Writers' Community
Read(123,858). Write(71). Discuss(1,054).™
Asked by Hilda Cang 222 days 3 hours ago.

How to stop ants from crawling to the jar labelled "Sugar"?



Please Login to ask or answer a question, or Register if you do not have a SearchWarp Account.

Answers to this question:
» Answer from Marlin Woosley Answer given 222 days 3 hours ago.
   Selected as Best Answer!   
I would change the label to read "salt." That should fool them. Then they'll leave it alone.

» Comment from Hilda Cang Comment made 222 days 2 hours ago.
Haha... Marlin. Good try.

» Comment from Marlin Woosley Comment made 222 days 2 hours ago.
We have to have some chuckles once in awhile!


My wife says that the jar has to be airtight and impeccably free of sugar residue on the outside. Knowing her that specifically means a plastic container that will seal so tightly that you have "burp it" to get excess air out of it.


It must work because we keep 2-5 lbs of both white sugar and brown on hand at all times and we don't have ants. We also live in a sub-tropical climate where insects are pretty safe from freezing most of the time.

» Comment from Hilda Cang Comment made 222 days 1 hour ago.
I am smiling, Marlin. Your wife is definitely right but I wonder why you need so much sugar in your house ?

One thing may be true : if your house/kitchen is kept clean at all times, ants will not appear because there ain't anything for them to munch. lol.

» Comment from Marlin Woosley Comment made 222 days ago.
We don't need that much sugar. We simply buy 5 lbs at a time and then it lasts, if properly stored, for months.

Thinking back, we usually only have 1-3 lbs of brown sugar on hand.

» Comment from Hilda Cang Comment made 221 days 23 hours ago.
That's very logic. I too, buy that same amount of sugar each time when it runs out. That also lasts us for a month more.

» Comment from Marlin Woosley Comment made 217 days 12 hours ago.
Wow, Hilda! I thought that Best Answer would go to the Mad Uncle! He gave you a good answer straight up while I was being silly.

» Comment from Hilda Cang Comment made 217 days 11 hours ago.
You struck it right to my original answer that I wanted, Marlin. I was saying to myself, " how do you know it ? " thinking may be the game had to end with a winner for a start. Luckily, everyone played along and had a fun time.

No one is silly. In fact, we are willing to be a little silly sometimes. LOL !!

» Comment from Marlin Woosley Comment made 211 days 13 hours ago.
Angels, Hilda.

» Answer from Paul Schroeder Answer given 221 days 14 hours ago.
A chained iguana, atop my college friend's sink, in his kitchen, feasted from the infestation of German Cockroaches who enmasse had invaded and infiltrated upstairs, from the delicatessen, downstairs.


I repeatedly refused many an invite to sleep over even after an exhausting evening out, partying, as the place always made my skin crawl.


I am told that the lizard grew to astounding dimensions and is, to date, still actively feeding itself without any human care or intercession.

» Comment from Hilda Cang Comment made 221 days 11 hours ago.
I find my goosebumps begin to crawl up while reading the 1st part but words like : an invite to sleep over/an exhausting evening/partying/the place etc give me some soothing warmth from within.

However, I ever saw a lizard crawling on top of my sugar canister trying to steal some sugar. I have to change the label to SALT, for safety's sake.

» Comment from Marlin Woosley Comment made 220 days 13 hours ago.
There is, at least, a captivating short story here, Paul. Maybe even something that Stephen King could give you nightmares with in novel.

» Comment from Paul Schroeder Comment made 220 days 9 hours ago.
We have always kept our sugar in the freezer, so as to discourage even the remote possibility of ants or uncles in the house...

» Answer from Chiradeep Answer given 221 days 6 hours ago.
Put the SUGAR bottle inside your locker of your iron chest. They can't break in.

» Comment from Hilda Cang Comment made 221 days 6 hours ago.
Ah, glad you reminded me of the iron chest, Chiradeep. I must look into the storehouse to see whether it's still there.

» Comment from Paul Schroeder Comment made 220 days 9 hours ago.
How did she know that your chest was made of iron?

» Comment from Hilda Cang Comment made 220 days 7 hours ago.
Paul is an extraordinary thinker.

» Comment from Paul Schroeder Comment made 219 days 18 hours ago.
Oops!

I meant, "how did HE know"?

» Comment from Hilda Cang Comment made 219 days 6 hours ago.
He knows my age, may be.

» Comment from Chiradeep Comment made 219 days 5 hours ago.
That's a secret Paul. Lol...

» Comment from Paul Schroeder Comment made 218 days 23 hours ago.
When a woman's chest turns to iron, the milk of human kindness has surely had an expiration date....

» Answer from Patricia Johnson Answer given 215 days 20 hours ago.
I don't know the answer to the question, but I was just reading something interesting about ants. Apparently they don't like mint, cinnamon or cloves. I wonder what would happen if a whole clove was put in with the sugar - would it deter the ants?

I'll have to go find me some ants and try it :)

» Comment from Hilda Cang Comment made 215 days 20 hours ago.
I am not sure either. But ants dislike spices because it's not sweet. I still think keeping everything clean and no sweet stuff around can save the trouble.

» Answer from Deepti Apostle Answer given 213 days 1 hour ago.
try keeping it in refrigerator.

» Comment from Hilda Cang Comment made 212 days 23 hours ago.
Seems that storing all sweet goodies in the fridge is the only solution. Thanks for your suggestion.

Total Answers: 5,   Total Page Views: 659.

The best answer has been selected.

The SearchWarp Q&A section is for entertainment and civil discourse only.   As always, if you need professional advice, seek the advice of a professional.