2012 April

Last year we had a large number of big black ants coming out from under the toilet on our 2nd floor bathroom. What I mean by large numbers is 19 to 20 @ a time. I had to tape around the bottom of the toilet to keep them from coming in. This year I keep finding dead, big black ants with wings mostly in the kitchen. Every spring our home is invaded with these ants, yet this year is the first time I’ve seen so many with wings. Do you think we have nests in our home?

I would say you most likely have at least one nest in your home. And based on the amount of activity you’re reporting, I suggest you either hire a service company to treat or get the products they’d use from us and do the treatment yourself. Since it sounds like one nest is located in the floor under the toilet, that’s where I would do the initial treatment.

First you should read our CARPENTER ANT ARTICLE. It covers all you’ll need to know about these ants so you should be able to decide if you want to handle it yourself or hire a service after reading what’s involved. In the article you’ll learn about DRIONE DUST which no doubt should be used to treat the floor void under the toilet. This product alone could end up solving your problem if you hit a nest in this area. And based on how many ants you’ve seen around the toilet, I’m sure there is at least one nest in this location.

In our article you’ll also learn that seeing ants with wings means the nest is sending out “reproductives” whose responsible for starting a new nests. This usually happens a year or two after a nest is established so it falls in line “time wise” with what you’re reporting. In other words, if the nest started last year, this year is when you would first start seeing swarmers.

Once the void is treated, I would also treat any other room with PHANTOM AEROSOL to make sure you don’t miss any nests. Lastly, I’d spray the outside foundation with PHANTOM CONCENTRATE. Getting the home treated with Phantom would insure any other nests are not missed in case there are some satellite colonies you’re unaware of location wise.

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

Drione: http://www.bugspraycart.com/insecticide/dust/drione-dust

Phantom EC: http://www.bugspraycart.com/insecticide/liquid/phantom-21-oz

Phantom: http://www.bugspraycart.com/insecticide/aerosol/pt-phantom-17-5oz

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

In one room in my house I have noticed a couple of what look to be carpenter ants. There haven’t been many seen but a couple appear every two or three days. The room has wood paneling on the walls. Should I be worried that they will damage my walls?

Yes, you most definitely need to be concerned about this activity. As a general rule, 1-2 ants a year would be no cause for alarm. But if you’re seeing 1-2 a month, there is a problem. And based on your message, you’re seeing a lot more than 1-2 a week so you’ll need a treatment. At this point you need to either hire a service company to treat or do the work yourself using the products they’d use and save yourself on the cost of a service.

For now, I suggest you review our online CARPENTER ANT ARTICLE. This details all you’ll need to know about this pest and why they can be so damaging. As you’ll learn, they many times nest in or on a house and forage outside so the homeowner won’t see much activity even though they’re present. This leads the homeowner to believe there isn’t much of a problem even though there is a full blown nest or two hidden and from what you’re describing, I’d say you have at least one nest in or on the home at this time.

In our article you’ll learn one of the best things you can do is to “follow” any ant you find to see where they trail. This means you don’t want to kill them when you see it walking around; instead you need to let it walk where it wants to go, undisturbed, with the hope that it will lead you to their nest site. If you let any ant you find continue along on it’s travels, there is a good chance it will provide a clue as to where a nest might be located. So if you see him walk for 10-20 feet and then disappear through a crack somewhere, it would be a indicator that in fact a nest was located in this area. Our article has a great video on how to “follow” an ant to locate their nest and this should help you learn the process.

Now if you are able to locate a nest location, dusting it with some DRIONE would be the way to go as explained in our article. This treatment method is fast acting and will take care of the nest immediately. But if it turns out you’re not able to find any specific location to treat, no need to worry. In cases like this where we’re seeing some activity but are unsure of where the nest might be, a good application of PHANTOM AEROSOL throughout the room will usually do the trick. It’s slower acting and might take 7-14 days to affect the nest but it should get them.

We also suggest you get some PHANTOM CONCENTRATE and spray the outside of the home. This will insure you get any that might be moving between your home and the outside landscape. Phantom is unique in that it won’t be detected by the targeted insect so they don’t avoid treated areas. And once they step on a treatment, they’ll pick up some of the product which they then share with other members of the colony. This in turn will “kill” the nest after a few days making Phantom a great candidate when nest locations aren’t known.

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

Drione: http://www.bugspraycart.com/insecticide/dust/drione-dust

Phantom: http://www.bugspraycart.com/insecticide/aerosol/pt-phantom-17-5oz

Phantom EC: http://www.bugspraycart.com/insecticide/liquid/phantom-21-oz

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