How to Keep Ants Away From Your Picnic: 5 Natural Methods and Tips for an Ant-Free Day!

Late summer is the season for picnics par excellence: the days are longer and the weather is better, and it's the perfect time to fill your wicker basket and enjoy delicious recipes in green parks. But there is a problem: insects. Attracted by the smell of food, they can be a real problem during outdoor meals, especially ants that could come and ruin your moment of relaxation and outdoor food, a truly ancient tradition that was helped to spread by a painting by Manet . But don't worry!

In addition to general good practices – storing food in airtight containers, covering everything with napkins and not leaving food unattended – there are also several natural methods that can help you solve the problem of ants and insects when eating outdoors, ensuring a pleasant picnic without interference from wildlife.

1. Decorate With Lavander

Fragrant and relaxing, pleasant to smell but also to see, lavender has a very pleasant scent for humans, but is very unpleasant for ants and a whole series of other insects, including flies and spiders. This is because the smell and essential oils present in the flowers, including linalool and cineole, are natural repellents. Decorating your picnic with lavender bouquets will help you keep insects away, and the setting will also be even more beautiful.

2. Use Mint

It is not very well known, but mint is an extremely repellent smell for ants: you just need to check the labels of the anti-ant products on sale in the shops to notice that it is always present. This is because these insects do not particularly like the smell of the plant, and automatically keep away from it. If you want to save your picnic basket, just put some mint leaves inside or, if you do not have any available, some mint tea bags: the ants will smell the aroma and will keep away.

3. Burnt Coffee Powder

One of the most effective remedies against ants, but which also keeps bees and wasps away, is to create a mix of coffee powder combined with a few beans to burn in the picnic area: it is an excellent natural repellent, whose strong smell discourages insects from approaching. All you need to do is distribute small plates with a couple of teaspoons of coffee powder each, add a few beans and if you like, a few chopped mint leaves, and then light it all with a lighter (taking care, of course, to keep everything safe).

4. Use Cucumber Peels

This trick is one of the least known, but also among the most effective: exploit the cucumber. Its smell is a very strong repellent for ants and can keep them away. The peel is the most effective part, you just need to cut it and place it around the picnic area to avoid having unwelcome guests, but even slices can work, especially if the vegetable is particularly bitter.

5. Use Vinegar and Bay Leaves as Repellents

Extremely effective against ants, but also for other annoying insects such as flies and midges, a completely natural mix of vinegar and bay leaves: you won't believe how very little of this compound will keep these little animals away from your picnic. All you need to do is prepare some cloth handkerchiefs soaked in vinegar, tie a couple of bay leaves to each one and arrange everything at the ends of the tablecloth.