Which came first..

[dave_dj1]

the ants or the rot?
I found a large Beech (30" or so at the base) that had fallen over and just cut it up today, the lower pieces were a little rotted in the center and I made about a million ants homeess So I got to thinking, did the ants cause the tree to rot or something else at the root and the ants moved in? I have no idea exactly how long the tree had been down but the leaves were still green so not terribly long, the root ball was very small compared to the size of the tree.

 

[al-k]

I find lots of ants in black Birch around my place. Never a sign that they are there. I think the ants come first but not sure of that.

 

[svk]

The rot! Ants just looking for a home. Then woodpeckers find the ants.

 

[Deleted member 149229]

https://www.mrtreeservices.com/blog/tree-invested-ants/

 

[066blaster]

Not sure , but it always seems to be the bigger ,older trees that have them. So i am guessing rot. But once they get in they seem to do some of their own damage tunneling through the tree. I hate when I'm splitting and get ants all over me.

 

[svk]

I hate when I'm splitting and get ants all over me.

I find that if I get into ants and I halve the rounds and leave the split sides facing the ground, the ants will all abandon ship and move on to parts unknown.

What sucks is when you have a splitter and get into those red and black ants as they bite like crazy where the black carpenter ants are just looking to get the hell out of dodge.

 

[alleyyooper]

I keep a jug of ortho home defence near my splitter/ area for ants and any other bugs I find in wood.

Isplit near the house, is a stick built house with T1. 11 sideing. Do not need any of those ants or other bugs getting in thre house.
Also spray the primiter around the house too.

Al

 

[Deleted member 149229]

I hit ants when splitting I just let the chickens out when I’m done, toss a bit of scratch near the splitter and they go nuts. Now if I run the splitter they check it out by themselves when I let them out.

 

[panolo]

Yep when my neighbors had chickens they couldn't wait for me to shut down the splitter. I split some box elder the other day that was cut this spring and a few pieces had ants in them. Ant's def came before the rot.

 

[al-k]

I have seen carpenter ants in the studs of a house with no rot at all but hardly any stud left. Looked like termites but ants.

 

[Ted Jenkins]

My experience says that as soon as there is a flaw in a tree such as a crack or lightening strike the ants come for lunch. Here we have piss ants or small sweet red ants. Where the sap or pitch leaks that is where the ants start until the whole tree is infected. My worst tree job ever was a Oak that was hanging over a power line. The utility company at that time would not touch it because they said the owner was liable. Not such a hard job until I got to the 40 or 50' level and suddenly the tree was moving. Every 10 minutes had to climb down the thing to get rid of my clothes. Thanks