Oh my goodness. I am so sorry to hear of your nightmare! Every summer we get tons of ants. It's horrible. And this year they decided that my raspberry plants were especially planted for them! My best line of defense without using poison is diatomaceous earth. You can even mix some in with your stored food safely. I put a line of it around the house and sprinkle it on the fruits that are growing and that seems to do the trick. The only thing is that if it rains, you have to do it again. Pouring vinegar down ant hills works well too.