May 6th, 2021 by Sarah Miles

FAQs about this dreaded annual event

Flying ant day has become a thing of myth and legend. Often, around July time, you’ll see the social media declarations, announcing the arrival of flying ant day – a day when thousands of flying ants descend. If you’re not quite what this phenomenon is or are all too aware and want to know how to prepare for it, here are the most frequently asked questions about this dreaded annual event.

1. Is flying ant day really a thing?

Yes and no. Yes, around late spring/early summer swarms of flying ants will suddenly appear, but it won’t necessarily be confined to one day. It’s more likely to happen over the course of a few days and can even last a couple of weeks.

2. What is it?

The swarms you see mark the mating season for ants. The males are out there looking for queens to mate with. Once mated, the males will die, and the queens will snap off their wings and seek out a prime spot to build their colonies. Each colony will have only one queen but up to 30,000 male worker ants.

3. Once the flying ants have disappeared can I forget about it until next year?

No, in fact, the period after flying ant day is actually more significant than the event itself. That’s because these new colonies that the queens are establishing need a food source, and they’re looking to you and your home. After the flying ant period, scout ants are dispatched to seek out food. When they find suitable sources, they lay a pheromone trail that guides the worker ants back like an ant GPS system. As long as this remains, they will find their way back.

4. Can I prevent ants from coming into the home to seek food?

With the best will in the world, not really. Being so small and resourceful, you could never really hope to seal up every nook and cranny against them so an ant incursion can never be completely prevented. However, as they’re seeking food, you can minimise the risk by making sure all food waste is cleared up, including crumbs, and packets are sealed up properly.

5. I have ants in the house, is there anything I can do?

Yes, you can. While prevention is better than cure, in the case of an ant infestation prevention is difficult but you have a number of tools available to you to deal with the issue. To understand the solutions, it’s helpful to know a little more about how ant colonies function.

As already mentioned, each colony has one queen and thousands of worker ants. The queen can continue to reproduce for her whole life, and she doesn’t leave the nest – that’s what the worker ants are there for. Therefore, if you only kill the ants you see in your home, you will never kill the queen and she can continue to lay eggs and ensure the survival of the colony.

You, therefore, have to do three things:

1. Kill the worker ants
2. Kill the queen
3. Remove the pheromone trail

6. How do I kill the worker ants?

Killing the worker ants in the home can be achieved through dusting powder and/or surface spray. Ants that come into contact with these will die.

Residex P Insect Killer Powder 400g

Residex P Insect Killer Powder is to be used around the home in all areas where liquid use may not be suitable, such as cracks, crevices, skirting boards, light fixtures and plug sockets. 

Price: £14.99

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7. How do I kill the queen?

This is the most important part of the solution as you need to kill the queen to prevent the cycle from continuing. Ant bait stations provide a sneaky strategy for achieving this. They contain blocks of sweet-smelling poison, which the ants are attracted to. They will take pieces back to the colony where they will be consumed by ants there and, most importantly, the queen.

8. How do I remove the pheromone trail?

Protector C surface spray will not only kill ants on contact; it will remove the trail as well. You can’t see the trail, but you should be able to identify it by tracking the line of ants when you see them.

Protector C 1 Litre Spray

Price: £10.98

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9. What if this doesn’t eliminate them all?

If you have a very extensive infestation, you can use a smoke fumer which will get into all the tiny gaps and cover every surface.