If they're black ants they must have a nest somewhere in a plant or something. If you find the next and get it outside that should take care of the problem.

The first thing I did was to put up all food. Next, I watched to see where the ants were coming in and used caulk to seal up the cracks and crevices.

I sprayed the countertops, window sills and any other place I saw the ants with plain white vinegar. The vinegar is a good repellent. I have a spray bottle with vinegar handy, and I kept repeating the application wherever I saw them.

I also sprinkled a little boric acid under my sink because I saw that they were congregating down there too.

You can buy boric acid powder at the hardware store (Home Depot).

All of these things have helped control the ants.

Just make sure that no pets can get into the boric acid.

Here are a couple of links which describe how to make boric acid bait for ants.

http://fireant.tamu.edu/materials/factsheets/FAPFS024_2002rev.pdf

http://www.mcn.org/c/irapilgrim/un07.html

Also, you can put some behind any cracks in the kitchen (ie. if there is room behind the counter backsplash, etc.)

What ended up killing them off was this product I found at a health food store. I cannot for the life of me remember what it was called, but the active ingredient was ground flowers. When you grind a certain flower (chyrsanthemum, I think?) it releases pyrethrin which kills most bugs. The container said it was safe to actually apply it to your pet's fur to get rid of fleas, so I wasn't worried about them getting it on their feet. I sprinkled it along every wall in the house, waited a day or two and then vacuumed it up, along with tons of dead ants. And that was it, I never saw them again.

Sorry I can't recall the name, but it did come in a tall cylinder and had an orange-yellow label with green writing. I saw some at the health food store the other day, so I know they still make it. Good luck with those ants.

We've since caulked the kitchen and sprayed vinegar. So far, it's gotten better, but they're not gone. I suggested the boric acid to the boy, but he said that he tried it already, but the little bastards actually pick it up and move it. Is that crazy or what??? We haven't mixed it with sugar though, so maybe we'll try that.

Go to Home Depot and get some of the granular, outdoor pesticide. Make sure it lists the bugs you're trying to kill on the label. Put this stuff in a spreader (like you use for putting down grass seed) and create a barrier around your house.

Then, on the same day (that's important), get any pets out of the house, and deploy one indoor fogger per room according to the label's directions. Leave for several hours while this is going on and upon your return, open up some windows.