how to treat carpenter ants in the winter

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Is winter a good time for ant fumagation? Can it be done by homeowner?

In general, most carpenter ants will shut down as winter sets in and outside temperatures drop. But if there is a nest located on or in your home, it could very well keep warm enough to enable the ants to keep active. And if this happens, treating is strongly suggested. But what’s the best treatment for these winter time ants?

In general, most winter time activity will be members of the ant colony foraging for food. So it only stands to reason the best approach to get them where they nest is to use a bait. The best bait for inside the home is our CARPENTER ANT GEL. Place small dabs out where you see activity and once they find it, they’ll no doubt take some back to their nest where it will be shared with others. In the days following the sharing of the bait, the nest will shut down and die.

Now if you see a lot of ants in one area and have an idea of where they may be nesting, you might consider treating the rooms with PHANTOM AEROSOL. This aerosol contains a slow acting ingredient and like the gel, won’t spook or alarm the colony. But after just a few days, ants that walk over treated areas will in turn contaminate the nest. This will usually kill it in 1 to 2 weeks and your problem will be solved.

No doubt carpenter ants can be a problem even in the winter. And whether you do the work yourself or hire a service company to treat, it’s strongly advised that something be done. Leaving them to chew and gnaw away at your home could amount to costly repairs that can easily be prevented with one of the two treatments listed above.

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

Carpenter Ant Gel: http://www.bugspraycart.com/bait/gel/maxforce-carpenter-ant-gel-1-oz

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

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

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 on walnut tree

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I started building a tree house in a walnut tree this weekend and noticed large black and red ants all over the tree…what do you recommend?  I have some ant gel I bought from last time I was in town, although it was for use in the kitchen.

The CARPENTER ANT GEL wouldn’t be the best option for this kind of problem. It doesn’t do well outside since it’s vulnerable to both the heat of summer as well as non-target insects. Honey dew based baits don’t do well in extreme heat and they tend to attract many types of insects.  Additionally, there is most likely several ant nests involved here so you need something that will handle multiple nests without you having to know where any of them reside.

For this type of problem, clearly the TERMIDOR listed in our CARPENTER ANT ARTICLE is best suited. I have used it successfully on several trees around my property and in each case it did the job nicely. Because of it’s slow action, you will be able to affect all the nests which have ants active on the surfaces you treat – even ant species other than carpenter ants. I recommend treating the tree trunk, tree limbs and as much of the tree house that is practical to treat. I might also consider treating around your house if this tree is in close proximity of it or any other important structure since carpenter ants typically forage great distances. Failure to have a good protective barrier in place will allow them to set up shop elsewhere if other active areas are ignored.

carpenter ant in kitchen

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I’ve seen a carpenter ant or two in my kitchen this past month and I’m thinking I might have a problem. Last year we only saw a few each month but now it’s as many as a few each day. I have no idea where they’re coming from or where the nest might be located. How should I treat this problem?

Knowing where the carpenter ant nest is located usually helps a lot when treating a local carpenter ant infestation. At this point I can’t say that you have a nest inside the home or not. But if you are seeing as many as you state, chances are high that you do have a nest on the premises. I suggest two things.

First, apply some of the Carpenter Ant Gel we have listed in our Carpenter Ant article. Any ants foraging into the home will surely find the offering, feed and die. If some make it back to the nest, you’ll probably kill the nest too. This would be ideal.

Second, to make sure you don’t keep getting new ants foraging on the home, apply some Suspend to the outside perimeter of the building. Apply the product with a good Pump Sprayer to insure you get a barrier in place to stop foraging ants. Use this material every 2-3 months during the spring, summer and fall and you should be able to keep the ants outside and out of your house.