Today I flitted round a lot
(With fixing things, not like a bat!)
And now and then, when tired I got
Or found that I had lost the plot,
I stopped and had a chat.
Or played the piano for a while,
Especially to my cat:
Beethoven can that cat beguile,
M sits there with a kitty smile …
Then at computer sat.
And as I blogged so merrily
(The words all came out pat)
I felt some things crawl over me,
Next, itching started furiously,
Then, biting they were at!
These tiny creatures are bad enough when it comes to crawling in a swarm, but their bites are incredibly effective for mandibles too small to see!
The keyboard was jam-packed with ants
That wanted me to scat!
Crawled up my arms and down to pants,
Ignoring all my raves and rants,
(You know, like, ‘Oh my hat!’)
The keyboard innards. I had to make sure no trace of ants or ant-killer remained to scramble the circuits. So far so good …
Screwed keyboard open very wide,
Squashed lots of ants quite flat!
And ant-icide inside applied,
Plus desk on which it rests, beside;
I hope now, that is that!
Footnote: We had to buy some ant poison after the bed invasions a while back, even though insecticide goes against our principles. I also had to discourage ants from putting up family portraits in wall plugs, multiplugs, transformers and other electrical equipment. Maybe the little brutes have been plotting revenge, though, and decided that cutting off blogging would get me where it hurts. Oh, my sainted ant!
The keyboard was most seriously in need of cleaning, anyway — but why is it necessary to secure the bases of them with no less than eighteen difficult-to-get-at screws?
Colonialist's Blog 
have you been eating near your keyboard and it was full of crumbs when shaken? why on earth would the ants all be there otherwise?
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It was warm with electricity: just the environment they like for their nests. Inside wall plugs are also favoured. No crumbs, but a bit of surface grime from blogging straight from the garden!
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Ouch ouch ouch
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That gives the gist of my comments, leaving out the unprintable ones!
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The answer is that it doesn’t . . . the sole purpose is to frustrate them who would date fix, and not replace.
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It must add to the labour in manufacture, though! I suppose they simply add that into the cost.
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That should read “dare” not “date” (the problem with commenting using the phone).
Haven’t you heard? Labor is cheap . . . screws, however, do cost. I suspect it all has to do with providing enough rigidity for the keypresses to reliably register. Cheap keyboards tend to be less reliable in part because they flex too much.
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Flexing can be accommodated – I have a spare keyboard one can roll up!
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Uhh Les! There must be enough bacteria on that keyboard to bring down an army of ants! Bin it and buy a new one!
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It has cleaned up beautifully and no longer shows signs of garden soil and motor oil and gunge spots all in a row!
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Hope the unwanted guests have gone. I thought I was badly off with my insect bites but I think you’ve won!
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Rooimiere? Ek dink die heer des huises is self ietwat van ‘n rooimier, want jy sit nooit stil nie!
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🙂 Nee, hierdie is die gewone klein swart huis miere. Mens sit ook nie stil nie as hulle kom in die broeke!
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A very good, clean ant killer is about a third dish washing liquid and two thirds water mixed in a spray bottle. Put some moth balls in wall sockets and other electrical equipment to keep ants out.
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Useful tips, and presumably far better for the environment. Thank you!
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18 screws? Seriously? 🙂
(When you want to avoid ants without recurring to insecticide, try cinammon. (Cannelle is it?)
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