ants in van

Not to hijack the thread, but once they're in, how do you get rid of the little buggers - permanently! Thanks.

I use a good quality outdoor surface spray. Spray it on the stabilizer legs and the jockey wheel plus on the rear of the wheel axles when the ants are aggressive. Works for me and for some time until rain washes it off.
Also remember that ants will and do come off trees even if the leaves are not touching the van directly.
If you are unlucky enough to get some in your van use a product that is easily obtained from supermarkets called antrid. It to has worked for us on the odd occasions that we have had the little blighters on board.

Maybe these will help.

Hav u tried ant-rid? It's a little bottle of brown liquid, they love it. You can also get little ant bait traps similar to cock roach baits. The ant rid is probably more re-active and the baits can be used pro-actively.
Tim

hi bj &reen
stopping them from coming in isnt that hard but it sounds like you may have a permant nest onboard with you
one of their favorite places to hide is in the bottom channel of the window frames
i had little black ones in one of my vans for several months before i irradicated them after i actually found their hiding place in the front bottom window frame they had their eggs in there
i drilled small holes along it and sprayed in baygon using a nozzle off my crc can with the tube extension and finally got them dead no more problems from then on it was just a case of thoroughly treating the wheels /jockey wheel/jacks and power cable and anexe ropes etc /poles and anything else they can crawl up each time you park up
even for 1 night as they are always quick off the mark even at night to move into vans they have food scouts out all the time
i woke up at day break several years ago in augusta wa with 50 million argentine ants all over me and in and on every square inch of the interior of my 16 ft van it took me over 4 hours plus 3 cans of spray to get rid of them with spray and a vacumm cleaner
then i had to wipe everything to reduce the odour of the baygon so i could sleep in it that night it really spoilt my easter i find baygon or simular the best deterent
cheers

Hi folks thank u for ur replies i will try ant rid and mazcam i think ur right the little buggers like to travel like us somewhere in the van but she who knows best reckons NO as they cant get at any food (right whatever)
BJ

Here's a trick;
Put some sugar solution in a bowl near where they are coming in; they most probably wont bother exploring your van for water and sugar when they have a ready supply on the ground! Then when you have their attention, move the bowl a bit further away.
Top up as necessary.

Just check that you do not have any leaks anywhere, as ants love the damp humid conditions caused by water leaks.

Many infestations of ants have been found in rotted wooden framing after a leak.

A simple cure is some Borax powder and honey in a small lid, they take it back to the nest and it kills the whole shebang.

The secret really is to try and stop them coming in in the first place.

We are currently in a very bad ant infested area and I have had to resort to spraying the whole site with David Greys Coopex, that soon knocks them back.
We couldn't even sit out as they were so aggressive.