How to prevent an ant infestation

Ants are one of the most common insects in the world. There are over 20 ant species found in Great Britain alone and there are thousands of others that are scattered across the world, adapting to their region and climate. As fascinating as these creatures are; you wouldn’t want to have an ant infestation in your home.

by pixabay

Why do ants invade our living spaces?

It is uncommon for ants to come into your home, they are more likely to crawl about in gardens or unhygienic places. It’s vital that you ensure the sanitary conditions in your home are up to par to reduce the chance of an ant infestation. However, sometimes it is not based on how dirty or clean your house is, but because an ant queen has set up a colony nearby and the worker ants are then sent to fetch food so that their colony thrives.

Here are some ways that you can ensure there are no ants in your home:

Clean up

A dirty house is essentially an open invitation to pests. Cleaning all areas of your house regularly will make your home a less welcoming environment and keep those pesky pests at bay.

Ensure that there is no food or spillage on the counters. Close any jars that contain food such as biscuits, honey or crisps etc. tightly. Wipe all counters and worktops with antibacterial wipes, and collect any crumbs that are thrown on the floor into the bin. Seal the garbage disposal can or bag tightly so that nothing can go inside.

If you have ants in the area

If there are ants in your area in summer or spring it’s likely that this is a common area for ants due to the natural environment. You will need to contact your local council if they offer you free fumigation services.

Infestations

If your home is already infested with ants, it’s important you act quickly to avoid their population increasing. Locate their trail by following where the worker ants are coming from. Often their trail leads to the colony where the queen is. Then depending on the size of the colony, It's likely you will then need to contact an exterminator to have them removed.

Baits

Using ant baits is one of the best ways to get rid of them or at the very least, reduce their numbers. They come in various forms such as gels or powders. The bait’s smell attracts the ants to swarm around the area it has been placed and the poison within the bait will eventually kill them off.

Seal every entry point

Ensure that all entry points for ants are properly sealed such as any cracks or crevices.

It is always wise to have your home insured for pests so that you don’t have to fork out hundreds of pounds to have them removed. Head over to https://row.co.uk/home-emergency-cover to get insured.

*The information in this blog is designed to provide helpful information on the subjects discussed. Please seek a professional for expert advice as we can not be held responsible for any damages or negative consequences upon following this information.

The thought of travelling to a far-off village with a road map in tow has become antiquated in recent years, and that’s primarily due to satellite navigation. This remarkable tech is now so common that most of us carry a global navigation system in our pockets every day.

Sat nav was originally invented for the US military, and was based on primitive navigation systems that had been prototyped in the 1960s. Mapping as we know it was opened up to consumers after the US government decrypted its navigation systems and improved accuracy, which took place around 20 years ago.

In the mid-2000s, the first commercially available sat nav systems were fitted to cars, and there’s now very little practical difference between the system on your phone and the system used by the military.

How Sat Nav Works - the Basics

The GPS chip in your phone or sat nav system scans the sky looking for positioning satellites.

There are 24 of these satellites currently in orbit, although your sat nav only needs to be able to see three of them to get a location. In practice, most of our devices can see several at any time.

If your device can see four satellites, rather than three, it gets a little bit more information: it can also calculate your altitude.

The phone in your pocket, or sat nav in your car, still requires the resources of the US military on the ground, too. Two ground stations in the United States ensure that the satellites are functional by tracking data from a global network of monitoring stations. There’s more information on the US government website.

Calculating location in this way is fraught with complicated problems. For example, although these satellites carry atomic clocks, the time stamps they generate can be slowed down by the earth’s atmosphere. Also, time ticks by at a slightly different speed in space, because the pull of gravity is different. So sat nav satellites have to be able to compensate for all of these small differences to give an accurate location.

Evolving Tech

Sat nav has evolved in the last few years, fuelled in part by the rise in 4G connectivity. Now, maps can be automatically updated when roads are closed, or when roadworks are in place, giving people more useful directions. Additionally, 4G is used in combination with self-driving technology to create driverless vehicle systems.

In theory, this will mean that self-driving cars will soon be able to avoid collision by constantly knowing the location of all the other cars around them.

This combination of GPS and two-way connectivity has also turned sat nav into a way to track and locate people. There’s still controversy over the use of location data by companies that track us to sell us things and serve us ads.

The one downside of all this clever tech is that it could be switched off or disrupted, and there are signs that sat nav signals are already being jammed by rogue states as a form of cyber attack. In fact, the humble sat nav is perhaps one of the most important advances of the modern world because most of us are so dependent on it being functional.

With the above in mind, there would be nothing worse than something happening to your trusty road partner. If it's a cracked screen or it's been stolen, we've got you covered.

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