carpenter ant nest

We had some carpenter ants coming out of the wall outlet in the cupboard over our microwave last year. Probably 20-30 over a month long period. I killed most of them, then they quit coming in. Now it is happening again, this time they are coming in from behind the microwave. I have done online research and my concern is they have a nest in that wall. I have drilled some 1/4″ holes under the microwave between studs to see if any come out. This wall is an exterior wall and I went outside to look for trails or wood for them to nest in. I found no trails, but we had some railroad ties lining a pathway about ten feet from the house. There were no ants in them, but I could see spots where it looks as though ants or termites might have been in the wood. I have removed them. The basement is unfinished below this wall – I see no activity or sawdust on the foundation below this wall. I plan on going up in the attic to look today. My home was built in 2000, I am in Salt Lake City Utah. Stick frame home on concrete foundation with vinyl siding. How do I find the nest?

HELP! Thanks.

If you read through our CARPENTER ANT CONTROL ARTICLE, you’ll learn this species of ant will many times have several “nest” locations. This network of nests will support one another making it difficult to eradicate them for good. Many times you’ll be able to find one satellite nest, kill it and everything will be quiet for awhile. But eventually they’ll return as the surviving nests work to save what they believe to be a “sick” or “injured” sub colony. It sounds like this might be happening in your home right now but don’t panic; there are ways to deal with this situation.

The first thing I recommend is to dust as much of these exterior walls as you can with DRIONE DUST. As our article explains, it will both kill and repel most any insect. Carpenter Ants hate this stuff and will avoid where it’s been applied. If the ants you see are members of the same colony but coming from nests located away from the home, this treatment alone might exclude them for good. You see, the ants you see right now might in fact be coming from some remote location and don’t necessarily have a nest in or on your house. If you killed the initial nest you found, its entirely possible this new activity are ants coming back trying to set up that which you destroyed.

After applying the Drione, you could then do one of two things. The simplest would be to apply TERMIDOR to the exterior of the structure. This residual treatment will take care of any ants in a slow and stealthy way that will kill the entire nest – even if it’s located far from the home. At the same time I’d apply some PHANTOM AEROSOL to the interior areas where you’re seeing any activity. Like the Termidor, this treatment will affect the colony the same way; slow and steady. Usually within 4-7 days of the ants making contact with treated surfaces, their nest will be shut down.

If you follow this regime, I’m 100% sure you’ll knock out the problem without having to spend an arduous amount of time searching. Today’s products can control problem ants even when the nest is hard or impossible to locate so there is no reason to waste a lot of time trying. Get it treated as explained above and you’ll be done with them for good.

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

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

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

Termidor:  http://www.bugspraycart.com/insecticide/liquid/termidor-sc-20-oz

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