As the temperature drops through September, one of the most common calls we get at NestBusters isn’t about wasps or mice – it’s ants. Black garden ant colonies that have spent all summer foraging outdoors start looking for somewhere warm and dry to see out the colder months, and for a lot of homes across NG8 and NG9, that somewhere is inside the walls.
It catches people off guard because ants seem like a summer problem. In reality, late summer into autumn is when nests are at their biggest and most active, and it’s also when they’re most likely to relocate indoors – often into cavity walls, behind skirting boards, or under concrete slabs where it’s dry and insulated. A few ants on a kitchen worktop in September is frequently the tail end of a much larger nest nearby, not a one-off.
Wollaton, Bilborough and Aspley
Properties backing onto Wollaton Park or the green corridors running through Bilborough and Aspley see this pattern particularly clearly. The mature trees, hedgerows and undisturbed grassland around the park are ideal ant habitat, and as autumn sets in, colonies on that boundary push outward into the gardens and cavity walls of the houses next to it. We regularly treat homes on these park-adjacent streets where the nest itself is actually outside, under a patio or along a fence line, with the trail leading straight into the house through an airbrick or a gap around a pipe.
Beeston, Chilwell and Stapleford
The older housing stock across Beeston, Chilwell and Stapleford brings a different version of the same problem. Solid or early cavity wall construction, timber-framed bay windows and mature front gardens all give ants plenty of dry cavities to move into once the weather turns. We also see a seasonal uptick around Chilwell Retail Park and the surrounding commercial units, where loading bay areas and planted borders provide the same kind of shelter on a larger scale.
Signs you’re dealing with more than a stray ant or two
- A steady trail of ants following the same route day after day, usually along a skirting board, worktop edge or windowsill
- Ants appearing indoors even on cooler, wetter days when you’d expect them to stay put outside
- Fine soil or debris appearing near air bricks, patio edges or gaps in brickwork – a sign of nest activity nearby
- Ants concentrated around specific rooms, particularly kitchens and utility rooms where there’s food and warmth
Most DIY ant sprays and baits only deal with the ants you can see, not the nest itself, which is why the problem often comes straight back a week or two later. Because autumn nests are frequently hidden in cavity walls or under hard landscaping, finding the actual source usually means a proper inspection rather than guesswork.
How we approach it
We start by tracking the trail back to source rather than just treating the visible ants, then use targeted treatments that the colony carries back to the nest itself – this deals with the queen and the rest of the colony, not just the workers you can see. For garden-boundary nests near green spaces like Wollaton Park, we also look at entry points into the house so the same colony, or a new one next spring, can’t simply move back in the same way.
If you’re seeing ants indoors across Wollaton, Bilborough, Aspley, Beeston, Chilwell or Stapleford as the weather cools, it’s worth getting it looked at now rather than waiting until spring. Call NestBusters on 0742 984 9483 or visit nottinghampest.co.uk to book an inspection.
