carpenter ants in shed

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Hi, I’m going good with the chippy trap that I bought.  Now I see Carpenter ants in my shed and small ants all around my yard.  No ants in the house.  Can I use one combination of products to apply outside to start to control these pests?  Like a spray and a gel?  Also, the temp is nearing 40 degrees at night, is this too cold and I should wait until Spring?  Thanks so much.

If you read through our CARPENTER ANT CONTROL ARTICLE, you’ll see there are plenty of options available that can handle this pest. Some of these are for treating nests that are active in specific locations. Based on your message, it would seem likely there is a nest in the shed and maybe 1-2 others around the yard. And if you leave them untreated now, no doubt they’ll be back next year and at that time, will be looking to expand their size and territory. My advise is that you knock them out now.

To accomplish this, you could use 2-3 products. The simplest approach would be to bait the shed with some CARPENTER ANT GEL. This will no doubt infiltrate and kill any nests that contains ants that eat some.

Next I’d spray the exterior of the home with some PHANTOM. Lastly, I’d bait the yard with some MAXFORCE GRANULES. This will no doubt take care of most all pests you might have in and around the home and since it’s still early fall, you have plenty of time for these products to take effect and knock them out now.

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.bugspraycart.com/bait/gel/maxforce-carpenter-ant-gel-1-oz

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

Maxforce Granules:  http://www.bugspraycart.com/bait/granule/maxforce-gran

carpenter ant infestation

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I’ve been seeing carpenter ants around my house and I’m pretty sure I have some kind of infestation. I just have no idea where this might be. Is there anything I should do? I see 5-10 walking around all the time but they don’t seem to be going any place. Where is there nest? What can I do?

As explained in our CARPENTER ANT CONTROL article, these ants do nothing but forage around all day looking for food and working on their nests. I suggest you read the article which will provide a lot of insight to this ant as well as some practical things you can do to minimize this activity. I do suspect there is a nest either on the home or close by based on how much activity you said you see. But I have seen where they could be this active and still be living off the property.

As you’ll learn in our article, there is usually a few things needed to control most infestations. And in most cases, knowing where their nest is located can be a big help in getting a quick resolution to the problem. That being said, your activity can best be controlled by baiting and spraying. Apply some MAXFORCE GRANULES to the yard which should cut down on the foraging. Next, spray the foundation with the TERMIDOR CONCENTRATE. This will provide much needed protection in case they are currently accessing the home in some location you cannot see. The way Termidor works, you’ll be able to effectively control any nest on or in the home whether you know where it exists or not. Lastly, if you start seeing any inside the home, use the PHANTOM AEROSOL. It works like the Termidor and can solve problems even when you don’t know where the nest is located.

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

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

Maxforce Granules:  http://www.bugspraycart.com/bait/granule/maxforce-gran

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

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

 

carpenter ant yard treatment

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I bought some Cypermethrin from you guys about a month ago to handle carpenter ants. That in conjunction with some Drione that I had (thanks for your videos) took care of three nests and all was quiet. The past few days, I am starting to see some adults walking around aimlessly searching near where the nests were. There is no activity in the nests or their entrances. Would these be scouting parties from other nests looking to establish new colonies?

As explained in our CARPENTER ANT CONTROL ARTICLE, most all carpenter ant nests are networked to the surrounding environment. This insures their survival and why it’s imperative that all the “satellite” nests in any one network are either directly treated or baited to insure quick and complete control when treating for carpenter ants around your property.

Based on the limited information you provided, it sounds as though there are either stragglers or scout workers coming from missed nests that were part of the original network. If the activity is from stragglers, chances are high they’ll die off in a few days and disappear. And though you mention the CYPERMETHRIN and DRIONE DUST being applied, I don’t see any mention of bait like our MAXFORCE GRANULES or CARPENTER ANT GRANULES. Either of these should be used around the property to insure complete eradication so that if there is a local network nest in the area, it won’t be able to survive. Ants from that nest would undoubtedly forage toward the house as they have been doing in the past except that this time they would find the bait you have applied and die after some was ingested. That’s not to say the Cypermethrin won’t help control these foraging ants because many times it will. However, networked nests are slow to give up old habits and many times will keep trying and trying to find their old nests till they find their way back through an area where maybe the spray isn’t strong enough anymore. Once inside the barrier, they’ll attempt to start a new nest.

So in summary, I would say a Bait application outside the spray you’ve applied would be wise to do. If not, you’ll need to keep a close watch on the area to make sure the few ants you’re seeing don’t start a new nest or worse yet, that they are part of a nest you’ve missed. Leaving an active nest close to the home is a sure receipe for reinfestation.