Carpenter Ants!!!

[BigAl]

Does anyone have a sure fired way of getting rid of carpenter ants ? The old ranch was loaded with them when I bought it . I have sprayed every nest I have found but still they seem to show up . Would chickens eat carpenter ants ? They seem to be all over our area . thanks allen

 

[_RaT_]

There is a bait that you can buy (even in California) that they take to the nest and supposedly kills the colony including the stinkin Queen. I will have to search for it, I have a bottle up at our cabin that gets nailed by the ants every year.
Carpenter Ants die! DIE!

 

[Bob_Skurka]

Inside the house BORIC ACID powder in the nooks and crannies where you see them. The key is to try to follow them back to their nests and put the powder down as close to the nest as possible. They often are found in wet or moist wood, so if you have a water leak, high moisture area, etc, those areas are good places to look for them. They are more active at night, so if you can't find the nest look at night and you will likely see a lot more activity.

Ouside the house, you can often find the nests in a stump, or other dead wood, it is easy enough to spray them with liquid SEVIN.

Boric acid can also be spread around the foundation, etc. You really don't want to have them invade the house. They damage wood in much the same way that termites damage it.

BTW, No clue if chickens will work!

 

[JimR]

I had a big problem with these little creatures at the old farm I'm rebuilding. I spread Diazinon powder around the house and it wiped them out. I believe that they carry this back to the nest. As mentioned in the other post. Ants live in dead wood and stumps. The best thing to do is to take a little time and track down where they are coming from. Then attack them with chemicals.

 

[RoyJackson]

"Boric acid can also be spread around the foundation, etc. You really don't want to have them invade the house. They damage wood in much the same way that termites damage it."

Also, pull the electrical outlet covers and try to get the boric acid down between the walls. Put the acid down along the junction of the walls and floors too.

As one of the previous posts mentioned, there is a compound that they carry back to the nest. I can't recall the name of it, but try searching the internet. You can use that in lieu of the boric acid.

This should be an annual event if you cannot find their nest.

 

[Junkman]

I used Chlordane the first time and it worked. Then with this home, I used Diazinon and it also worked. Both products have been shut down and are no longer available.. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif Boric Acid powder works because when they walk through it, they get it on their feet and then they run their feet through their mouth to clean them. This causes them to ingest the poison. Effective, but will not get the nest unless you can get it down into the nest. To get any chemical that works today, you need to have a pest control application license. Like so many things, everything is being watered down so it is "safe". /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[BigAl]

Thanks to Bob and all the others . I think you pretty much solved my question as to " Where in the #!!%# are all these ants coming from ?" . My ranch is located in a heavy beetle kill tree area of Idaho where there are alot of springs . Shoot ! I still have a small river running down my driveway ditch from all the run off . I had the place logged this past year ,so maybe I just really got them stirred up good . I will head to the lawn and garden store to see if they have this Boric acid .I just put down new hardwood floors in the old place and at $17 bucks a square foot I sure as heck do not want the little buggers thinking that I am serving up a special dinner treat to them .
Thanks again ,
Allen

 

[kenmac]

Good info on the boric acid. I went into my storage today and saw small bits of styrofoam all over the place. I started moving things around and carpender ants started running every where.I have a small a/c window that is stored in the shed and I found that is where the styrofoam was comming from. My question is, what are the carpender ants doing with all the styrofoam they are taking out of my a/c unit ? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif I sprayed the area with insect killer & will check tomorrow

 

[arthr31]

hey there,

sometimes this ain't true. i built a shed last summer and then stored a bunch of tarps I use to cover firewood on the floor of the shed -- stacked upon one-another. anyway, a few weekends ago I wanted to clean up, upon pulling one of the tarps, thousands of carpenter ants whent flying. I probably stored this tarp in nov, after the wood stack it covered was used.

so, off scurried thousands of carpenter ants around the new shed. when i unfolded the tarp, found thousands of eggs and other ants... was terrible. i woulda soaked with diesel and torched if my 4yr old wasnt there /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

i sprayed with inspecticide (bee spray) and killed most of 'em. my son enjoyed taking care of the eggs outside of the shed /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

we've seen an abundance of 'em this spring / summer in east central MA. I found 'em in the house, started spraying with the aforementioned chemicals, don't seem e'm now... but, see some other types of ants, after my garden goodies...

Jim, got some monster trees to take down, any suggestions??? big ash and pine ?? /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[SPIKER]

One other thing that works well is 20 mule team borax soap. use it all around they hate it... it will kill them too. not sure if it is a boratic acid type thing or not. but it does work.

much cheaper than other methods so you can brodcast in around the place. pour some down the side of the ranch;s basement/crawlspace walls & footings.

like others said not much you can buy NOW without a licence though. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

SPIKER