Ants

[brown2501]

moving some stacked wood and found it full of ants is there some trick of the trade to prevent this? don't want them in the house next winter
thanks

 

[Steve NW WI]

Ants are pretty common in fresh split wood here, especially oak and cherry, but they move out when the wood starts drying. Is this dry wood? If so, you have a different type of ant than I am used to dealing with.

But if it's still green, let it dry and I doubt you'll find any ants in it this fall.

 

[Austin1]

My ant's are still sleeping got two inches of snow this afternoon. But I use Borax mixed with honey. As come July/ Aug I get big wood ant's but they leave the Pine alone and go for the other Soft wood like Birch or Poplar/ Aspen.But really Come November I count them as added BTU'S.

 

[Austin1]

Ants are pretty common in fresh split wood here, especially oak and cherry, but they move out when the wood starts drying. Is this dry wood? If so, you have a different type of ant than I am used to dealing with.

But if it's still green, let it dry and I doubt you'll find any ants in it this fall.

Or let them Freeze.

 

[unclemoustache]

I sometimes get big carpenter ants in wood - sometimes there's a huge nest of them. Nasty things. When I encounter a wood that has them, I'm careful to split it fairly small, so as to expose as much of the nesting areas as possible, and get the buggers out. I then spray the wood with ant killer. Seems to work fine.

 

[loadthestove]

I use a garden sprayer and insecteside on my wood.My biggest reason thoug is my wood shed is 30 x 40 and I have my F'ver sitting on one side and dont want any tiny creatures to take up residence in it.

 

[deerlakejens]

Carpenter ants, the really big black ones, are drawn to wet wood. That's why they are normally found in wood structures that have some type of leak or where the wood is in contact with damp soil. If your wood is off the ground and dry, they shouldn't be a problem. They are always around so, unless your house has wet wood somewhere in its structure, even if you brought a few inside, they won't start a colony. It requires a "queen" to start a new colony anyway, which happens when you see them swarming, usually mid to late summer.

 

[just a dave]

I split into a round of locust and cut a nest in half and instantly there was hundreds of em scurrying down the splittin block. I was impressed cus it was toward the center of a 16" round. They were big, about 3/4" on average, then the queen made her appearance, long and fat,,,,squish,,,Big spot on the choppin block.

 

[mtfallsmikey]

I use Sevin dust or Permetherin spray, depending on my mood...

 

[Blazin]

They make some BTU's in my OWB

 

[Wood Doctor]

moving some stacked wood and found it full of ants is there some trick of the trade to prevent this? I don't want them in the house next winter.
thanks

Ants are relentless. Carpenter ants can build a nest 20' or more off the ground in an oak tree by getting into a cut off or broken branch opening. They will then travel up and down the tree while feeding the queen in her penthouse.

Then they eat the tree from almost the top down. The base of the tree near the stump can remain strong and completely intact while the rest is being slowly devoured by the colony.

 

[Bob95065]

When I lived in the midwest and split green wood i would run into them when I cut the logs into rounds. When the ants would run out I would stand the round up and pour gas in the holes. I would light it up and the problem was solved. Because the wood was green the fire didn't burn long and I always had a can of gas handy.