I hate sprinkles. They're waxy and yucky.
Cupcakes can be good though.
8.8 - I assumed you lived somewhere there was another earthquake, and the worst thing that happened was the cupcakes fell on the floor when your house shook. I was gonna say, you're lucky, if that's all that happened in an earthquake of that magnitude.
Either that, or you got some funky sized 8.8" speakers, and, you were also going to talk about cupcakes, in addition to the 8.8" speakers, in your thread.
On another tangent - my wife is from Japan and she hadn't tried Dr. Pepper. I offered her a sip of mine but she didn't want it, so I held it up for her to smell it, she said "yuck, it smells like diapers". I realized it does kind of smell like the scent they put on some diapers....
envisionelec
03-01-2010, 08:36 AM
...they were covered with 10,000 ants! Darn.
Eh, just flick 'em off...
kornphlake
03-01-2010, 12:51 PM
I ate a bowl full of raisin bran one morning, I noticed that it tasted a little bit like maple syrup but just shrugged it off, the last bite I took I noticed an ant swimming in the spoon. I opened up the box again and saw hundreds of ants in my cereal box. it was kind of gross thinking about eating all those bugs, but the taste honestly complimented the raisin bran pretty well.
I'm not sure anything will keep ants away, at least nothing that is legal to purchase these days. When my parents had their house built my over 20 years ago, my dad dusted off some can of insecticide he'd been saving for at least 10 years, he said you couldn't buy the stuff any more then he drove out to the site where the home was being built and used it all up somewhere under the edges of the foundation. I've never seen more than one or two ants in their house even though the yard always had a dozen ant hills. They did have to replace a couple walls because of termite damage a few years ago, I guess it's a trade off...
Eh, just flick 'em off...
I plugged in the vacuum cleaner and attached the crevice tool to the hose.
Been sucking them up right and left. I purposely left out the plate of cupcakes so that it would attract more of them, just so I could continue to suck them up. Retribution.
I ate a bowl full of raisin bran one morning, I noticed that it tasted a little bit like maple syrup but just shrugged it off, the last bite I took I noticed an ant swimming in the spoon. I opened up the box again and saw hundreds of ants in my cereal box. it was kind of gross thinking about eating all those bugs, but the taste honestly complimented the raisin bran pretty well.
Great story. :) LOL!
jclin4
03-02-2010, 05:35 PM
I plugged in the vacuum cleaner and attached the crevice tool to the hose.
Been sucking them up right and left. I purposely left out the plate of cupcakes so that it would attract more of them, just so I could continue to suck them up. Retribution.
Resistance is futile. There's always going to be more where they came from.
Get the ant traps that allows them to take a toxic morsel back to their nest, that way you get them at the source.
Resistance is futile. There's always going to be more where they came from.
Get the ant traps that allows them to take a toxic morsel back to their nest, that way you get them at the source.
Yeah, I realize that I'll never entirely be able to eradicate them all, but it sure appeases me to see thousands of them disappear.
Maybe if I could mix a little poison in with the cupcakes they've been eating. . . .
Andy_G
03-02-2010, 06:42 PM
Come on guys.. ants are a very important part of nature. Just because AE is silly enough to leave out a plate of food for them, its hardly the fault of the ants.... its what they do.. tidy things up.
Use sealed containers, keeps things fresher too.
DoubleTap
03-02-2010, 06:46 PM
Come on guys.. ants are a very important part of nature.
You said it, important part of nature - not my kitchen counter.
Growing up we constantly fought with ants. I couldn't count how many school mornings were ruined by pouring out a bowl of Count Chocula and seeing it swarming with the little peckers.
Come on guys.. ants are a very important part of nature.... its what they do, tidy things up.
Isn't that essentially what termites do too!
Andy_G
03-02-2010, 07:12 PM
Isn't that essentially what termites do too!
Yep, two societies clash. ;-)
No need to kill them though, just try to stop them getting at what you don't want them to get at. Sorry, I'm rather against this "kill 'em all" type of thinking, is all.
Yep, two societies clash. ;-)
No need to kill them though, just try to stop them getting at what you don't want them to get at. Sorry, I'm rather against this "kill 'em all" type of thinking, is all.
So, I shouldn't "kill" them?
Is it OK by you if I eat them?
Andy_G
03-02-2010, 11:13 PM
So, I shouldn't "kill" them?
Is it OK by you if I eat them?
All living things are meant to be part of the food chain in some respect...
I guess if you actually LIKE the taste of formic acid, then I have no problem.
steve22
03-03-2010, 01:07 AM
Diatomateous Earth is the answer.
I have found D.E. at Lowes and other large hardware / gardening centers. It is the non toxic shells of microscopic ocean critters. The shells have sharp edges that cut up insects as they crawl over them. They dehydrate from the microscopic cuts.
D.E. feels like a smooth powder in your fingers because these are microscopic in size. But, they will kill ants and insects fast. And there is no poison or hazard to us. It is a powder, so you don't want to breath a lot of it in your nose, but this should not be a problem.
Some people put it in grains and beans for long term storage to kill insects also. They wash it off with water when they want to eat the grains.
Yes, I am fairly familiar with Diatomaceous Earth. :D
It is used in some swimming pool filters. I'll have to give it a try, thanks for the suggestion.
Diatomateous Earth is the answer.
I have found D.E. at Lowes and other large hardware / gardening centers. It is the non toxic shells of microscopic ocean critters. The shells have sharp edges that cut up insects as they crawl over them. They dehydrate from the microscopic cuts.
D.E. feels like a smooth powder in your fingers because these are microscopic in size. But, they will kill ants and insects fast. And there is no poison or hazard to us. It is a powder, so you don't want to breath a lot of it in your nose, but this should not be a problem.
Some people put it in grains and beans for long term storage to kill insects also. They wash it off with water when they want to eat the grains.
dfaulds
03-03-2010, 07:37 AM
Boric acid or diazanon work very well. Spread a complete line around the foundation of your house and it will take care of them. Both will attach to the ants legs and help to spread it to their nests. I'm not sure these work on all ants, but they work great on the ants here in the Midwest.
So, I shouldn't "kill" them?
Is it OK by you if I eat them?Wouldn't you need a tiny little deep fryer to cook 'em?
Dave
jclin4
03-03-2010, 10:49 AM
Wouldn't you need a tiny little deep fryer to cook 'em?
Dave
May not need the hardware: marinate in lemon or lime juice, like Cerviche.
May not need the hardware: marinate in lemon or lime juice, like Cerviche.Yummmmmmmmm!
Dave
I just did a bit of reading about using DE for pest control. Apparently swimming pool grade DE is processed and not good to use for pest control. I need to get natural unprocessed DE for pest control.
They actually add food grade DE to livestock feed to rid them of worms and parasites.
Diatomateous Earth is the answer.
I have found D.E. at Lowes and other large hardware / gardening centers. It is the non toxic shells of microscopic ocean critters. The shells have sharp edges that cut up insects as they crawl over them. They dehydrate from the microscopic cuts.
D.E. feels like a smooth powder in your fingers because these are microscopic in size. But, they will kill ants and insects fast. And there is no poison or hazard to us. It is a powder, so you don't want to breath a lot of it in your nose, but this should not be a problem.
Some people put it in grains and beans for long term storage to kill insects also. They wash it off with water when they want to eat the grains.
I just did a bit of reading about using DE for pest control. Apparently swimming pool grade DE is processed and not good for pest control. Need to use natural, unprocessed DE for pest control.
They actually add food grade DE to livestock feed, to rid them of worms and parasites.
DiatomaCeous Earth is the answer.
I have found D.E. at Lowes and other large hardware / gardening centers. It is the non toxic shells of microscopic ocean critters. The shells have sharp edges that cut up insects as they crawl over them. They dehydrate from the microscopic cuts.
D.E. feels like a smooth powder in your fingers because these are microscopic in size. But, they will kill ants and insects fast. And there is no poison or hazard to us. It is a powder, so you don't want to breath a lot of it in your nose, but this should not be a problem.
Some people put it in grains and beans for long term storage to kill insects also. They wash it off with water when they want to eat the grains.
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