Hi Guys and Gals,

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!