Ants?

[JohnnyK45]

Hi All,

For the first time this morning getting the kids off to school, noticed about 30-40 small ants on our hot tub cover.  No food or crumbs in sight; I grabbed a broom and swept them off.  I lifted the cover and to my surprise, didn't see any floating in the water.

Weather by me has dipped a bit last night to around upper 50s or so, tempted to just spray some of this Home Defense stuff I have (usually for outside the house by doorways that kills ants and other bugs) around the base of our hot tub.

Normal to see?  I don't think I need to remove any skirting at this point to see if they are setting up some sort of shop, or do I?  Caught me off guard as no food or anything has ever been around our tub.

Quick check and I see about 10 of them crawling around my metal cover caddy...agh...

J

[goose973]

As a licensed pest control operator, it is very difficult to diagnose your ant problem over the Internet. The treatment is dependent on where you live, the actual species of ant, and even how well your tub skirting and bottom are sealed. Since you described little ants, I'm guessing they're not carpenter ants which would do the most damage to your insulation. There is no harm in spraying around the base of the tub, but remember that ants are likely hanging around your tub for warmth and/or water. Is there a chance that the cover was covered in dew and the ants were there for that?  Also, if your cover is significantly warmer than the outside temp, they would be attracted to that. If you continue to see them after spraying, you would probably want to at least check on what kind of ant they are. Collect a few (unsquished) and take them to your local extension office for ID. Once you know what they are, you can usually find treatment recommendations.

[JohnnyK45]

Thanks for the great info.  Since brushing off this morning, I saw about 3-4 of them an hour or so back and upon last checking, nothing in sight.  I did spray around the concrete near the tub base.  Sometimes our cover does appear to have some dew/moisture on it and yes, sometimes to the touch, it is warm/hot.  Just never saw any before, but will see over the next couple of days now if they come back, etc. before going to the next step.

J

[JohnnyK45]

Just a follow up; not one ant in sight this morning.   

Guess the spray on the concrete around the tub worked.  I'm in the Midwest and another friend of mine said he gets ants on his cover too once or twice a year and just sprays on the ground as well and they're gone.

J

[wmccall]

I've never had them on my cover, but they use the ground under the lip created between the skirt and the ABS pan as a highway.

[Bonibelle]

I was in the tub about a week ago at night and looked behind me to see a nest of wasp tucked under the cover flap (putting them right behind my head). I brushed the nest and wasps off and I guess because it was night, they didn't fly, just fell to the deck. When my husband went to get into the tub a few days later, he flipped out thinking there were wasps under the cover..It amazes me how some men are terrified of bugs..lol!!

[wmccall]

I was in the tub about a week ago at night and looked behind me to see a nest of wasp tucked under the cover flap (putting them right behind my head). I brushed the nest and wasps off and I guess because it was night, they didn't fly, just fell to the deck. When my husband went to get into the tub a few days later, he flipped out thinking there were wasps under the cover..It amazes me how some men are terrified of bugs..lol!!

You should have seen the dance I did when I lifted the cover on my GFI box and wasps had created a nest in there.  I didn't notice it when I turned the tub off, but sure did after I reached back in to turn it back on.

[Waterbug]

I was in the tub about a week ago at night and looked behind me to see a nest of wasp tucked under the cover flap (putting them right behind my head). I brushed the nest and wasps off and I guess because it was night, they didn't fly, just fell to the deck. When my husband went to get into the tub a few days later, he flipped out thinking there were wasps under the cover..It amazes me how some men are terrified of bugs..lol!!

You should have seen the dance I did when I lifted the cover on my GFI box and wasps had created a nest in there.  I didn't notice it when I turned the tub off, but sure did after I reached back in to turn it back on.

I retired from the phone company and can testify to the fact that wasps love small gray boxes with access holes.  We routinely seal the cable entries to our boxes with RTV.