1. Put away all open food

Take any food you have out on your counters and put it in a sealed place, like a cabinet or fridge. Clean your counters, floors and stove of crumbs, as these too are food for ants.

This eliminates one of the reasons why ants are entering your kitchen. 

2. Keep the sink clean from dishes and standing water

Standing water from dirty dishes in the sink can also attract ants. Commit to doing your dishes right away and wipe up all the water droplets afterwards.

3. Bait and kill them

This is the final step. Once you have taken the above actions to remove the temptation for the ants to enter your kitchen, it’s time to place traps.

When you place baited traps out for ants, the bait kills both the ants you see and the ones you don’t. The ants you see take the bait as “food” and share it with other ants, which kills the colony.

To open your ant traps: 

• Hold your bait station facing up (photo below) and break off the tab, continuing to hold it up to not spill the bait

• Carefully place your bait station flat on a horizontal surface near any signs of ants

• Monitor your placements and adjust them as needed, remaining mindful not to spill the bait

• Replace the bait stations once the bait is depleted, which may take as little as 2 weeks, or every 3 months to keep ants from returning