where does ants fall in on the btu chart??

[jab6]

i cut alot of wood for home use.it seems like im always bringing in unwanted house guests.im new to the site and havent seen any dicussion on this topic..how do you guys control this problem..sprays/ chemicals??...if there carpenter ants will they eat the wood in my house??..thanks for any imput

 

[Butch(OH)]

Give us all the facts!! Dry ants or wet ants? :greenchainsaw:

My wife has a Aunt that when she comes over my BTUs go WAY UP.

Seriously,

I control my ants with a OWB

and my dust too

'course Treeco is worried about me deforesting Ohio becuse of it. opcorn:

 

[JUDGE1162]

I find a good cold winter in the wood pile kills many insects, but the general rules I have read say only store enough firewood for a maxium of a few days in the house (the warm house can awaken inspects in the wood, store your wood pile away from your house to avoid pests eating or entering the house from the wood pile, removing the bark before bring the wood in the house seems to help too( most insects are under the bark and not in the wood.

Don't use sprays or powders on the wood, you can use boric acid powder around the wood pile to keep ants, roachs and other crawling insects away from the wood pile

 

[ArborView]

I work for a pest control company and I usually recommend to customers that they only bring a few days supply of wood into the house at once. A lot of insects will stay dormant in the woodpile until it either warms up outside or when they are brought in. We get a LOT of calls from people who burn wood and somehow transport carpenter ants or termites inside. If you insist on bringing a season's worth of wood inside, always use up the old stuff before bringing in new...I've seen termite mud tubes actually "glue" pieces of wood to a cement floor. We had to break them loose with a hammer.
Also, don't store firewood against your house or directly on the ground.

 

[turnkey4099]

The major concern seems to be carpenter ants and temites. Neither is a real problem in the house or even in wood brought in from the forest as I understand it. The nest of both is in the ground, any ants/termites in/on the wood are sterile workers. Other pests (mostly spiders in my case) do wake up and terrorize the wife though.

Harry K

 

[JUDGE1162]

The problem is once you bring them into the house if they find a way out they bring the nest back to the house plus in the spring you can have a queen in the wood and I have seen wood piles infested with carpenter ants where the whole pile had to be uses for an outdoor bonfire to prevent bring ant into the house

 

[turnkey4099]

The problem is once you bring them into the house if they find a way out they bring the nest back to the house plus in the spring you can have a queen in the wood and I have seen wood piles infested with carpenter ants where the whole pile had to be uses for an outdoor bonfire to prevent bring ant into the house

Yeah! I cut up a tree that was infested with carpenter ants. Would only bring in one stick at a time and direct into the fire.

Harry K

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

Ants need lots of moisture. They can't live in dry wood. Once you split the wood and properly stack it, they will leave.
If your home, or the wood you are bringing into your house has ants, you need to take steps to dry them out!
Homes should not have areas of wet rotting wood, which is the only place ants can nest, call a plumber or a roofer.
Firewood should be stacked outside so it dries out before burning it, otherwise you lose heat and get creosote build up in you chimney. Ants in wood is one way to know it's not ready to burn.

 

[Bowtie]

Carpenter ants will not infest your house. They can not survive in dry wood just like stated above. Forget all the horror stories about ants because of stacked firewood. Keep the wood stacked off the ground. Termites are a little different. Once you remove termites from their native habitat, they are dead, within minutes, they dry out. However, if you stack wood too close to the house, and, or, on the ground, you are leaving yourself open to termite problems. I know this because I went through it first hand. But the solution is easy. Keep wood off the ground, and install the proper termite control system if you have termite issues.

 

[ArborView]

OK, a lot of misconceptions going on here....

Carpenter ants can and will live in dry wood or dry spaces. They PREFER moist or wet wood, only because it is easier for them to excavate, but they are extremely adaptable. They do not eat the wood to digest it, unlike termites, ants just make their house in it. We find them nesting in interior hollow doors, underneath attic insulation, etc. As long as they have a source of moisture...leaking pipe, condensation, whatever, they are good to go. They do need moisture to survive, but they can find it in a house rather easily.
Carpenter ants do not usually nest in the ground. Generally they are found in a tree, stump, wood pile, etc. They will travel 100 yards to nest in your house. We find them crossing utility wires to the house and also tree branches that are touching your roof all the time.
Most people see an ant in their house, and they say "that's not a carpenter ant, it's too small." Carpenter ant colonies have about 5 different sized ants. The queen is the biggest, about an inch..then reproductives, which are the winged ones and a little smaller...their workers are actually quite smaller and most people mistake them for not being a carpenter ant, but they are.
If you have ants in your house, it is not a sure sign of a moisture problem. Yes, like I said, they prefer wet areas...thresholds, where decks meet the house, improperly flashed areas like chimneys, etc. They WILL nest in dry areas also.

 

[kevinj]

Generally, if I'm cutting or splitting wood,
I'll see the ants right away. That wood will then
go down to the firepit and burned ASAP.
After stacking and seasoning the firewood outdoors for a few seasons,
I'll then bring about 1.5 cords up into the garage.
When I need more logs for the fire,
I'll take only as much as needed to stoke the fire.
Those large ones, not split, I call allnighters.
Those go in just before bedtime.

 

[asb151]

I usually don't bring in more than a day or two worth of wood just to be safe.

When I see termites or carpenter ants in the woods near my house I break out the weapon of choice.......Termidor. Highly effective!

 

[windthrown]

Owb!

i cut alot of wood for home use.it seems like im always bringing in unwanted house guests.im new to the site and havent seen any dicussion on this topic..how do you guys control this problem..sprays/ chemicals??...if there carpenter ants will they eat the wood in my house??..thanks for any imput

We have an outdoor wood boiler. That way the wood, bugs and smoke all stay outside of the house! We also store our wood raised up on 2x4s on concrete pads near the house. No bug problems. They pop and sizzle when they burn.

 

[buzz sawyer]

Give us all the facts!! Dry ants or wet ants? :greenchainsaw: QUOTE]

I didn't see anyone mention fire ants - sorry, couldn't resist.

I agree with Arborview, I've had carpenter ants come out of frozen wood after it thaws and find their way into the house after a couple warm days.
If I see signs of carpenter ants as I'm splittiing, I'll toss anything that looks like it's infested. I've not had problems once the wood is split but I have had them in lumber that had been stickered to dry. They did a number on a couple nice cherry boards.
I generally see them coming out of the woods in late spring/early summer looking to start a new home. It's worse if I leave lights on - they seem to follow the light. Even seen them eat out the center of old railroad ties for a nest. Like asb151, I usually bring in enough wood for a day or two.

 

[Industry]

I used to work in pest control and never saw anything cooler(ant related anyway) than working with my father on his Timberharvester mill in the dead of winter. Huge Pine log, clear as a bell for 16' and the second pass brought the ants back to life from frozen due to the heat from the blade. wish I had a camera. they would hit the ground and slow to a stop as they tried to walk. the guy we were sawing for was pissed though when he saw the log sitting there with two passes and no more done to it. Can't say I blame him.

 

[loveroftrees]

I've had good luck w/bleach and water 50/50 mix in a one gal sprayer... If ants appear after or during splitting just spray they down. It's worked well for me...