how to control outside ants

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Hi,

We have hired exterminators and they have not worked to get the ant problem that we have under control. The ants are no longer in the house but as soon as the outside of the home that has been sprayed wears off they again show up in our home. We have located  numerous nests and would like to handle the situation ourselves. Can you please advise us on the products that may be most helpful to control the outside ant population. We live in an area with a few smaller trees but very few. All nests that we have located have been in the ground and 1 in a stump that has been removed since. What type of treatment would you recommend to kill ants in the outdoor nests and to control our problem? The nests have all been located in mulched areas and two main nests with multiple other satellites have been found.

Thank you,
Andy

The good news is it sounds like you’ve done most of the work needed to solve this problem. As explained in our CARPENTER ANT CONTROL ARTICLE, knowing where nests are located can make solving problems easy. And based on your detailed message, you know there are several nests and you seem to know where they’re located. This is big.

At this point, I’d say all you need is the DRIONE, PHANTOM and TERMIDOR. Use a CRUSADER to get the Drione applied to any nest you see. This will kill the nest within minutes. The benefits of Drione are explained in our article and in this case should be able to handle 90% of the problem.

Next, spray the foundation with the Termidor. This slow acting active will get the ants by surprise. It’s non repellent and insects can’t detect it which makes it lethal. As they come to the home and start foraging over treated areas, they’ll be picking up the Termidor and ultimately bringing some back to the nests you’ve missed. Once the Termidor kicks in (which will take 3-5 days), these hidden nests will be shut down. This should take care of the 10% you miss with the Drione.

Lastly, keep the Phantom Aerosol for use inside the home. Phantom is like Termidor in that it’s slow acting and non repellent. Use it sparingly inside the home where you see ants. Phantom is unique in that it goes on dry and when applied properly, can’t be seen. I use it in my home which has nothing but hardwood floors. Even with all the shiny surfaces you can’t see anything has been sprayed.

Follow this process and you should have the problem resolved in a week. Here are direct products to the products and information listed above:

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

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

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

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

Crusader:  http://www.bugspraycart.com/equipment/dusters/crusader

carpenter ants in attic

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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:  https://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

large ants in dishwasher

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I have large black ants all of a sudden in my house. In my daughter upstairs room and even in kitchen dishwasher. Do you think they are possibly carpenter ants? There were about 50 in the dishwasher yesterday. Not sure what approach to  take since i only see inside. Thank you..

First and foremost – DO NOT SPRAY ANYTHING INSIDE THE DISHWASTER! Some people will do this which can make the dishwasher smell for extended periods of time. Running the dishwasher through a cleaning cycle will get rid of the pesticide but the smell can linger. This alone can make the unit unusable so DO NOT SPRAY INSIDE. We recently had someone contact us after they did so using a smelly “off the shelf” spray they bought at their local home center store. In most all cases, ants in the dishwasher are there for one of two reasons. Either they’re seeking water due to local dry, hot weather or they’re seeking food. Many people commonly store dirty plates, pans, silverware, etc. in their dishwasher for more than one day. If you tend to accumulate dirty dishes for several days before running them through a wash cycle, you’re asking for trouble. No doubt there will be some kind of insect lured to the smell and one of the most common insects that will sniff out these dirty dishes are ants.

Now that you know what “not” to do, just what can be done for an ant problem like this? The first thing you should do is read through our CARPENTER ANT CONTROL article. One thing we explain in our article is how this ant will generally forage great distances to harvest food or water. It’s not uncommon for carpenter ants to forage from one property to another. In your case, the ants you’re seeing aren’t necessarily living on your home or even on your property. But regardless, you should attempt to locate the nest as our article explains. By finding and treating the nest directly, you’ll surely get the fastest and most complete control of the problem. Our article provides a video and lots of great information on how to locate a nest and it’s best to try this at first.

Now if you’re not able to track the ants back to any one nest location and after a day or two of watching them you find you are still confused as to where they might be coming from, you still have treatment options. The simplest thing to do would be to set out some CARPENTER ANT GEL. This slow working bait has proven to be very effective on carpenter ants as explained on our product page. Make placements anywhere you see the ants and they’ll readily forage to it within a few days.

Alternatively you can spray some PHANTOM LIQUID around the outside of the building on the foundation and other routes of entry. This treatment will effectively be putting a barrier in place that will affect any ants coming in from outside. You can spray inside as well focusing in on baseboards but since the liquid can be a little hard to use inside, we recommend the PHANTOM AEROSOL over the liquid. It goes on dry and invisible making it ideally suited for inside applications.

Phantom is slow acting and lasts at least a month when applied. It’s unique active won’t kick in for several days after the ants have picked up a lethal dose. By the time they realize what’s happened it will be too late and in most cases all the nests will be shut down and destroyed. This will take 1-2 weeks to complete but it’s highly effective and a good choice.

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

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

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

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

Phantom Aerosol:  http://www.bugspray.com/item/phantom_aerosol.html