MaxforceAnt Bait Stations-1 Bag with 24 bait stations

Last winter, my parents had an invasion of ants throughout their kitchen and a small swarm using an electrical outlet in the living room as an egress. They had contracted a local exterminator to deal with the problem but to no avail--the local exterminator had incorrectly identified the infestation as a colony of carpenter ants. Upon further investigation, I had learned (thanks to a local university, Wikipedia, and a half dozen other sites) that the ants weren't carpenter ants--they were pharaoh ants! Not only had the exterminator misidentified the ants, but they did the worst thing possible for dealing with this species of ant: They sprayed and fogged the house. Pharaoh ant colonies, under stress, will "bud" or spread to more desirable parts of a structure when sprayed only to reappear some months later and typically in greater numbers! In other words, NEVER spray an ant infestation unless you know what you're doing. You might make the situation worse.The only treatment guaranteed to work against ant species prone to budding (and really, most ants in general) is to bait them, and Maxforce products work very well to this end. Within a few days of using this product, the ants were eliminated--and almost six months later, they haven't returned. This stuff really works, but I had to make some modifications. I discovered elsewhere on the Interwebs that Maxforce bait stations aren't guaranteed to work on pharaoh ants 100% of the time because of their tendency to prefer grease, and this product is predominantly protein-based. Keep reading.Before you go about doing your own pest control, it is important to understand that not all ants will respond equally well to all forms of bait. Ant colonies have different nutritional needs from day to day, so if these stations don't work, you may need to try some of the gel baits that contain higher concentrations of moisture and carbohydrates. These stations didn't work for me immediately because pharaoh ants respond better to grease (as mentioned above), but an easy solution in my particular case was to carefully open one of the stations up with a pair of pliers and wire strippers/cutters (the plastic is tough and sharp when cut, so be careful!), poke a few holes into the protein bait with a toothpick (throw it away!) and apply a single drop or two of canola oil. The added grease turned something moderately attractive into a delightful all-you-can-eat buffet for pharaoh ants!So, before you buy this product, make sure you've done two things: 1) identify the species of ant(s) invading your home and 2) research the nutritional needs of these ants. If you cannot identify the ant species, contact your local university or go online. Texas A&M university's biology department has a fantastic site with pictures! Failing that, Wikipedia might be of some use, too--just make sure to check the sources listed for the appropriate page.Worst case, if you're uncertain what the invading ant colony is in need of, you can set up a test with little more than some sugar, a drop of water, some oil, a couple pieces of scotch tape, and a piece of paper. Here's how:1) Apply one piece of tape to the left-hand side of a standard 8 1/2" by 11" piece of copy paper and label it as "carbohydrates + moisture."2) Apply a second piece of tape to the right-hand side of the paper from step #1 and label it as "oil."3) Apply 1/8th of a teaspoon of sugar in a small mound to the CENTER of the left-hand piece of tape. Add a minute drop of water--just enough to dissolve some of the sugar and leave it somewhat moist--but don't let it run off onto the paper. If you do, the moisture will be absorbed and may ruin the test.4) Apply a small drop of oil to the tape on the right hand side similarly to the sugar mound from step #3.5) Place this piece of paper near where the ants are entering the structure and observe it. You may have to leave it overnight (and it'll help to add the sugar and oil after you've appropriately placed the paper). If the ants are in need of either substance, they'll be attracted to it. Heck, you might even find a couple of dead ants floating around in the oil. Overzealous, primitive organisms are quite fun, are they not?You can modify this technique to include a small piece of packaged ham broken up into much smaller fragments if you suspect you're dealing with a colony that tends to prefer high protein content foods for which this product is most ideally suited.Just remember, if these Maxforce stations don't work for you, you've probably selected the wrong bait for the species of ants invading your property. I've seen more than a few one-star reviews on other bait products that say nothing more than "It didn't work!" Well, of course not! If you're going to perform your own pest control, remember: The responsibility rests on YOUR shoulders to do the research necessary to learn more about the invaders, their nutritional needs, the effective spread of the bait (protein baits like this one won't work for sugar-feeding ants), and how to SAFELY use it! If the bait doesn't work, you're probably doing something wrong. Research, research, research!As I learned, professional exterminators can be wrong, and their mistakes can be costly--not to mention disruptive if you have to pack up half the house just to have it fogged! Do yourself a favor, do some research, and buy some bait stations. It'll be much kinder to your pocketbook, your life will be less stressful, and if you know precisely what speices of ant is invading your property, you're much more likely to succeed--maybe even more so than an exterminator who'll charge you more than 10 times the cost of this product.

These are safe even in kitchens, they work great even though they are a bit pricey

This is a fair bit of money to spend to get rid of ants -- but we were at our wits' end. We have a veggie garden with an auto watering system. Problem: a lot of ants set up shop all around the perimeter. A whole host. Ants, the substantial literature says, stay where there's water. Well, it's a garden and there is water here. Millions of ants were all over the garden, swarming our feet, and sometimes getting agitated for whatever reason and biting as well -- although these are not fire-ants, their bites are annoying but puny. They are more of a nuisance than anything else. Who wants to be working in the garden with a thousand ants scaling your ramparts?What kind of ants, you ask? These are small black ants, residing in about 50 hills around the garden. We tried everything to get rid of them. First, we have an organic garden, and we wanted organic remedies. We read the books and blogs and tried all the Usual Suspects -- boiling water down the holes, day after day for weeks on end. We read the recipies and mixed various concoctions, including hot pepper sprays, concentrated garlic. On and on. I won't bore you with them all -- they didn't work. So we went chemical (on the ants, not the garden). The various powders, sprinkles, bait traps and whatever, list all the ants they control -- pages of them. Big Headed Black Blighters, Pin Headed Red Biters. Problem is, unless you're an expert, how do you know what ants you're dealing with? "Ours" are "little black ants that Can't Be Killed." Didn't find that on any label.We've tried all kinds of insecticide baits, traps, and sprays. We've tried straight boric acid down holes. A few die horribly and the rest just multiply and keep on coming. We've tried famous brands like Amdro, which works on lots of ants. Not these. Grants ant traps. Nope.Thing is, there are apparently "sweet" ants and "meat" ants. Maybe sometimes they're the same ant, at different times of the year. We realized "our" ants were just bypassing the sugar-based poisons (although they did oversee the aphids, which produce a sweet nectar the ants enjoy -- so they say).However, we did observe "our" ants carrying home many a dead grasshoppers or other insect. Ah-ha!We began looking for "meat" or protein-based poisons. This led us to Maxforce Ant Bait Stations. The 24-station bag wasn't cheap -- nearly a buck for each (however nicely crafted) little round "ant terminal." However, as I said -- wits' end. So -- gave it a shot.Two weeks after placing the stations at "ant roads" and near nests, "our" ant numbers were reduced by about 80 percent. Success!Bait is supposed to work like this: the workers visit the bait station and carry back what they think is good food down the hole. The reason most poisons and boiling water, etc., don't work, is that you can kill the ants you see, and maybe a few just below the surface, but you are not reaching the grand ant caverns that apparently spread far and wide below the surface. However, when it's cleverly disguised bait, the workers take the succulent but deadly repast home, and eventually, working through whatever intermediaries exist in the Ant Kingdom, the "food" reaches the Queen -- the Mother Of Them All. She dines -- and dies. Egg-laying ceases. The ants loose their Reason for Being and the whole colony passes, not so sadly, into history.So the protein-based Maxforce bait worked on our ants. But this nags: why only 80%? What do the 20% have the others did not? What Queen do they possess, she who Did Not Eat the bait, and kept them going?These things can keep you up at night. 20% of "our" ants are immune. How long until they make the big comeback? Do ants carry grudges?That said, with these qualifications...at least 80% are gone.Recommended.

I’ve had ants in my kitchen for several months and other grocery store products did not remove them. I purchased Maxforce ant bait stations and within three days, the ants are gone and I haven’t seen one since. I’m very pleased with the results.

I bought Maxforce Ant Bait Stations because I had lots of carpenter ants crawling around my pool and noticed there was a colony in one of my trees. I tried spraying the tree with an ant killer I bought from the hardware store and it worked for a couple of days, but then the ants were back. I looked up information on how to successfully get rid of ants and found that bait products work best for longterm results. I put these Maxforce bait stations around my tree and on the path the ants were taking to my pool. The ants bring the bait back to their nest and spread to their friends. Within a week I did not have anymore carpenter ants. (Great!) The Maxforce Ant Bait stations arrived on time and were simple to use. You just take the stations out of bag and place on the ants path. Great product! I will buy again the next time ants come to visit!

I’m battling a few different varieties of ant and not one goes anywhere near these stations. To be fair I’m having a tough time getting any bait station to work.