[Rocky]

Are any of you bothered by critters? The only ones that are bothering me are tiny brown ants and they are of course attracted to any spills. I am reluctant to use too muchant spray as it could affect the wine. I have a little "ant hotel" there but it has not seemed to help, at least not yet. Any suggestions? Thank you.

[PeterZ]

Wipe up the spills with a dilute solution of bleach. Ants lead each other to food with scent trails, and the bleach disrupts them. K-meta solution would probably also work.

[Rocky]

Thank you, Peter. These are their "recon" teams and I have wiped most of them out. I will try the bleach idea to disrupt their pheromone trails. It is a bit cold up here at present and the ants are foraging inside for the time being.



I appreciate your input.

[DancerMan]

I have never thought about ants; we don't have much of a problem with them, here. You know, they could be a problem if one's fermentor bucket is not sealed completely. I just leave my lid setting loosely for the first week or so.

They don't like to cross water, so maybe put your fermentor bucket in a small tub of water; it only has to be a quarter inch deep.

Or you could buy one of the thin, clear, plant water protectors, which you put under potted plants so they don't leak on the furniture when you water. I think you might be able to get one large enough to hold a fermentor bucket. You could put a littl kmeta or StarSan in it; I know they would not cross through it.

(Wal-mart)

[Waldo]

vinegar works great at disorienting them too and a dusting of talcum powder will definately keep them at bay

[ibglowin]

You want to be careful with the use of bleach in the winery!

Chlorine Use in the Winery

[Runningwolf]

Originally Posted by DancerMan

I have never thought about ants; we don't have much of a problem with them, here. You know, they could be a problem if one's fermentor bucket is not sealed completely. I just leave my lid setting loosely for the first week or so.

They don't like to cross water, so maybe put your fermentor bucket in a small tub of water; it only has to be a quarter inch deep.

Or you could buy one of the thin, clear, plant water protectors, which you put under potted plants so they don't leak on the furniture when you water. I think you might be able to get one large enough to hold a fermentor bucket. You could put a littl kmeta or StarSan in it; I know they would not cross through it.

(Wal-mart)

Heck Richerd with what you're talking about you could even get a plastic boot mat with a lip since they're made to hold water and set your carboys on that with a bit of water.

[Rocky]

Thank you for all your suggestions. I have been wiping everything down with a K-Meta solution and I have not seen the little critters since then.