One thing about the drought last year - there were no ants. I am experiencing a typical San Francisco winter - ants. We really only have two seasons here - ants, fog, and then the rest of the year is pretty much the same, windy with sun.
As the rain comes and the reservoirs fill, so do the ants. Scouts run across every surface of my house. We are engaged in a perpetual contest to see if they can find a food source before I find them. Today they succeeded in swarming the butter dish. It was the first time this season that I saw them in a gang. And it was a vicious gang, one with no remorse. Two hours later the Taoist in me condemned to bad karma I had a sink full of carcasses and a house badly in need of airing out.
I was told that they do not like cinnamon. This is true, in that they do not eat cinnamon. However it does not seem to deter them accessing that which is more to their liking. And I have discovered that Orlando finds that cinnamon is quite nice. Refreshing change in breath but not in ant free zones. Tonight I try the next two non-toxic solutions baby powder and diatomaceous earth {also a great solution for fleas}. Diatomaceous Earth kills by physical action and not by chemical so there is supposedly no harm to pets or humans. The tiny hard and sharp diatoms scratch off the insects waxy coating, causing it to dehydrate. It sounds brutal, and my conscious has wavered considering the horrific exposure I have had recently to dehydration, but they are really everywhere.
Although always a fan of a thunderstorm I am very much looking forward to the cold harsh fog of summer.