A mechanical ant trap/killer to be the only "conventional weapon" for my war on ants.

I attract a line of ants to eat the bait (in my case, cat food), then periodically suck (or blow) ants into an un-escapable garbage bag, but only a few at a time to keep the line of ants stable. (or until the entire colony is exhausted)

Compared to the traditional poison method, it is much more satisfying for me to dispose of a garbage bags full of ants which I might make good use of. The mass of corpses could be good fertilizer, or bird feed.