Killing Carpenter Ants
Carpenter ants are pesky, wood destroying bugs. They are like termites cousins in the fact that they destroy wood, but unlike termites, they do not eat the wood. What a waste of delicious wood! Carpenter ants actually eat sweet or sugary insects like aphids. (It seems that even carpenter ants have a sweet tooth!)
The real reason that carpenter ants destroy wood is to construct their nests. Carpenter ants usually do not do as much damage as termites do, but if the problem isn’t fixed soon enough, the damage can get severe.
If you suspect that carpenter ants are making a home out of your home, check for these signs:
Sounds – If you put your ear up to a hallow wall and you hear rustling or scratching noises, you may have an ant problem.
Frass – Frass is another name for the piles of wood chips that carpenter ants will leave behind. If you look closely, frass will contain wood chips, insect particles, and dead ants. Don’t confuse frass for saw dust that may have been left behind from construction.
Trails – Carpenter ants will form tight trails. These trails may be found along the carpet, door frames, fence tops, etc. You can usually follow the trail back to the nest.
If you do have an ant infestation, follow these tips for killing them.
Use sugar mixed with chemicals – Since ants like sweet things, (remember that sweet tooth?) you can bait them with sugary foods mixed with poison, and have them tell all their ant friends to get some too. You can mix sugar with boric acid or borax.
Instant grits – Use instant grits to bait the ants. They will bring the grits back to their nest, eat it, and then blow up! The grits react with their stomach acids and swell up inside of them.
Find the nest and blast it – This may be hard to do, but if you are successful in finding the nest, it is an effective way of getting rid of them. Bait the nest with sugary foods, and follow them back to their nest. Hopefully it is in an easy to reach place. Use a powerful insecticide inside the nest.
Repellant pesticides won’t kill the ants. They will simply find ways around it. Do not use pesticides with repellant chemicals.
If you have problems with carpenter ants, make sure you follow these tips listed. It can either be really difficult or really simple to kill carpenter ants. Remember all the signs to look for, and don’t use repellants for the ants.
