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Got an ant problem? Join the club.
If having ants in your house is really bugging you, we've got some tips on how to keep them at bay.Richard Goodfellow runs a pest control business in Hobart and said summer was boomtime for ants.
He said numbers had been particularly bad this year.
"I think mainly because of the dry weather, it's extra hot," he told Helen Shield on ABC Radio Hobart.
"With a little bit of rain they'll flare up and start coming inside."
Ants are looking for two things in your home: food and water.
"Toilets, bathrooms are often areas where you'll get a lot of ants," Mr Goodfellow said.
"A bit of water in your kitchen or syrups, they'll soon track inside to it."Even the cleanest of houses can have ant issues.
"I go to houses where there's cupboards that are spotless and there's ants for some reason going in there," Mr Goodfellow said.
Of course there are plenty of ant baits and sprays on the market, but there are also natural products you can use to at least reduce the number of ants walking across your benchtops.
Remove ant-tempting foods
Ants are drawn to sugary and fatty foods.Keep your syrups, sugars and anything that attracts ants in airtight containers or put them in the fridge.
Create a moat of water around pet food bowls so the ants cannot cross the water to get to the food.
Put outside food bowls away from the house and only feed your pet what it can eat in one go.
Deploy acid and gap filler
Ants do not like acidic things, so using lemon or vinegar to clean your benches can put them off.The insects leave a chemical trail behind when they find a food or water source to tell others where to go.
Wipe away an ant trail with something like lemon juice to break the chain.
Filling any holes you find that are letting ants get into your home will ease your problems also.
Chalk up a barrier and lay baits
Ants tend not to like chalky substances, such as actual chalk, baby powder or baking powder.A line of powder can stop them from entering your home.
But killing off a nest is the only way to get rid of them entirely.
If you do not want to use commercial baits and chemicals, mixing borax with sugar or syrups can do the job.
The ants will carry off the sugary treat back to the nest where the borax will kill the ants.
If you find a nest in your yard, pouring boiling water on it can also kill a lot of ants, but beware the nests can be very deep and the water might not get through it all.
The nests can hold tens of thousands of ants and there can be multiple nests.
"Some houses, if they're nested in a wall cavity ... it could be a couple of years [to get rid of ants]," Mr Goodfellow said.
"A lot of people will persist with baits then eventually they'll call the pest control guy or girl."
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