Hi Everyone,

This post appeared recently in a Yahoo! chat group and it may change
your mind about using the artificial sweetener, aspartame:

We live in the woods and carpenter ants are a huge problem.

We have spent thousands of dollars with Orkin [an exterminator service]
& on ant poisons trying to keep them under control but nothing has
helped.

So, when I read somewhere that aspartame (Nutrasweet) was actually
developed as an ant poison and changed to being considered non-poisonous
after it was realized that a lot more money could be made on it as a
sweetener than as an ant poison, I decided to give it a try.

I opened two packets of aspartame sweetener, & dumped one in a corner of
each of our bathrooms .

That was about 2 years ago and I have not seen any carpenter ants for
about 9 to 12 months. It works better than the most deadly poisons I
have tried. Any time they show up again, I simply dump another
package of Nutrasweet in a corner, and they will be gone for a year or
so again.

Since [first] posting this information I have had many people tell me of
their success solving ant problems with this substance, when nothing
else worked.

I found later that small black ants would not eat the aspartame. It was
determined that if you mixed it with apple juice, they would quickly
take it back to the nest,
and all would be dead within 24 hours, usually. I have found that
sometimes it will kill them, & sometimes it does not.
Not sure why, may be slightly different species of ants or something.

Fire Ants: We got our first fire ant hill about 2 weeks ago. Poison did
not work. We tried aspartame and the ants ignored
it until we got a light rain. It was just a sprinkle, enough to moisten
the Nutrasweet & ground, but not enough to wash it away. They went
crazy, hundreds of them grabbing it and taking it back into the mound.
When I checked the mound 2 days later, there was no sign of the fire
ants. I even dug the mound up, and still saw none of them.

How does it Work:

Aspartame is a neuropoison. It most likely kills the ants by interfering
with their nervous system. It could be direct, like
stopping their heart, or something more subtle like killing their sense
of taste so they can't figure out what is edible, or smell, so they
can't follow their trails, or mis-identify their colonies members, so
they start fighting each other. Not sure what causes them to end up
dying, just know that for many species of ants it will kill them quickly
and effectively.

As with any poison I recommend wearing gloves and washing any skin areas
that come in contact with this poison, & avoid
getting it in your mouth, despite anything the labeling may indicate.

More information on this poison can be found at:

http://www.dorway.com/

The Truth About Aspartame:

Aspartame is NOT a natural substance!*

Aspartame is NOT a Diet Enhancement product!*

Aspartame is NOT safe - for ANYONE!*

Aspartame is NOT a food "additive" *

Aspartame is an UNREGULATED and UNSAFE DRUG!*

Aspartame in liquids turns to FORMALDEHYDE above freezing!*

Aspartame is even worse for DIABETICS!*

Aspartame poisoning is cumulative (it adds up!)*

Aspartame byproducts get stored in your FAT!*

Aspartame has 92 Official" Side Effects (the worst is DEATH!)*

Aspartame MIMICS a wide range of problems*

*Aspartame side effects are USUALLY MISDIAGNOSED!*

People with MS are warned to stay away from Aspartame!


http://profiles.yahoo.com/dudley_delany