Ants are by far one most fascinating animals in the world I would say. They are also one of the most important for the environment. Ants plays a good roll in aerating the soil and help building root system for plants where both water and air can pass through. It’s important to take care of the ants and cooperate with them in your garden.
You can feed ants almost everything, and they will like it. Their favorite food is high sugary foods like fruits, honey, and cheese. However, some things might kill them, such as pepper, peppermint, salt, and vinegar.
Ants are known for finding food and bringing it back to base for storage until harvest in the colder months. Ants usually works in thousands in a disciplined and effective way. It doesn’t take long after you put down something to eat for them and you see one ant until there are hundreds of more ants.
What to feed ants?
If you wish to increase the number of ants in your garden or help the ants found in the woods, there are several ways of doing so. I did some research and made a list of the ant’s favorite food. However, food preferences change for different ant species. But for most species, I’ve found these are the ant’s favorites.
- Apple
- Bread crumb
- Brown sugar
- Candy
- Cheese
- Crackers
- Honey
- Nectar
- Orange
- Pasta
- Raisin
- Shredded cheese
- Strawberry
- Sugar
- Syrup
I have two anthills nearby and a small colony under my patio. I do not give them food since I do not wish to attract rats, but instead, I once a week give them some Sunburst ant nectar served in a coke bottle cap. The ants go nuts for it. It’s completely dry in just a few hours.
What food does not ants like?
Ants in general do not like salty and bitter food. Please do not feed them lemons, salt, or peppermint, or things containing vinegar. Ant repellents are usually made of vinegar and lemon. Even the water from squeezed cucumber works as a repellent. Spicy food with distinctive smells as cinnamon, curry, and pepper does not appeal to ants and is often used to build barriers between the ants and something you wish to protect from them. However, dislikes can also be specific to different ant species where some enjoy jelly and other doesn’t.
How often should you feed ants?
If you wish to feed the ants outside and want their help in aerating your garden and support in pest control, it varies depending on how much help you want. When feeding ants, the ant tribe will grow faster, and you might not want to exaggerate. In my former smaller garden, which was 13×4 feet (4×4 meters), I put out one bottle cap with nectar in every corner once a week. That worked wonders for my garden. They helped me with the Spanish slug invasion I had an ongoing battle with. Did you know that farmers used ants for pest control as early as 300 A.D.?
Do ants like potatoes?
Potatoes are a divider among ant species where fire ants love the lump of gold, where regular garden ants are not fond of vegetables in general. If you plan to grow potatoes and have your garden infested with fire ants, I have a tip for you. If you wish to cruelty-free, make the fire ants avoid your crops. You can spray some Orange Guard around the crops. Beware, if the ants are sprayed directly, you hurt them and make them suffocate. Please, spray around the things you wish to protect. The ants are smart and will know to avoid the crops. Orange Guard is quite cheap on Amazon, and a 32 oz bottle usually lasts two seasons for me.
Will ants eat peanut butter?
Ants are like a tiny bodybuilder. They love protein. Meat, egg, and peanut butter are filled with protein. The fat in peanut butter is also an awesome treat for them. If you drop your peanut butter jelly sandwich upside down and do not wish to attract ants, clean the spot well.
Do ants eat carrots?
Ants do not eat carrots. One might confuse them with aphids. Aphids love carrots, and with ants comes aphids. Aphids usually sit on the underside of leaves and eat the plants. The ants and aphids have a symbiotic relationship where the ants provide the aphids with protection from predators, and the aphids provide the ants with food. The food aphids supply the ants with is honeydew which is a bi-product of them.
Do ants eat cheese?
Although ants are cheese connoisseurs, they do prefer cheese in smaller amounts. Something easily breakable for them to grab and return to their home with. Grated or shredded cheese is great, but hard cheese that easily crumbles is their favorite. However, if there’s honey or nectar available, they will most definitely prefer honey or nectar instead of cheese.
Do ants eat bread?
Ants like bread and is among their favorite things to eat. They bring the bread crumbs home to their colony, which they will feast on during the colder months.
Do ants eat beets?
Ants, in general, do not eat vegetables but their symbiotic work with aphids makes it look that way. The aphids thrive on beets and their plants and supply the ants with their secretions containing honeydew. In return, the ants provide the aphids with protection from predators.
Do ants eat spinach?
One might blame the ants for unsuccessful spinach harvest. One might have seen ants running around the spinach leaves. Ants are not fond of vegetables. One theory if your spinach is getting eaten because of aphids. They love spinach and green leaves. If you wish to remove the aphids in a cruelty-free way, you might want to check out Orange Guard, which you spray around your crops you wish to protect from ants, aphids, and other insects. They will understand it’s toxic for them and avoid the area.
Do ants like butter?
Butter is a type of food that is a favorite in specific ant species. Thief ants seem to love regular butter, where regular garden ants don’t care that much about it. However, there is some food the garden ant wouldn’t choose over butter, for example, leafy greens.
Can ants eat rice?
There’s this myth that ants shouldn’t eat rice. The reasoning behind the idea has been that the ant would carry the grain of rice home to their colony and serve it to larvae. After the larvae had eaten the rice, it would expand inside them and force the baby ant to explode. This is a myth since the enzymes inside the larvae would break down the rice. If you wish to feed the ants some rice, go ahead.
Can ants eat chocolate?
I’ve heard of different versions of this. Some have said their garden ants had loved chocolate, while others garden ants have totally ignored it. Chocolate contains a huge amount of sugar and is a real treat for ants. However, the hardness and thickness of the chocolate might be the problem for the ants rejecting it. Chili-flavored chocolate might turn them off as well. If you wish to treat your garden ants with chocolate, break it down in tiny bits first.
Can ants eat jelly?
Yes, ants can eat jelly. Jelly contains sugar and is a sweet treat for ants. However, if presented with stuff with more protein in them, they will choose that instead. For example, if you give ants a pile of hamburger meat and a cup of protein jelly, they would most like to go for the burger.
Can ants eat apples?
Yes, ants can eat apples; however, they would much more prefer food with more protein. Apples would repel some ants due to their small amount of acidic levels. But most ants are fond of sweet things and would not have a problem with apples.
Can ants eat oranges?
Most ants dislike the taste of food with high acidic levels like lemon and oranges. But oranges’ high amount of sugar content still seems to draw some ants to it.
Do ants eat hot Cheetos?
Even though the a great number of spices in a hot Cheeto, ants still enjoy its taste. The high sugar amount in the Cheeto is too irresistible for them.
Do ants eat chips?
Ants are vast chip eaters. The amount of fat in chips is a real treat for them. When you drop chips on the ground, it doesn’t take long until ants are going there to indulge. However, regular potatoes doesn’t usually concern them.
Is sugar bad for ants?
Sugar is not bad for ants. Although it is mainly used as a temporary energy boost and isn’t their primary food source doesn’t mean it’s harming them. They like the sweet taste and use it as an energy source. Humans have connected sugar to something bad since it can cause cavities and diabetes for us.
Why you should have control over the ants in the garden
Being a friend of ants and have an interplay with them is key for both being an animal friend and also a gardener. Prepreation and control will benefit both the ants and the gardener.
How do I gain control over the ants in the garden?
If you have planted crops you don’t wish to be infested by ants and aphids you need to set up a border for them to cross. I have used Orange Guard which I use after I’ve planted the crops. I spray on the soil around the plants. The spray repels ants without hurting them as I do not wish to cause unnecessary harm. I have not had any problems with aphids after introducing this method.
Another thing to gain control of the ants’ situation and forcing them to stay in their place is to put your garden into zones. In my former garden, every corner was a small ant zone where I weekly placed a bottle cap of nectar to make them stay there.
What harm can ants do in your garden if you don’t have control over them?
- They will steal your seeds.
Ants love to eat seeds. If you have planted seeds in your garden and wanted them to grow something for you, the risk is that ants will grab the seed and walk away with it. - They will overaerate the soil.
Ants dig tunnels in the ground for them to be able to move quickly and safely. This causes air and water to get into the ground better, which is a good thing. However, when there are too many tunnels, there’s a risk your plants will suffer from it. When the root system of your plants digs deeper underground looking for nutritious soil and is met with an air-filled tunnel, the risk of it turning is huge, which will disturb the root. - Ants bring aphids.
With ants comes aphids which sit below the leaves and eat on your plants. Being proactive and using a repellent when planting will help you against the aphids. - Ants eat fungus.
Ants eat fungi which is underground and gives nutrition to plants. Having ants in your garden might reduce the nutrition provided to plants.
Conclusion
Ants loves to eat and collect food of various sorts. Their favorite things to eat are sweet food but also food with high protein. They enjoy honey and nectar the most, but wouldn’t say no to some meat. However meat would attract rats so nectar would be best to give to your ants. Ants do no like salty, sour, and vinegar.
To bring peace to your garden and have good cooperation with the ants, you will need to set boundaries. Use a repellent on places you don’t wish them to access. Do not spray directly on the ants since it would be cruel. I would recommend Orange Guard. When I would like to encourage ants to stay in one space, I give them some Sunburst ant nectar once a week, which makes them happy.