bay leaves & ants

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Laurie LeAnn
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bay leaves & ants

Post by Laurie LeAnn » Thu Jun 06, 2013 4:53 am

I decided to try bay leaves as a way to keep ants out of my house, they have invaded my upstairs now and I can't use the plug in because of the ferret and we can't use a lot of sprays either. so I got bay leaves and put them around my kitchen on the counter top, taped a few to my window sill, put some in my cupboard, put some around the out side of my crab tank cause i found a few in there and they have went and left the house! in about 2 days they were gone I have not see any now for over a week! I bought dried by leaves they were about 2$ at wal mart.

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Nicole
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bay leaves & ants

Post by Nicole » Wed Jun 12, 2013 7:21 am

Bay leaves are a wonderful ant deterrent! I have them around my tank as well.
~ crabbing since 2003

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Laurie LeAnn
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bay leaves & ants

Post by Laurie LeAnn » Wed Jun 12, 2013 9:27 am

found you need to replace them once in a while, they must lose their stuff.. finding a few in my kitchen again


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bay leaves & ants

Post by Tetra4CClyPtus » Sat Nov 30, 2013 2:35 am

quote:Originally posted by LAURIE:I decided to try bay leaves as a way to keep ants out of my house, they have invaded my upstairs now and I can't use the plug in because of the ferret and we can't use a lot of sprays either. so I got bay leaves and put them around my kitchen on the counter top, taped a few to my window sill, put some in my cupboard, put some around the out side of my crab tank cause i found a few in there and they have went and left the house! in about 2 days they were gone I have not see any now for over a week! I bought dried by leaves they were about 2$ at wal mart. I get ants in the house from time to timeGreat idea

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jgfceit
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bay leaves & ants

Post by jgfceit » Sat Nov 30, 2013 2:36 am

Question: how do bay leaves stop ants? We get them every year
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Tongue Flicker
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bay leaves & ants

Post by Tongue Flicker » Sat Nov 30, 2013 3:58 am

This is quite new to me and seems promising. Will try this one out tomorrow. Thanks laurie!
Neil
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Laurie LeAnn
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bay leaves & ants

Post by Laurie LeAnn » Mon Dec 02, 2013 3:30 pm

I have no clue how it keeps them out other than they hate the smell. You place them where you see a trail and in a day or two they will be gone. You can replace the leaf every one in awhile. I had a place where the panel on wall was coming off and ants were pouring from it, I took a few bay leaves and jammed them in the wall and the next day they were gone.

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Tongue Flicker
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bay leaves & ants

Post by Tongue Flicker » Mon Dec 02, 2013 4:14 pm

Haha! Hmmm.. i dunno, maybe my bay leaves are out of juju.. the ants just walk over it lol.. i need to get a new batch now!
Neil
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Tongue Flicker
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bay leaves & ants

Post by Tongue Flicker » Mon Dec 02, 2013 4:16 pm

Oh just curious, will hermits bay leaves and if so, are they safe for them?I think i wanna mix in some bay leaves to my leaf litter and see where it goes
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Laurie LeAnn
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bay leaves & ants

Post by Laurie LeAnn » Tue Dec 03, 2013 7:12 am

I just put bay leaves around the outside of my tanks not on the inside, if it isn't on the safe list I don't use it for them to eat or as decorations or in the tank at all. to much money invested in them to harm them

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jgfceit
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bay leaves & ants

Post by jgfceit » Tue Dec 03, 2013 9:05 am

Wow...I'll try that next year. Thanks!
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Tongue Flicker
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bay leaves & ants

Post by Tongue Flicker » Tue Dec 03, 2013 4:06 pm

I see. Noted!
Neil
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Crabber85
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bay leaves & ants

Post by Crabber85 » Thu Dec 05, 2013 4:37 am

To answer the question of how bay leaves work, its because the leaves contain eugenol which is used in topical anesthetics and have been used to put insects to sleep/ kill them for the purpose of later pining that insect to a dymo board for identification.According to several well known entomologists you can place any insect in a jar with several of these leaves and in a few minutes the insect will go limp and in an hour will be completely dead.The essential oils in bay leaves are also said to be an irritant to the digestive and respiratory systems of insects and most significantly that of arthropods which is one of the subsets that hermitcrabs belong to.This brings us to the answer as to whether or not the leaves are safe for hermitcrabs and the answer is no because they are considered highly toxic to hermitcrabs.
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Laurie LeAnn
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bay leaves & ants

Post by Laurie LeAnn » Thu Dec 05, 2013 3:39 pm

That's why I put them on the out side of the tank between the glass and the stand. A few go a long way

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Tongue Flicker
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bay leaves & ants

Post by Tongue Flicker » Sat Dec 07, 2013 5:17 pm

If i make bay leaf oil and smear a little around the base exterior of my tanks would it be as effective for repelling ants?
Neil
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