Ants in my cob bench

I have used Diatomaceous earth and it doesn't seem to bother the ants in my hoop house bench any suggestions?They seem to be nesting inside the bench, bringing the sand out one grain at a time.

My knee jerk reaction would be to just put a little poison down. A little boric acid has worked great for me.

On the other hand, here's some other ideas:

feed them corn meal. Just leave some near their nest. They'll take it inside and eat it. They can't digest it and it'll eventually kill them. (Wheat flour or dried rice also works)

Citrus (orange or lemon) are good deterrents. Simply spray some near their nest, puree some zest and smear it near the opening. This is only a deterrent though, so it may not fix it.

Chalk works as they don't like calcium carbonate. Again, only a deterrent (draw a line around their path or nest.

Apparently putting cayenne pepper into their nest also works. This may cause an exodus though, so stand by with a spray bottle of vinegar (slightly watered down) and have at them

Good luck!

video: http://www.howcast.com/videos/356268-How-to-Get-Rid-of-Ants-Naturally

- there is a lot of interesting and related information on termites , I did a ''permies' ' general search'' and found lots of information ! esp. in the Huglekulture section ! Allen L.

Cinnamon seems to work for deterring ants. But I was just blocking their entry into the house, so it may not be applicable to your situation.

In order to avoid this problem in my own situation I've been toying with the idea of using wood ash and salt in the cob mix. The lye in ash should deter insects and rodents. Crushed glass powder is available from those who "recycle" glass. It costs about $10 per ton. An addition of this to sub surface layers of plaster should deter some soft bodied creatures.