Tuesday, December 31, 2013

How to Kill Black Carpenter Ants

How to Kill Black Carpenter Ants

Carpenter Ants

Black carpenter ants are one of the tougher critters to get rid of. Once they have established a colony there may be anywhere from15,000 to 100,000 ants. Black carpenter ants will also build satellite colonies, so now you are talking about even more ants.
The first step to killing these ants is to find out where they are living and it might not be easy as these ants are sometimes hiding real well.
Carpenter ants don’t eat wood, but they like to live in it. If you have carpenter ants living in wood, it is likely that you have had termites at one time. Carpenter ants are opportunistic and will live in the holes termites have left behind, and then they will eat the termites.
Since carpenter ants are mostly nocturnal, you will see more of them at night but you should still be able to spot some of them moving on their trail in the daytime between satellite colonies. If you can follow them, you will know where to attack.
Once you find out where they live, you will need to kill the whole colony. You may find them in damp wood piles, in voids in your home, in your attic and under insulation. A sure sign of the ants is a waste that they will kick out of their home. This consists of waste, wood chips, dirt and carcasses of insects they have eaten.
Now you will need to spray their trials with a pesticide. Spray under eaves, voids and wood piles. You will not want to use a heavy duty pesticide in voids in your home so a product from EcoSMART is a more natural option.
Products from EcoSMART are botanically based and some of them are so safe, they are exempt from EPA regulation.
In addition to spraying and dusting pesticide on their trails, you can use a Boric Acid based bait. This is both safe and effective. Bait will be carried back to the colony and will kill it off. This is a great method if you are having a hard time locating the colony but have found a trail.
If the carpenter ants are still hanging around, don’t feel defeated. These are tough little buggers. You may need to call a professional to help you finish the job.

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