Elalmanya BiologyHomes and businessesSame day, any governorate
The ants on your countertop are a small part of the colony. The rest are hidden in the wall, under the tiles or outside the window, along with the queen that lays the eggs. So we follow the trail first, then put down bait the ants carry inside themselves.
In short
Ant control starts by following the trail to its entry point, such as a doorstep, a window frame or a tile crack. Then slow-acting bait goes on the route, so the workers carry it to the nest and feed it to the queen and the young. A quick spray kills only the ants it touches, and the colony sends more.
Signs
One or two ants on the countertop aren't a big problem. The problem is a steady trail going back and forth along the same line every day, because it means a nearby nest has found food in your home and keeps sending workers. Watch the trail for a while, photograph it, and see where it starts and where it ends.
Ants leave an invisible scent trail, and the workers follow it between the food and the nest. That is why you see them along the edge of the countertop, beside the skirting board or along a tile joint, and every time you wipe them away they return to the same path.
Some ants go for sugar, honey and spilled juice, while others look for fat and protein, such as oil around the cooker or the cat's food. The kind of food the ants gather on tells us which bait they will eat.
Window frames, the balcony doorstep and the air shaft are some of the most common ways in for ants, especially where there is a crack between the marble and the wall. If you keep potted plants on the balcony, the nest may be inside a pot.
A small pile of soil or fine sand next to a crack in the tiles or under the skirting board may come from ants digging a nest under the floor. Wipe it up and keep an eye on the spot. If it comes back in the same place, the nest is underneath.
If you see flying ants coming out of a crack in the wall or out of a wooden door, photograph them before you spray anything. They may be ordinary ants flying off to start a new colony, or they may be termites, and the treatment is completely different.
Found one of these signs? Take a photo and send it to us, and we will tell you whether it is ants or something else before any visit.
Send the photoThe ants walking across your countertop don’t live there. They come from a nest that may be inside the wall, behind a cupboard, under the tiles, or behind the fridge and the washing machine, where it’s warm. Sometimes the nest is outside altogether: in the garden soil, in a flowerpot on the balcony or in a crack in the boundary wall, and the ants cover the whole distance every day to reach your sugar.
The first ant to find food heads back to the nest and leaves a scent trail on the floor as it goes. The other workers follow that trail, which is why ants march in a single line and come back to the same line after you wipe it. Soap and water really do remove the trail, but as long as the nest and the food are still there, the ants will lay down a new one.
So the first thing we do is follow the trail to its end. Where it disappears (a crack under the skirting board, the window frame, a pipe opening under the sink) is where the bait goes.
Some ant species want sweet food all year round. You’ll find them on the sugar tin, the honey jar and a cup of tea someone left out. Others prefer protein and fat and turn up around the cooker, in the cat’s bowl or on chicken scraps in the trash. Even a single species can change its taste over the year, so food it ate in winter it may ignore in summer.
This matters for treatment. A sweet bait in front of ants that are looking for fat may sit there untouched, and it looks as if the bait doesn’t work. You can test it yourself before the visit: put a drop of honey on a piece of card next to the trail, with a small piece of oily food beside it. After an hour, see which one the ants have gathered on, and tell the technician.
Termites are often called white ants, and the name confuses a lot of people. They are a completely different insect, and their treatment starts at the walls and foundations, not in the kitchen. Both sometimes swarm in the same season, so if you see winged insects coming out of a wall, compare them:
Termites also stay hidden. You’ll rarely see them walking in a trail across a countertop. They build thin mud tubes on walls and travel inside them, and they eat wood from the inside while the surface stays intact. If what you have looks like this, see our termite control page, or send us a photo and we’ll tell you which one it is.
If you have put away the sugar and any uncovered food, wiped the trail, and a few days later the trail is back on the same line, the nest is close and needs bait in the right place. The same applies if ants show up in more than one room, come out of a crack in a wall or from under the tiles, or if you tried a spray and the ants appeared in new places instead of disappearing.
In restaurants and food stores, don’t wait until a customer sees them. Send us a photo of the trail and where it is on WhatsApp at +201007892200, and the visit can be the same day in any of Egypt’s 27 governorates.
Why it comes back
Spray kills the ants walking in front of you, a small part of the colony. The queen, the eggs and the young stay in the nest, out of the spray's reach, so the colony sends new workers. With some small species, a repellent spray splits the colony into several nests, and ants turn up in more places than before.
The ants on the countertop are the ones out looking for food. Behind the trail there may be thousands more hidden in the nest, with one or more queens laying eggs. Killing the workers outside does nothing to the queen.
Some very small ants, about 2 mm long and yellow or light reddish brown, such as Pharaoh ants, live in colonies with many queens. When they are hit with a repellent spray or powder indoors, part of the colony leaves and starts a new nest somewhere else, so instead of one nest you end up with several.
If you put down bait and spray next to it, or wipe the trail with a strong cleaner, the ants will stay away from the bait and won't carry it to the nest. Bait only works when the ants feed on it and keep coming back, so that enough of it reaches the queen.
Treatment
The work starts with photos and questions before the visit, then the technician follows the trail to where the ants get in. The food they are after decides the type of bait, which goes on the trail itself. At the end we tell you what to do, and what not to do, in the days after the visit.
We ask where the ants show up (kitchen, bathroom or balcony), how long they have been there, and whether they go for sugar or for oily food. If you can photograph one ant up close and the trail as well, that helps us tell ordinary ants from termites right from the start.
The technician follows the trail along the countertop and skirting board until it disappears into a crack, under a doorstep or next to a pipe. They also check behind the fridge, under the sink, around the cooker and along the window frame, because the nest may be inside the wall or outside the apartment altogether.
Ants that go for sugar take a sweet bait, while ants that go for oil and cooked food need a bait with protein or fat. Sometimes we put two types side by side and watch which one the ants eat, because a colony's diet changes over the year.
Bait goes on the ants' route and next to their entry points, in cracks or inside locked bait stations if there are children or pets at home. It acts slowly on purpose, so a worker has time to get back to the nest and feed the queen and the young before it dies.
Once we know where the ants get in, we treat that crack or doorstep and tell you which gaps need sealing with silicone or filler. We also explain that you may see more ants around the bait at first. That means they are eating it, so don't wipe it away or spray it.
Ready for the first step? Tell us what you saw.
Safety
Bait goes in small amounts into cracks and along the ants' route, not on the countertop where you prepare food. Even so, safety depends on the product and where it goes. We ask about children and pets before the visit and show you exactly where we put the bait, so nobody touches it or moves it.
A crawling baby easily reaches the floor and the skirting board. Tell us on the first call and we'll put the bait in higher cracks or inside locked stations. If a child puts something in their mouth, call the ambulance on 123 and have the product name with you.
Clear uncovered food and dishes off the countertop before the visit, and keep sugar and honey in jars with tight lids. Bait never goes on surfaces where food is prepared, and the technician tells you what to wipe and when.
Cat or dog food left on the floor all day draws the ants that like protein. Pick it up after meals, and tell us where your pets eat and sleep, so the bait stays away from those spots.
Ask the technician for the name of the active ingredient in the bait, and for its product information, before it goes down. You have every right to know, and it matters even more if someone at home has allergies or asthma.
Who it is for
Ants get into any place with food and water, from a tenth-floor apartment to a restaurant kitchen or a sugar store. The method is the same: find the trail and bait the colony. What changes is the size of the inspection and the number of bait points, and in restaurants we also time our visits so the kitchen keeps running.
Homes and apartments
In an apartment, ants usually turn up in the kitchen, the bathroom or around the balcony sink. Don't wipe away the whole trail or spray it before the technician sees it, because the trail is what leads us to the nest. Photograph it and send it to us on WhatsApp, and tell us which floor you live on and whether you have a garden.
Send details of your homeBusinesses and offices
In a restaurant, hotel or food store, a single ant trail on the sugar shelf spoils stock and shows in front of customers. The plan covers an inspection of the kitchen, storeroom and waste areas, bait in locked stations away from food, and visit times agreed with management so the work isn't disrupted.
Ask for a business quotePrice
No single price fits every case. An apartment with one infested room is not the same as a whole apartment, and a home is not the same as a business. The cost depends on these four factors, and we explain it in detail before you confirm the booking, with no surprise charges after the visit.
Ask for the quote to show:
Coverage
We cover all 27 governorates of Egypt with same-day visits. Send your area and the problem on WhatsApp or call us, and we will set a visit time for your home or business. The groups below show the main cities and districts in each region we reach.
Questions
These are the questions people in Egypt ask most about ants, with answers from our daily work. If yours is not here, type it in the box below. It lands in our WhatsApp, and one of the team replies about your exact situation.
Usually the ants have found food or water in your home, or the weather outside has changed. Ants come indoors looking for food, water and warmth, and they increase when it turns hot and dry or when the ground outside floods. The first ant to find sugar goes back and brings the rest along the same trail.
For ants coming from a colony, bait works better than spray. Spray kills the workers it touches and doesn't stop others coming in, and some species split into more nests when sprayed. Spray has a limited role in certain cracks and entry points, and the technician decides that after seeing the trail.
They may keep ants away from one spot for a while, but none of them reaches the nest. Wiping the trail with soap and water removes the scent the ants follow, and that does help. But the colony is still there, and the workers find another route to the food.
Move the sugar into a glass jar or a container with a tight lid, and wipe the shelf where it stood with soap and water to remove the trail. Ants get into open bags and boxes easily. If they come back to the shelf after that, the nest is close by and needs bait.
An ant has a thin, pinched waist, elbowed antennae, and front wings longer than its back wings. A termite has a broad waist, straight antennae and four wings of the same size. Termites eat wood from the inside and need a different treatment, and they have their own page on our site.
Ants usually start to drop off about 5 to 10 days after they first feed on the bait, and full control can take weeks. In the first few days you may see more ants around the bait, which means it's working. Species with many queens take longer.
The most common entry points are the front doorstep, the window frame, the gap between the countertop and the wall, and the pipe openings under the sink. Ants that nest outdoors come in from the garden or from the soil beside the boundary wall. Follow the trail to its end and you'll find the spot that needs sealing.
