Honey ants

What honey ants look like

Honey ants, also called false honey ants or winter ants, are 1.5 to 3 mm long and shiny, ranging from dark brown and reddish brown to almost black. They have a single node on the waist and a body that often looks slightly swollen at the rear, because foragers carry liquid sugar back to the nest in a distended crop. The other clue is timing. These ants are active in cool weather and are often the first ants you see in early spring, sometimes while there is still snow on the ground, and again in late autumn when most other ants have gone quiet. In midsummer heat they go dormant underground. Crushed workers give off a sour, slightly rotten smell rather than the coconut note of odorous house ants.

Signs you have honey ants

• Early spring trails. Ants working in cold weather, on frosty mornings and around melting snow, when other ants are still inactive.
• A strong pull to sweets. Activity around fruit bowls, juice spills, jam, pop cans, hummingbird feeders and fallen fruit.
• Nests in shaded clay soil. Small soil craters in shaded lawns, under trees and along north-facing foundation walls.
• Trails from a garden bed. Lines running from a shaded planting bed to a patio door, garage or basement window.
• Summer disappearance. Activity stops in hot weather and then returns in the autumn, which confuses people into thinking the problem was solved.

Why honey ants come indoors

This is largely an outdoor ant. It nests deep in shaded clay soil, sometimes well over a metre down, and it lives on honeydew from aphids, plant sap and decaying fruit. It does not nest indoors in any lasting way. Workers come in to forage when a sweet source is available and the nest happens to be close to the building, which is why complaints cluster around patio doors, garage thresholds and basement windows next to shaded garden beds. Because the nest is deep and the foraging season is short, indoor numbers are usually modest and seasonal rather than a permanent infestation. They do not damage wood or structure.

How to keep honey ants out

• Clean up fallen fruit, spilled pop and juice on decks, patios and garage floors.
• Seal gaps at patio door thresholds, garage door seals and basement window frames.
• Keep sweet foods, recycling and compost in closed containers, and rinse cans and bottles before storing them.
• Manage aphids on shrubs and trees near the house, since honeydew is their main food supply.
• Thin heavy shade and improve drainage in damp shaded beds beside the foundation where they prefer to nest.

How GO! Pest Control treats honey ants

• Inspection. We identify the ant, follow the trail outdoors and locate the nest openings in shaded soil, mulch beds and along the foundation.
• Treatment. We use sweet baits, which these ants take readily, and a targeted exterior application around nest sites and entry points. Deep nests can take time, so baiting is usually the main tool.
• Follow-up. We time a return visit to their active season, since treatment applied during their midsummer dormancy gives little feedback.
• Advice. We point out the sweet sources, aphid-covered plants and entry gaps that bring them to the door.

We are licensed, insured and bonded, and we work in homes, apartments, condos and businesses across the Toronto GTA, Ottawa and Hamilton.

Common questions about honey ants