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Since we've been having the very hot weather here in the village we've noticed an increase in ants in our basement kitchen. I try in the main to keep most food stuffs in tins or glass jars. But how do we get rid of them and are we having more because of the hot weather. - @Kath948381

We always have trouble with ants, we put down ant power down. Have nests all over our garden as well.

I'm not a fan of chemical warfare and luckily there's literally nothing better than a water and washing-up liquid spray for ants. Living in a forest, we get invaded every year but a quick spritz with the magic liquid and wherever they were looks like the Somme. Use the cheapest liquid you can find and plenty of water; you can experiment with what dilution works best for you but it's very quick and considerably less toxic than chemicals. If you're wondering, it works by suffocation as ants have no lungs but breathe through tiny openings in their exoskeletons.

We have ants everywhere outside, the garden is full of them, and of course, they want to get into the house as well.

We prefer not to use poisons, but I won't have ants in the house, either. The main things I've found kept them out the house has been looking for where they're getting in and blocking those holes with silicone sealant; sweeping up ants I find in the house or on the kitchen steps into a dustpan using a soft brush and dumping them in the garden; and frequently applying an essential oil mix at the places they can get in that can't be blocked, like along the bottom of the kitchen door. Mostly water with a few droppers of cheap Chinese eucalyptus and mint oils added. The smell tends to stop ants from crossing the line, and any daring enough to try drown. I haven't tried it, yet but I also read that using cinnamon powder repels them.

Also removing food sources that attracted them near the house helps. We used to put dry food for the local cats on the kitchen steps, and the ants went wild for it. Moving that away from the house has drawn the ants away, too.

I don't mind the black ants at all as long as they're not in the house. They're no problem in the garden, apart from eating a lot of the seeds of things I try to plant. It's quite comical to watch teams of six or more ants carrying a big piece of cat kibble back to the nest.

Though those tiny brown Argentine ants that bite are another matter and strongly tempt me to revise my "no kill" philosophy! Thankfully they're in the back garden and well away from the house.