Archives for May 2009

how to get rid of carpenter ants

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I have been seeing large carpenter ants around my back deck and want to know how to get rid of them. They are quite strong and hard to kill compared to other ants I’ve had over the years. It looks like they’re living in the yard somewhere because I keep seeing them walking out into the grass but I don’t see any mounds or nests. How do I get rid of them?

Carpenter ants can be a real problem once they nest on or in your home. I’m not sure you have a nest in your house just yet and hopefully you don’t. Since carpenter ants can cause a lot of damage, they’re the one type of ant you never want nesting inside your house.

For starters, I suggest you read through our on line article about CARPENTER ANT CONTROL. There you’ll find most of your questions answered about the biology and recommended treatments for this ant. Based on the information you listed above, I think a good foundation spraying with TERMIDOR will keep them out. For the ants that are foraging around in the grass, apply some CARPENTER ANT GRANULES. This food based bait they seem to love and will quickly accept your placements. Once they feed, any nests close by will die and this should insure you don’t get new nests on your house.

signs of carpenter ants

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I have a lot of big black ants walking up and down a fence post attached to my house. It looks like they’re crawling into a joint where two boards meet and there is a lot of sawdust coming out of this joint. I think these ants have done damage to the wood there but before I do anything I’m wondering if I should be prepared to spray something. This joint is only 5 ft from my house and if I don’t do anything, I’m sure the ants will get into my house.

Carpenter ant signs include leaving a sawdust or frass which is essentially a by product of all their chewing. As explained in our CARPENTER ANT CONTROL article, they do a good job of chewing through wood but don’t in fact eat any of it. Based on your description, it sounds like you have them in this fence and probably at this joint too.

I suggest you get some DRIONE DUST and CYPERMETHRIN. Fill one of our HAND DUSTERS with the Drione and have it alongside you when you take the fence apart so it’s ready to use. I’m pretty sure you’ll uncover a nest and the Drione will be ideal to use for the treatment. Once you complete the work at that joint, I suggest you dust each of all the other joints you have to insure there aren’t any other satellite nests on the fence. The Drione will do a much better job than a liquid spray treatment.

Once the fence has been treated, finish the work by doing a foundation spraying using the Cypermethrin. This will insure straggler ants won’t find their way into your home.

wood ants in door frame

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I have large black wood ants nesting in my door frame. The back door of my house started to have saw dust fall from the frame and when I took a closer look, I spotted several large black ants run into the crack between the molding and the wall of my house. I know they’re living in there and want them gone as quickly as possible. I haven’t done anything yet but figure there should be a good spray to use. What would you suggest?

Wood ants are what we call carpenter ants. Though they don’t eat wood, they can chew through it and commonly will do so when making a nest. I suggest you read our on line article on WOOD ANT CONTROL to better understand this pest and what you should be on the lookout for to make sure they don’t make nests in other parts of the home.

As you’ll learn from our on line article, this ant loves to nest in small voids or spaces like the location you’re seeing them at now. To treat such locations thoroughly, the use of some DRIONE DUST is most appropriate. It will do a great job of penetrating all the spaces where they might be and will quickly kill them all. I suggest you also spray the outside of the building with some SUSPEND to make sure there aren’t other nests close by that can continue to thrive.

get rid of carpenter ants

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I want to get rid of carpenter ants that  I’m seeing on my back deck. I’m afraid they’re going to move inside the house and I know they can cause a lot of damage so I want them gone as quickly as possible. I don’t know where they’re nesting but I can see 2-3 on my deck most all the time just walking around. What should I do?

To get rid of carpenter ants foraging around the house, the best approach is to spray the foundation and bait the turf where they are active. As explained in our CARPENTER ANT CONTROL ARTICLE, these ants have a large range and many times will come to one yard to feed even though their nest is in another yard. At first this activity may seem innocent but eventually these ants will either establish a nest inside or on the home outside (which is bad) so don’t let them have access to your deck.

To stop this activity, there are two things you should do. First, bait the perimeter of the home with CARPENTER ANT GRANULES. Carpenter ants love this stuff and will quickly find your placement. Do this application first and don’t do anything else for 3 days. After three days go ahead and spray the foundation with some TERMIDOR or SUSPEND. This residual will provide a much needed barrier on the home so any straglers which are still active will be affected so the local colony will know to stay away for good.