I have a Mrs. FixIt book and this is what she says about ants...
 
1. If ants are attacking your dog's food, just put a ring of petroleum
   jelly around the outside of the dish to keep the ants out.
 
2. Ants - they sneak inside and seem to show up everywhere.  To keeop
   them out, draw chalk lines around windows and doors every month or so.
   Ants won't walk over chalk.  (I also heard, it must be white chalk.  I
   tried this with blue sidewalk chalk and it didn't work.  Maybe white
   chalk is the key)
 
3. Fill a spray bottle with white vinegar and spray around door jambs and
   window frames.
 
4. Ants don't like citrus.  An easy way to deter them is to spray door
   jambs, window sills and foundations with lemon juice.  Makes your
   house smell lemony clean!
 
5. Whenever you see ants crawling, wash the area well with an equal
   mixture of vinegar and water.  This will prevent the ants from
   following their trail back to the nest and they will die off.
 
Hope Mrs. FixIt comes in handy for you.  She has helped me out in tough
situations.  Let me know what works for you.  It'd be interesting to see
who used what methods.
 
--
Laura Holtfreter
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[Posted in FML issue 4132]