A line of ants across the worktop is only the visible end of the problem. In Nottingham terraces and city flats, the nest is usually somewhere you cannot see.
Ants find food, then leave a scent trail so the rest of the colony can follow. That is why you see the same neat line every morning. Wiping up the ants you can see does not stop the trail, and a sprayed cleaner may simply scatter them into the walls. Follow the line instead, because where it leads tells you most of what you need to know.
Watch for a few minutes with a torch if needed. Do they come in under the back door, along a skirting board, from a gap round a waste pipe, or up through the floor near the sink? A clear entry point means a better chance of finding the nest outside.
Nottingham has a lot of Victorian terraces, student housing and older buildings with basements. Houses sit tight together, with shared walls, yards and old brickwork. A colony may be under a paving slab in a back yard, in a wall cavity or beneath a neighbour's floor. Warm kitchens with central heating pipes in the floor can keep ants active when you would expect them to have gone quiet.
In rented houses, food left out in a shared kitchen is often the trigger. One open jar of jam or sugar on a worktop is enough to start a trail.
Timing matters too. Ants are most active in warm weather, and summer is when most calls come in, but a colony close to a heating pipe can keep going into the colder months. If trails reappear in winter, it is worth asking where the warmth is coming from rather than assuming the problem has gone.
A technician will look at where the trail enters, identify the type of ant and treat the nest or the route the colony uses. We include a free pest prevention survey, so you also get advice on gaps and food storage that stop the problem coming back. How many visits are needed depends on the species and how established the colony is.
Wherever the nest turns out to be, we will explain what we found in plain terms and what the treatment depends on.
Call 0115 937 5117 to talk it through and we will arrange a visit that suits you.
Cleaning removes the foragers but not the colony. The nest keeps sending out workers, and any food or scent trail left behind brings them back. Finding and treating the nest or entry route is what ends it.
They can walk over food and bins, so they are worth dealing with. Good food storage helps, but the colony still needs treating, and a landlord or agent may need to allow access.
Tell us what you have seen and where, and we will come back to you. Prices are fixed and there is no call-out charge.
