Carpenter ants problem question

[keithh255]

HI; I hope this is a good site to post this question. Please advise if there is a better place.

My partner and I have noticed what looks like carpenter ants boring out a non-load bearing beam in our barn overhang. This beam has a crack in it and is close enough to damp soil to be attractive I guess. We have just moved to this farm recently.

Anyways, we tried Raid and the ants did not even blink. A pest control company wants big bucks to come out with no guarantee this will be a permanent fix.

We need a natural product, old farmers lore type remedy for this problem.

If you can be of help please advise.

Thanks

Keith

 

[chowdozer]

Boiling water+borax+sugar. Pour in a shallow pan and let water evaporate. Scrape up residue and sprinkle near the ants house. They will find it.

I prefer to go to the store and find some Grant's Kills Ants. Little tins of good stuff. Use a toothpick, poke it in the hole and get some of the bait, smear it around the tin. Make it smell reall good. <---THAT PART IS REAL IMPORTANT! Carpenter ants will fight over it.

Ants have 2 stomachs. Theirs and the community stomach. They will stash some bait for the newbies not yet born. Grant's will knock them out in a couple weeks. The delayed action is always good. No one wants to eat what the dead guy has on his lips so something that takes a few days to kill is your friend.

 

[keithh255]

Heh CHowdozer

Hi there; Many thanks for the info. I will get some borax and look for the Grants also.

Much appreciated.


Keith

 

[Industry]

DO NOT hit them with raid again. If you do that too close to the nest you WILL eventually scatter the nest, and you will end up with even more troubles. How many ants do you see, and how much sawdust are you getting in a day?

 

[antigrassguy]

The method I use to kill small house ants that is a tasty treat for me and a killer for them is:
1. get a watermelon
2. get a 40cc farm animal syringe, used for vaccinating new critters.
3. get a bottle of good vodka
4. you will need 1 pan with short sides that the watermelon will rest in
Place the watermelon in the pan and then suck up 40cc of vodka and inject it into the watermelon. Repeat this about 3-4 times in a horizontal line from end to end. Roll the melon a quarter turn and repeat. Again roll the melon so that the first holes are now on the bottom and keep injecting till there is enough "juice" in the pan to lightly cover the bottom of the pan. Now roll the side of the melon that doesnt have any holes in it to the bottom and allow the melon to sit till its done leaking. Remove the melon from the pan and place in the fridge, no holes side down. Place the pan with the juices by where you see ants. If there is to much juice in the pan to move, grab a straw and lower the level but be careful as it WILL be strong. In the morning you should have a pan full of dead ants and one tasty melon to celebrate with.
As a disclaimer Im not sure if it will work with carpenter ants but if not you still have a potent melon to eat while you dream up your next plan of attach. Good luck to ya!

 

[windthrown]

Grant's

Yah, Grant's ant stakes and plastic bait traps work good. Only thing I know of that works for certain types of ants. Useless on Argentine ants that invaded CA lately. Once colony from San Deigo to Eureka. I used Dursban on them there. Now that is banned. I think that Diazinon is banned now too.

 

[chowdozer]

Yah, Grant's ant stakes and plastic bait traps work good. Only thing I know of that works for certain types of ants. Useless on Argentine ants that invaded CA lately. Once colony from San Deigo to Eureka. I used Dursban on them there. Now that is banned. I think that Diazinon is banned now too.

When I was out at tick infested site several years ago, the customer gave me some spray for ticks. It was really something. The ticks would crawl up my pants to my knee and die. I looked at the active ingredient and it was Permethrin. When I got home, I went to Lowe's and read all the labels on the insecticide shelf. Some carpenter ant killer has Permethrin in it. There are two different bottles from the same manufacturer (Spectracide, silver plastic bottle, yellow and green label), one is 2.6% and one is 5.7%. Almost the same price. Buy the high strength and cut it with water. I use it on in-ground yellow jacket nests with a hose end sprayer. Them buggers are dead within about 12" of their hole.

But, Keith - Do not use a spray! Ants are very chemically sensitive. If you spray, you have created a barrier they will not cross. You run the risk of forcing them into your building. Bait that they carry back to the nest is best. As a followup after they are gone, you can spray the wood so they don't return. Wear a respirator and goggles.

 

[chowdozer]

The method I use to kill small house ants that is a tasty treat for me and a killer for them is:
1. get a watermelon
2. get a 40cc farm animal syringe, used for vaccinating new critters.
3. get a bottle of good vodka
4. you will need 1 pan with short sides that the watermelon will rest in
Place the watermelon in the pan and then suck up 40cc of vodka and inject it into the watermelon. Repeat this about 3-4 times in a horizontal line from end to end. Roll the melon a quarter turn and repeat. Again roll the melon so that the first holes are now on the bottom and keep injecting till there is enough "juice" in the pan to lightly cover the bottom of the pan. Now roll the side of the melon that doesnt have any holes in it to the bottom and allow the melon to sit till its done leaking. Remove the melon from the pan and place in the fridge, no holes side down. Place the pan with the juices by where you see ants. If there is to much juice in the pan to move, grab a straw and lower the level but be careful as it WILL be strong. In the morning you should have a pan full of dead ants and one tasty melon to celebrate with.
As a disclaimer Im not sure if it will work with carpenter ants but if not you still have a potent melon to eat while you dream up your next plan of attach. Good luck to ya!

I can imagine that after an hour or so and you've eaten the melon, the ants aren't too much of a concern?

 

[12guns]

Carpenter ants like soft wood so they can dig it out to live in. Check your moisture in the area, if the wood is solid, they won't be able to dig in and mess w/ it. These ants don't/can't eat wood, and are not strong enough to inhabbit solid wood. Ants also have very sensitive lungs, almost anything will kill them. Hope this helps.

 

[buzz sawyer]

The method I use to kill small house ants that is a tasty treat for me and a killer for them is:
1. get a watermelon
2. get a 40cc farm animal syringe, used for vaccinating new critters.
3. get a bottle of good vodka
4. you will need 1 pan with short sides that the watermelon will rest in
Place the watermelon in the pan and then suck up 40cc of vodka and inject it into the watermelon. Repeat this about 3-4 times in a horizontal line from end to end. Roll the melon a quarter turn and repeat. Again roll the melon so that the first holes are now on the bottom and keep injecting till there is enough "juice" in the pan to lightly cover the bottom of the pan. Now roll the side of the melon that doesnt have any holes in it to the bottom and allow the melon to sit till its done leaking. Remove the melon from the pan and place in the fridge, no holes side down. Place the pan with the juices by where you see ants. If there is to much juice in the pan to move, grab a straw and lower the level but be careful as it WILL be strong. In the morning you should have a pan full of dead ants and one tasty melon to celebrate with.
As a disclaimer Im not sure if it will work with carpenter ants but if not you still have a potent melon to eat while you dream up your next plan of attach. Good luck to ya!

I haff to shay zish wuz oen off the beshed ideeas I vever sheen on this shyte!!
I haven't sheen hairnorhide of thosh car, capern, canprenter auntsh for shereval hoourrs noooooow!

 

[kapow2826]

A friend of mine noted that during the heat of summer carpenter ants came out of the wood work in side his home. This might make them easier to git at
Temperatures around 100 degrees can be lethal to some insects and mites
Be careful. Don't make it to hot..

 

[keithh255]

Waiting on the bait ..

Hey guys, thanks for the replies. I have ordered some bait and will monitor the buggers this summer.

Cheers to all that replied.


Keith