2010 December

I live in Tampa Bay ,Fl. I have a ton of Carpenter Ants in our attic. It is a very difficult area to get to. In fact I don’t know how. Nearest place I can get to the nesting area is 15/20 feet. Are you able to help/suggest any solutions. I am thinking of drilling a small hole in the atic area and some how spraying some powder. Thanks.

If you read through our CARPENTER ANT CONTROL article, you’ll learn the DRIONE DUST must be applied directly into the nest to be effective. Based on how the limited access you have, I’m not sure you’ll be able to deliver enough of it where it will really matter. And if you only end up getting the dust over the wood where they’re living, the ants will simply avoid the area and survive fine. True, you could opt to drill through the ceiling of the room below the area you believe they are nesting. But if you don’t get the nest dead on center, the chance of them scattering around, regrouping and getting established elsewhere will be high. In the end, if this happens it will be a lot harder than it is now to get rid of them. I’m afraid this risk is certainly real and for this reason I think another approach might be better suited.

In this situation, I’d recommend one of the other products we have listed. For example, since you know there is an ant problem, it means you must be seeing them active either on or in the home. If they’re in the home, you could opt to apply some CARPENTER ANT GEL along their trails where you see them. Alternatively you could opt to spray PHANTOM throughout the home. This slow working active works because it’s not detectable by ants so they won’t know it’s been applied. After walking on treated surfaces for a few days, they will no doubt bring some back to the nest which will then get distributed to others in the nest. Before they know what happened, the nest will be killed as the product finally kicks in and begins to take effect. This will usually be 4-7 days following initial exposures.

Phantom can also be used outside on the home which is a good place to keep treating throughout the year to keep all perimeter pests at bay. Remember, preventive maintenace goes a long way at stopping major infestations from ever getting established so don’t forget to stay on the top of the treating so this doesn’t happen again.

Here are direct links to the information and products listed above:

Carpenter Ant Control: http://www.carpenterants.com/carpenter-ant-control

Drione Dust: http://www.bugspray.com/catalog/products/page91.html

Carpenter Ant Gel: http://www.bugspray.com/catalog/products/page560.html

Phantom: http://www.bugspray.com/item/phantom_insecticide.html

We just noticed our floor in our camper is very spongy in the bathroom and coming out into the kitchen. There are some dead ants inside the camper on the kitchen floor and the bathroom floor. I was wondering if they could be carpenter ants. The camper sat for 3 years. We couldn’t use it because I had health issues. Do the ants go away in the winter? What should we do come spring? We would appreciate your feedback on this problem.

If the ants are large it would be a good guess they are in fact carpenter ants. But before you were to do anything extensive pest control wise, you really need to know for sure since treatments for carpenter ants will cost more compared to treating any common ant. And as our CARPENTER ANT CONTROL ARTICLE explains, these guys don’t “go away” during the winter. They merely get dormant or in a state of hibernation so it’s entirely possible there is a nest somewhere on the camper or close by.

At this point I’d say to focus your attention on solving the moisture problem in the camper. If you work on it now you should end up ripping up some of the flooring and gaining access to areas you can’t see into right now. At that time you’ll no doubt find some ant nests in the damaged area if you do in fact having some nesting inside the camper. And if any nests are found, you can treat them as explained in our article.

But if no activity is found, I’d wait till next spring and summer to see if they return. And if they do, at that point you could take a more pro active approach using the baits and sprays if needed. But applying any now would be waste because all these products require the ants to be active in order for the treatments to be affective. Since it’s winter, as long as the camper is kept inactive and cold, the ants will be dormant and inactive as well.

Here are direct links to the information and products listed above:

Carpenter Ant Control Article: http://www.carpenterants.com/carpenter-ant-control

Archives for December 2010

carpenter ants in attic

carpenter ants in camper