These little bastards are driving me bonkers. About a year ago a fried chicken bone fell on the floor by my bedroom wastebasket*, and I soon thereafter found that approximately eleventy skillion tiny ants had built a 70-lane superhighway from their hideous unseen lair to this greasy treat.
Ever since then, the ants have been sending recon patrols throughout my bedroom looking for another chicken bone. There aren’t enough for me to see where they’re coming from, just enough to piss me off.
What should I do? Should I drop a chicken bone on purpose and wait for them to build another highway so I can see how they’re getting in, or will that just encourage them further? And is there a way to beat them in general without dropping hundreds on an exterminator?
*Why yes, I am a bachelor; why do you ask?
Just get little ant bait things, and scatter them about liberally. The ants take the poisoned bait back to the nest and share it, killing the queen and royalty. End of ant issue.
You may have to try a couple different kinds to find out which ones they like. When I had an ant problem in the kitchen I tried the little black ant traps and the ants seemed to go out of their way to avoid them. Then I tried Terro liquid ant bait (no personal affiliation) and they lapped it up! There were a bunch of ants at first and then none. I also put some granules around the perimeter of the house which may help because I haven’t seen any ants in the house in a year.
“Clean Up” 
Seriously. Ants really like to explore where there’s traces of food so vacuum regularly, mop your floor with something that actually cuts grease and whatnot (ants leave little scent trails when they find food, that’s why you shortly get a superhighway of ants when they find something tasty).
If you’ve got rugs or carpeting, rent a carpet cleaner to ensure that it isn’t a wall-to-wall smorgasboard for them.
Don’t leave food or water standing. Clean it up promptly.
Store food in closed containers so the little critters can’t wander into it.
I second this. Terro is by far the best at getting rid of the little bastards. All of the others I’ve tried don’t really work well and some, as stated above, are avoided by the ants. Terro takes a few weeks but you will not see any ants for the rest of the year (or longer…I’m still waiting to see if they come back).
Yep, run out and get some Terro. Works like a charm. You’ll never kill all the ants roaming around your house. Let them take some Terro back to the colony and slowly fewer and fewer ants show up and eventually none.