CARPENTER ANT CONTROL

   This article is about CARPENTER ANT control.
It will explain why they are a pest and what
needs to be done for controlling infestations.
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	There are many insects which are drawn to wood 
structures.  Wood (cellulose) and wood by products are 
used many ways.  And man continues to create new uses 
for cellulose in our day to day living experiences.  As more 
wood is used in our environments, we must prepare 
ourselves for more insects.  This article is about a large 
black ant which loves wood too.  Although it does not 
eat cellulose, it can chew and destroy wood faster than 
termites.  This large black ant is known as the Carpenter 
Ant.  

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE DAMAGE THEY CAN DO!

	Carpenter Ants are one of the largest ants we 
have in the United States.  Their range is throughout our 
country.  In addition to the traditional large Black 
Carpenter Ant, there is the Florida Carpenter Ant.  
These ants are smaller, travel less than their cousins, and 
have a wide range of colors including yellow, red, light 
to dark brown and black.  Carpenter Ants are unique.  
Their characteristics include: 1) Scent trails which may 
be hundreds of feet in length.  (Expect to see only a few 
ants on this trail at any given moment.)  2) Nocturnal 
activity.  3) Chewing on wood structures and in voids 
for nesting. 4) An ability to identify leaky, damp wood 
and voids. 5) An ability to avoid chemically treated areas 
and find new ways into a structure. 
	 Carpenter Ants are a problem when they 
forage into your home.  You may see only one or two 
an evening, but even this small amount means you have 
a nest or scent trail which needs attention.  Another
clue is if you happen to find a lot of large black
ants with wings. Like most any ant, carpenter ants generate
"swarmers", or winged reproductives, whose sole purpose
is to leave an existing nest to fly away and land somewhere
to start a new nest. These swarmers tend to be released
during the spring but may be found at any time. If you
are finding these in the home, chances are there is a
nest located somewhere on the structure. At this point
a thorough inspection would be in order to help locate
where this nest may be located since carpenter ants 
will cause cosmetic as well as structural damage 
if left untreated. Once identified as Carpenter Ants, try
to determine the magnitude of the problem.  Get answers 
to these questions: Are they in one room or more?  Are 
they originating from a nest in the building or from a 
wooded lot alongside the structure?  Does your regular 
pest control program include perimeter treatment of the 
ground and/or foundation of your buildings?  With 
answers to these questions, you may address your 
problem using a three step approach.
	1)  Treat the inside.  Although you are 
compelled to spray, don't.  Spraying will only work if 
you are certain where the nest is located.  Common 
nest sights include the dishwasher, under cabinets, 
around pipes, attics, leaky windows, leaky roofs, leaky 
doors, wall voids and garage door jams.  If you are 
not sure where the nest is, baiting the inside is much 
more effective.  When baiting, make sure all food stuff 
is removed so foraging ants have no choice of food 
except the bait.
	2)  Perimeter treatment.  This is the area 
immediately adjacent to the structure.  If you are not 
treating this area on a regular basis, reconsider.  
Monthly or quarterly treatments on the outside of your 
building will stop new infestations.  In fact, most 
structures develop invading pest problems because 
the outside is neglected.  A liquid material should be 
sprayed two or three feet up from the ground.  This 
barrier will stop current and future activity.
	3)  Common ground or yard treatment.  This 
area may be the reason your building is having a 
problem.  If pests are ignored and allowed to exist on 
common ground, they will find their way into your 
buildings.  This is true with Carpenter Ants because 
they forage further than most insects.  Inspect trees, 
pine islands, old wood piles, decks, stumps, wooded 
lots, fences and adjacent buildings.  I have, on more 
than one occasion, identified Carpenter Ant colonies in 
one building that were foraging to an adjoining building.  
Control was obtained because we were able to treat both 
buildings properly.  If activity is identified and nest 
sights located, treat them directly.  If some activity is 
noted but the source is hard to determine, baiting is 
recommended.  By keeping the population of Carpenter 
Ants down around your buildings, you will keep them 
from foraging inside.
	As stated above, the only time you should
treat a nest directly is when you are sure where the
nest is. You may be able to locate it by watching the
ants and seeing where they go. I have spent long 
periods of time watching ants to learn the wall or void
they were nesting in.  Remember, ants are either moving
from their nest or to their nest. This means you have
a 50% chance of learning where they make home every 
time you watch one!  Such information is helpful in
killing off the nest quickly and completely.  If you are
able to see "frass" or wood shavings, it is a good
indication of activity. Since these ants do not travel
in large numbers, do not expect to see a big trail
of them. You may get lucky and see a spot around
a window frame or door where many are going. 
This is almost certain to be a nest site and should be
treated with DRIONE DUST. This light formulation
is easy to work with and will dehydrate all stages
of the ant.  Use the hand duster listed in our
catalog called a HAND DUSTER.  It is designed to apply
the dust into cracks and crevices. Drione is 
light and penetrates well into any space
it is applied. Do not use liquid material in
these nest sights as it will certainly fail to reach 
all sections of the nest. Dusting is the only choice
and Drione is the best dust to use.  It has several
benefits including a long residual, a desiccant impact
and where you treat, insects cannot live. I like this
feature because I am able to eliminate nest sights
by treating specific areas. One by one you are
able to locate hard to find nests by the process of
elimination. In most cases, cracks and crevices
which are around the nest sight will provide enough
of a route for the dust to penetrate when you treat.
If you need, drill 1/4" holes in window frames,
wall voids or other places nests are thought to be
which are difficult to treat. This effort will allow 
for better dust coverage and quicker control.
   If you are unsure there is a nest or if you suspect
that foraging workers are finding their way into your
home, use bait to stop them.  By killing these worker
and scout ants, you are intercepting a possible nest
from being started. Carpenter ants love to establish
"satellite" colonies away from their main nest but
close to food or water. Many times these secondary
nests are formed in homes. The use of baits in the
home will deter this from happening.  Advanced and
Drax are good choices. ADVANCED is easy to apply
and carpenter ants like it year round.  Since it comes
in a protective bait station, you are able to move
it to where ant activity is highest.  If you have
a lot of ants and are unsure where the nest is located,
DRAX may be the better bait to apply. It comes with its
own syringe applicator and you squeeze small amounts
in discreet places where the ants have been seen.  Drax
is good for treating large areas because you are able 
to make many placements from a small tube.  It comes
in two flavors so you will get the ants to feed no
matter what type of foodstuff they are currently needing.
I like this design as carpenter ants will rotate their
nutritional needs with a higher frequency than other
ants. This is why baiting for them has never been a
good method of control. However, todays products have
been formulated with attractants that will work to a degree.
Don't rely on inside baiting for carpenter ant control.
It is important to understand that it will only help
kill foraging workers and scouts. If you still have
ants a month after baiting the inside, spraying the
outside and baiting the outside, in all likelihood
you have a nest in the home. If Drax and Advanced
are not having enough of an impact, you have no
choice but to upgrade to the latest bait available,
CARPENTER ANT GEL. This is by far the best bait on 
the market at this time for carpenter
ants. It has a honeydew base, a natural food for
carpenter ants, and since the bait is moist and
almost a "liquid", they will feed on it almost
immediately.  It is not uncommon to find them
swarming around it within moments of being
applied. Most importantly, this is the only inside
bait which has had the ability to kill off entire
nests by it's impact. Although ant baits may do so
with other species of ants, baits for carpenter ants
have not been consistently able to achieve such
success. This is thought to be so because of the
carpenter ants diverse diet as well as the fact that
there are usually several nests to contend with
controlling. Carpenter Ant Gel is so essential to
them that they must feed on available supplies. This
is due to the main attractant, honeydew, which is
a much sort after food source required for young
larva. When carpenter ants find this food they
will readily focus all their attention on getting
some while supplies last. The Gel is then brought
back to the nest and given to the larva. The
adult ants don't eat it; what they collect they
give to their young. The young feed and their
digestive process activates the Gel. However, this
activation occurs late in the digestive cycle
so they will remain alive to pass it through 
their system. Once released as feces, the now
activated material does it's job. Within a 
day or two of passing the Gel the entire colony
is dead! Simply put, this is the best option
if you need to treat a nest or activity without
knowing the nest location.   There are two
limiting factors with this product. First, it is only
active 2-3 weeks. Because of it's unique formulation
which does not use preservatives, the bait will go bad
quickly compared to other baits once applied. Don't
expect 2-3 months of protection. If you get a month
out of a placement, you have already gotten more than
to be expected. In all likelihood, it will be broken
down a lot by the second week so be prepared to 
reapply if needed. The second problem with it is
cost. The active ingredient combined with it's 
unique formulation has created an expensive product.
Since it works so well, it is worth it. This is
particularly true for the problems that have been
persistent even after all other treatments have
failed. Simply using some inside where you are seeing
the ants along with outside baiting where they are
active has been able to control the most stubborn
ant problems. 
     Since carpenter ant infestations start from outside,
you need to reduce the population around the home to
stop new ant nests from being established. There are
two things you should do.  The first is a general baiting
of the yard with bait. These outside products are
designed to hold up against the elements and are
formulated with attractants carpenter ants like.  The
foraging scout and worker ants will find the bait, feed
on it and distribute it throughout unsuspecting colonies.
This will lead to nest control around your home which will
decrease the odds that any are able to get inside.  There
are two products that work well for the outside.  
MAXFORCE GRANULES were my favorite, but the new
CARPENTER ANT GRANULES are amazing. I have applied
this product in the yard where carpenter ants were
active and have found them to immediately accept
this bait and begin bringing it back to their nest.
Once they feed, they will die. And because ants are
social insects they will probably share the bait with
other members of the colony so many will die. You
may even kill off the whole nest without knowing 
where it is located!  Don't waste your time with
Dursban or Diazinon granules; they won't work at
all for ants and in particular Carpenter ants.
Use bait outside for the best results. Remember, ants
are looking for food - so feed them!  Don't waste
your time hoping that some residual granule will 
be walked upon after you sprinkle it out and it 
washes deep down in the thatch of your yard. Chances
are that no ant will find it. This is especially true since 
these ants like to spend their time high and dry. If you
are lucky, you may get a few to pick up a lethal dose
but the nest will never miss them.  Baiting outside
will have a direct impact on many nests and allows
a direct approach without any knowledge of where
the nest is located.  
   Because carpenter ants are so active on trees the
author feels he must detail how to treat these very
unique situations. Actually, carpenter ants nesting
in a tree can be quite easy to control. Since you 
know where they are nesting you can attack them
directly. There are two methods which can be used
and the nest location will largely determine which
method will be best to use. Carpenter ants nesting in
a tree will live either behind bark which is separating
from the trunk of the tree or in a nook or damaged
limb. Nooks and damaged limbs many times will start
to collect water and decay. This decay, much like
the decay around the home, will attract wood destroying
ants and other insects. The simplest approach to locate
nests in a tree is to simply watch their activity and
see where they go. It is equally common to have
nests at ground level as it is to have nests 50
feet up the tree!! Nests which are high can be
tough to treat; nests close to the ground can be
a cinch to eliminate. If you are able to reach the
nest without killing yourself, use the Drione Dust
and Hand Duster we detailed above. The Drione will
quickly kill the nest. It won't hurt the tree, it
will effectively penetrate behind bark and damaged
wood for a quick kill and since it kills all phases
of the nest, it will be shut down immediately. If
you are not able to reach the nest, you will have to
bait with some of the Carpenter Ant Gel. The best
way to use it is to place small dabs on the bark of
the tree where you see ants walking. Since carpenter
ants use scent trails, all you have to do is watch
them. Where they walk is where you should place the
material. It will stick to the bark and the ants
will quickly find it. Apply the material late in the 
day, just before dark. If you want to be completely
sure they don't have any chance of surviving, apply
some of the Carpenter Ant Granules at the same time.
When combined with the Gel, these two products will
insure a quick kill. Since carpenter ants will
be active through the night you will have the
best impact having applied the material just
before they start foraging for food. If you are
only having light activity on the tree, you should 
install some ANT TAPE. This product is wrapped
around the bark of the tree and will catch the
ants as they try to cross it. Ant Tape will not
kill a nest so be sure and Dust or Bait if you
believe a nest is present. Ant Tape is designed
to keep new ants from establishing themselves and
will only serve as a monitor to alert you that a
real problem exists. Another important consideration
when dealing with carpenter ants in trees is that
prolonged nesting can kill most any tree. If you 
have had ant activity for some time on the tree
and suspect injury, you may need to administer some 
first aid. Trees under stress can die and yet with
a little loving care, many can rebound. Give them
some extra food, water and remove or seal damaged
limbs as needed. To better identify if your tree
needs some extra attention, use STRESS GLASSES.
These unique eye glasses let you "see" plant life
which is under stress due to lack of water, fungus
or parasites like ants. They work for all plants
and can be handy to have when trying to better
understand whether a certain plant is under stress
or not.
   To deal with the ants which miss the outside bait
and to prevent scout ants from coming inside the
home, the second thing you need to do around
the home is spray a perimeter defense.  The active
ingredient you use should be either CYPERMETHRIN
or DELTAMETHRIN.  Both of these actives work well on 
many pests but ants seem to dislike them more than
most.  A good barrier will keep ants at bay so they
will be forced to find another nest and food supply
than your home!  Treat as described above; spray
on the foundation and on the ground with a band that
is about 3 feet wide. This insures that any ants
which choose to walk on the treated surface will die.
Because they are able to detect these materials,
they will likely avoid treated surfaces. This will
chase them elsewhere and keep them outside. To apply
these concentrates, use one of our SPRAYERS.
It takes a gallon or two to treat the average home
around the outside perimeter and the frequency of
treatments will depend on your choice of concentrate.


RECAP OF SUGGESTED TREATMENTS FOR CARPENTER ANTS....

1) If you are in an area where there are a lot of 
carpenter ants active around the home, you should
address the outside turf with some Maxforce Granules
or Carpenter Ant Granules along with one of the perimeter
sprays to insure they don't start nesting on the home.
2) If you occasionally see one or two ants in the home
throughout the warm season, be sure to bait and spray
the outside as listed in Step One, but also place out 
some Advanced or Drax in the home. This bait is to
be used only for protection from the occasional invader
which is seeking food and not if you suspect a nest
might be residing on or in the structure. 
3) If you have done both Step One and Step Two and are
still seeing one or more ants a day, you almost assuredly
have a nest in the home which will require the use
of the Gel or Drione depending on whether or not you
know where the nest is located. The Gel is the more
common choice since it takes the guess work out of
the job and is so quickly accepted and effective.
4) If you have a tree with ants foraging up and down
the trunk, chances are a nest is located either behind
the bark or on some nook or damaged limb. If you can
locate the nest and can safely reach it, treat with
the Drione Dust for a quick and complete kill. If you
are not sure where the nest is situated, apply some
of the Carpenter Ant Gel directly on the bark of the
tree along with Carpenter Ant Granules around the
base of the tree and you should be able to kill off
the nest before the tree is killed.

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