Household ant control

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Radio interview source: Stewart Clark, director of research and development, Senoret Chemical

I always know when it is my son's Nowlan's birthday, because it's the time of year when tiny sweet-eating ants stop by my kitchen. When I came home from the hospital with Nowlan, I was greeted by a package of powered donuts covered with ants. You couldn't even see the donuts.

Pest expert Stewart Clark says ants don't care to live in your house, but they stop in anyway, looking for two things: liquid and food to take back to the ant queen and her brood. Make sure all food is well-sealed and put away, and wipe up spills quickly.

"No matter what species they are, they're really built to carry liquid," Clark says. "They have a little pouch in front. If you give an ant colony the option to move either a solid material or a liquid material, they're much more efficient moving liquid in terms of volume. So you always start a home ant problem with liquid baiting."

If you see one ant, the rest of the colony won't be far behind. They see the liquid bait, get excited about it, and go back to the colony to recruit everyone else.