If you have a small army of ants invading your kitchen, you may wonder if there is anything you can do to keep them away from your cupboards and your food. If so, use the guide below to build your own homemade ant death trap.

What You Will Need

Before you begin building your death trap, gather together the below ingredients and supplies. Some of the items you may already have at home, but you can find the others in supermarkets or department stores.

• Small box with a lid
• Utility knife
• Double-sided tape
• Pair of scissors
• Pair of disposable gloves
• Safety glasses
• Sugar
• Borax

Borax is a laundry additive and the active ingredient meant to kill the ants. When mixed with sugar, the ants eat the powder, and it dries them up from the inside out. If any ants escape and carry the bait back to the colony, the borax works to kill off some of them as well.

Since borax is caustic to people and pets as well as insects, wear your gloves and safety glasses when handling the powder. If you have pets, do not place the traps on the floor where they can get into it.

Directions

Once you have everything you need, follow the directions below to build your trap. If you need to make more than one, simply repeat the steps with a different box.

1. Using your utility knife, cut out two small entryways at the end of the box's bottom. 
2. Measure the bottom of the box, then cut three strips of the double-sided tape to fit.
3. Remove the backing on one side of each tape strip, and adhere it to the bottom of the box. Start at the side furthest away from the entryways, and place one piece horizontally. Then, place the other two strips so they are about a half an inch apart.
4. Peel off the other side of the tape.
5. Coat the strips with sugar. This will serve as the trap's bait.
6. After putting on your gloves and goggles, sprinkle a layer of borax over the sugar. When the ants try to eat the sugar, they will also eat the poison.
7. Replace the lid, and place the trap where you see the ants congregate.
8. After a week or two, place the trap inside a plastic bag, and tightly close it before throwing it away. If needed, make a new trap to replace it.

This ant trap is designed to keep small ant populations under control. However, if you have a more widespread problem with a large number of ants, contact a pest control service that specializes in ant extermination to discuss your options for getting rid of these tiny, unwanted pests.