Ants are becoming a major problem all over the country. They can be difficult to control, but there are some things you should know about how ants’ behavior can lead to big headaches for you and your home:

• Entry: Ants can enter through even the tiniest cracks seeking sweet or greasy substances in the kitchen pantry or storeroom areas.
• Scent trails: Ants leave an invisible chemical trail known as pheromones for others to follow once they locate the food source.
• Nest locations: They can nest about anywhere in and around your house; in lawns, walls, stumps, even under foundations.
• Colony size: Can number from 300,000 to 500,000 and whole colonies can uproot and relocate quickly when threatened.
• Nature’s way of protecting the colony: With comparative freedom from natural enemies, a colony can live a relatively long lifetime. Worker ants may live seven years and the queen may live as long as 15 years.
• Do-it-yourself ineffectiveness: Most do-it-yourself approaches only kill the ants you see, whereas a truly effective treatment will penetrate and destroy their nest to prevent them from returning. Also, home remedies don’t account for the fact that different kinds of ant infestations require different treatments.