Ants can be very difficult to get rid of once they start infesting inside your home. Ants are naturally hard workers and they are good at collecting foods from every food source available in your house.
Today, we are going to discuss about the reasons of ant infestation inside the kitchen sink and find out the solutions to tackle this problem.
5 reason for ants in the kitchen sink:
Ants can start infesting in the kitchen sink for several reasons. Those reasons include smelling sense of ants, presence of food elements in the kitchen sink, nesting opportunities, access points into the kitchen sink, and dirty environment of the kitchen.
There are a lot of reasons for infestation of ants in the kitchen sink. Let’s discuss in detail about some of them.
Smelling sense of ants:
The important thing to remember about ants is that they have a strong sense of smell. They use their sense of smell to find the sources of food hidden inside your home.
Along with their smelling sense, ants are great at team work and will form groups to hunt for food inside the home.
Ants form trails to follow the scent of food. So their strong smelling sense will reveal the kitchen sink as a source of food and they will follow the smell in search of food.
Ants are industrious and will not rest until they get to the source of food by following the smell.
Presence of food elements:
The kitchen sink is often full of unwashed food elements. These food elements become a source of food for ants.
Ants love the idea of following a food trail and getting to it. If your kitchen sink is a hub of food elements, then it can be exploited by ants on a regular basis.
That is why you will often see large groups of ants coming out of the kitchen sink. Ants can be seen carrying food elements to their nest from the kitchen sink. That is why experts support the idea of keeping your kitchen clean on a daily basis.
Nesting:
Kitchen sink can be a good place for ants to build a nest. There are quite a few reasons behind this. First of all, kitchen sink often holds the required moisture needed to build a colony.
Ants tend to hoover around places that possess this much required moisture. Due to the nature of kitchen sink, ants consider it as a good place for nesting.
So they will most of the times build their nest near the kitchen sink. That is why you will notice a huge number of ants coming in or out of the kitchen sink.
An access point for ants:
The kitchen sink can become an access point for ants to enter your home. The kitchen sink is an easy passage for ants to get inside your home.
First of all, the passage of kitchen sinks does not contain anything harmful for ants. So they find it convenient to follow this passage as an access point.
Ants living outside your home can sense sources of food inside the home and will often use the passage of kitchen sink to get to the food sources. So it would be no surprise to see herds of ants coming out of the kitchen sink all of a sudden.
Dirty environment:
If your kitchen sink is full of dirt and food grease, then it will end of attracting ants. Dirty kitchen sinks are suitable for ants as a source of food and nesting place. So homes with dirty kitchen sinks often become infested with ants.
Are ants in the kitchen sink dangerous?
Let’s take a look at some varieties of ants and see if their presence in the kitchen sink is considered as dangerous.
Little black ants:
Little black ants can reach the size of two millimeter when they fully mature. Rainy season is the most suitable time for little black ants to start infesting several areas of your home. Kitchen sink is not safe from the infestation of little black ants.
Little black ants can start nesting around kitchen sink as it provides the much needed moisture and food source for them. Little black ants in the kitchen sink can be dangerous.
Because they are known for spreading several food and hygiene related diseases. Additionally, little black ants can end up attracting other insects and bugs to your kitchen sink due to their presence.
Tiny red ants:
Tiny red ants are also known by the name of electric ants. They are one of the most dangerous variations of ants.
These tiny red ants can reach a size of one and a half millimeter at best. But their tiny size does not stop them from being bearers of various food and hygiene related diseases.
Tiny red ants can start infesting inside and around the kitchen due to availability of food source and moisture.
So it is important to repel tiny red ants quickly from your kitchen sink. Otherwise their presence can become problematic from many different perspectives.
Flying ants:
Flying ants are great at forming colonies. So if you sense the presence flying ants in the kitchen sink, then you should try to get rid of them quickly and effectively.
Otherwise, they will utilize the food source and moisture around the kitchen sink to build their colonies. Flying ants also carry the possibility of spreading food and hygiene related diseases just like other varieties of ants.
Carpenter ants:
Carpenter ants possess the quality of building colonies through nesting. If your kitchen sink has wood counters around it, then it can be the perfect place for infestation of carpenter ants.
Carpenter ants do not stop at nesting. They can additionally utilize the source of food presented by kitchen sink. It is important to repel carpenter ants away from the kitchen sink as soon as possible.
Can ants come up through sink drains?
It is believed by experts that ants possess the ability to come up through sink drains. In fact, sink drains often get clogged up with dirt and food greases. The scent of food emitted by sink drains can end up attracting herds of ants.
Ants are great at seeing through a task. So they will crawl up through your sink drain using food trail and forming groups.
Sink drains present the possibility of nesting and sources of food for ants to explore. That is why ants will take the risk of navigating through the sink drain to reach the kitchen sink.
How to get rid of ants in my kitchen sink?
Getting rid of ants in the kitchen sink can seem like a difficult task if you have no prior experience. However, there are some steps and methods you can follow to accomplish the task. Let’s discuss in detail about them.
Target the entry points:
First of all, you will need to target the entry points that ants use to access the kitchen sink.
Getting rid of ants from the kitchen sink will be easier if you manage to break off their scent trail. One of the easiest ways to do so is by using ant repellent sprays on these entry points.
Mixing white vinegar with water can result in a potent ant repellent spray. Ants will struggle to cope up with the strong scent of vinegar and their scent trail will become messed up.
Use essential oils:
Essential oils can be helpful when it comes to getting rid of ants from the kitchen sink. First of all, ants absolutely detest the smell of essential oils as they can trouble the smelling sense of ants.
So wiping the areas around the kitchen sink with an essential oil solution can repel ants away effectively.
Keep your kitchen sink clean:
Keeping the kitchen sink clean can keep the ants away. If ants sense any source of food near the kitchen sink, then they will start infesting the kitchen sink area.
Ants like building nests near places that have good amount of moisture and food source. So you will have to clean your kitchen sink daily to keep the ants away.
Eliminate colonies:
You will be required to eliminate the colonies build by ants inside and near the kitchen sink. The kitchen sink can be exploited by ants due to presence of food and moisture. Any ant repelling spray will be able to eliminate the ant colonies.
Clean the trash can:
You will need to keep the kitchen trash can clean. Because dirty trash cans will end up attracting ants to the different areas of the kitchen including the sink. It is important to have a clean environment inside the kitchen.
Final Thoughts
Ants can become dangerous once they start building nests inside the kitchen sink as they come to look for food and shelter. However, it is easy to get rid of ants by using essential oils & ant repellent sprays, keeping the kitchen sink & the adjacent areas clean, and eliminating the ant colonies.