Get Rid Of Carpenter Ants

Every Spring my kitchen because home to an army of ugly black carpenter ants. I have tried pretty much everything. Raid drops, sprays and ant traps. This year they seem particularly worse than usual.

Getting Rid of Carpenter Ants: Inside the House
Carpenter ants like moist, wet wood. That’s why you’ll usually notice e carpenter ants wherever there is moist wood around dishwashers , sinks and bathrooms.

You can find carpenter ant nest it may prove to be difficult- by tapping along wall and listing for a hollow sound. A hollow sound will usually indicate that you’ve found the nest- and you can sometimes hear the sound of the ants scrambling when you disturb the nest,

You need to get rid of the nest. Colonies within the structure should be controlled by a direct application of a pesticide. Boric acid dust, bendiocarb (Ficam) 1% dust, cyfluthrin, cypermethrin, bifenthrin, propoxur (Baygon) 0.5% in aerosol spray containers all are registered materials. Nests in wall voids often can be accessed through plumbing or electrical wiring. Electrical plates can be removed and an insecticide applied into the wall void along the outside edge of the electrical box. Ants follow wiring and plumbing routes through the structure. If the colony is inaccessible for direct treatment, a 1/8 inch drill bit can be used to make small holes in the walls so an insecticide applicator wand can be inserted for application of the insecticide. Dust formulations are effective against all Hymenoptera because the dust adheres to the hairy surfaces of their bodies. As they clean themselves and feed other ants and larvae, the insecticide is spread throughout the colony. This formulation is effective as long as it does not become wet, so it is used primarily in wall voids.

Drill small holes into the wall with a drill- about 1/8 across. Do this from OUTSIDE the house. Fill the holes with with boric acid. The ants should die off after touching the acid.

Prevent Carpenter Ants from Invading Your Home!
Don’t let tree branches touch your house- they will act as a bridge straight into your house. Prune these branches!

If you have wood siding, don’t rest things against wood siding- rakes, shovels bags of leaves, firewood, etc. this is a breeding ground for carpenter ants!
Fill crack or holes on foundation- these are doorway into your home for carpenters ants. Getting concrete grout at hardware store is cheap and filling in grout is easy to do.

Good Luck!

Author: LJ Stewart

Lisa Stewart is freelance writer in Toronto. For more household tips or to submit your home related article visit HomeGardenandGift.org.

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Carpenter Ants

Carpenter ants cause a lot of damage in homes due to them using wooden structures to build their nests in. Find out more about them here.

Carpenter ants are large sized ants, ranging in size from the queen being 19.1mm ( inch) to worker ants measuring around 6.4mm (1/4 inch). In fact, the winged queen can even be up to 1 inch in size. As for the color, they are usually black, although they can sometimes even be black and red.

The Habitat of the Carpenter Ant

Belonging to the genus Camponotus, they are called carpenter ants since they make their colonies in wood. In nature, carpenter ants build their nests in trees as well as rotting stumps of wood and logs. But, they also make their nests in wooden structures in the home and outside, such as telephone poles. Usually, carpenter ant nests in the home are found in windowsills, roofing material, porch pillars, and any wood that is contact with the earth.

The wood that is excavated while the carpenter ants make their nest is not eaten by them, and instead is deposited in small piles outside the entrance of their colony. The wood in which they make their nests is used only for their nesting requirements. They keep their nesting sites clean and smooth, and do not line them with moist soil like termites do.

The Physical Features of Carpenter Ants

Ants can be divided into various types, such as: queens, males, and workers. In the carpenter ant species, the workers are polymorphous, or that they occur in various sizes.

There are several other species of ants that are sometimes mistaken for carpenter ants. One of the best ways of distinguishing carpenter ants from other species of ants is by the following physical features: the upper surface of the thorax is evenly rounded; the waist has only a single petiole, or node. Also, unlike the carpenter ant, the other species of ants do not infest wood.

The Breeding Habits of the Carpenter Ant

The nesting colonies that carpenter ants make are usually long lasting. A single queen that is fertilized establishes each colony by setting up a nesting site in a hollowed out space in the wood. The queen then produces a brood of workers first, using her salivary secretions to feed them. During this period, the queen does not feed herself nor leave the nest. Once the workers grow, they have the job of collecting food in order to feed the other larvae that are younger. The population of the colony thus continues to increase rapidly, with the supply of food becoming more regular. It is only when a colony has 2,000 workers, or more, that it reaches maturity, and has the capacity to produce young males and queens, which can take about 3-6 years, or even more. After a colony does reach this stage, it will continue producing winged males and queens, which fly away from their nesting sites in order to mate and form new colonies, which usually occurs from May to July.

The Kind of Damage Caused by Carpenter Ants

Although carpenter ants do not usually structurally damage buildings, however, since they hollow out wood for their nesting sites, and since these are long-lasting, it leads to considerable damage to wooden structures over a period of time. According to recent evidence, it has been observed that they cause a significant amount of damage to even foam insulation.

How to Control Carpenter Ant Infestation

One of the main methods of controlling carpenter ant infestation is locating and destroying their nesting sites. According to recent studies, carpenter ants use distinguishable trails of scent to travel between the parent nest and satellite colonies. They also depend on these scent trails to provide guidance to their nestmates about food locations. Homeowners can keep track of this trailing characteristic of the carpenter ant to find and get rid of their nests, by using an insecticide spray meant for this purpose.

By Rita Putatunda
Published: 1/31/2008

 Way To Get Rid Of Carpenter Ants

Way To Get Rid Of Carpenter Ants – How do I get rid of carpenter ants, termites and pests from my house safely. Find home remedies, pest controllers and other methods to exterminate infestation…   Read more…

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