Our house is located in an area that used to be planted in tobacco. Tobacco farms are notorious for having a lot of anthills in them. Well, our property is covered in anthills. The problem is that the ants have figured out that there’s a restaurant in our house and they are frequently a problem. If we even leave one drop of something on the counter it is like a feast to tiny sugar ants!

Bamboo Compost Collection Container on Moat

If a moat can keep enemies away, why not ants?

One of our biggest problems was ants getting into the countertop compost container. It was like a four lane freeway, as they would make a beeline to the latest smorgasbord. I tried everything I could to get rid of them: mint, catnip, lemon juice, even boric acid, etc. It didn’t do much to slow them down.

I was watching a documentary one day and they were commenting on how the moats around castles were really the dumping ground of all their waste materials. I was grossed out by that thought, but then I had a lightbulb moment. If a moat could keep out human invaders, could it keep out ant types?

I took a bowl, turned a small plastic container upside down in it, put the compost container on top of that, filled the bowl with water and immediately our ant population dropped by 80-90%. They can’t swim far enough to get to the compost bin anymore.

It may not be quite as elegant looking at the bamboo bin did sitting on the counter, but we’re sure a lot happier. So, if you’ve got ants in your compost collection container, you just might need a moat.

Of course I’d love to hear your creative ways at keeping all kinds of unwanted critters away. So please share them below.