How to Get Rid of Carpenter Ants – PestControl

Most people are aware that termites can quickly and gravely damage the internal wood structure of a home. However, carpenter ants can be just as detrimental, and just as difficult to exterminate.
If you’d like to learn how to get rid of carpenter ants, keep on reading!

How to Get Rid of Carpenter Ants

Carpenter ants are more substantial than your average ant. Reaching up the 1/2 of an inch length, they are a social species that is separated into three different types. There are:

• Workers. These can be black or red and vary in size. When you discover carpenter ants in your home, these are likely the type of ants you’re encountering. They scout and scavenge for food to bring back to the nest.
• Males. Winged and more massive than the worker ants, the males are responsible for impregnating and protecting the queens.
• Queens. Also winged, but much more significant than any other type of carpenter ant, the queens live nearly their entire lives in the nest. They are responsible for creating new generations of workers, males, and queens.

Carpenter ants do not eat the wood in your home. They deconstruct it, piece by piece, to build their nests. Rather than prying apart perfectly sound wood, carpenter ants target moist, decaying wood for their constructions.

Winged males and queens look very similar to winged termites, which can be confusing when attempting to identify them.

Before attempting any pest control treatment, it is crucial first to be sure that you have correctly identified the insects in your home.

Unlike termites, carpenter ants crave sweet foods. If you are finding them in your kitchen cupboards, the chances are high that you have ants and not termites.

Once you know that you’ve got an infestation, you need to obtain or hire a carpenter ant killer.

How to Kill Carpenter Ants

Getting rid of carpenter ants is a little tricky. To destroy a carpenter ant population, you must poison the nest. Nests are often hidden within the structure of a home, making them difficult and dangerous to find.

A pest control professional is the smartest option when attempting to kill carpenter ants in a home.

If you’re dealing with an outdoor problem, and you’d like to know how to get rid of carpenter ants with wings in a woodpile, you have options. Winged carpenter ants can be unpleasant, but a netted hat or visor can protect your face and neck while working.

For outdoor carpenter ant issues, you can contact a professional exterminator, or attempt to find the nest yourself. Wood piles are common choices for carpenter ants and locating their nest will be far more straightforward if you’re working with an external nest. Stumps, roots, and wooden fences are also common locations.

Applying a heavy-duty insecticide directly to the nest is the most efficient way of getting rid of carpenter ants. Decayed wood around your property may be a possible haven, and removing any pieces as soon as possible is a great way to avoid a reoccurrence.

For those who are still encountering carpenter ants even after attempting an at-home, DIY solution, please contact a pest control professional right away. Carpenter ants can have a terrific negative effect on the structural soundness and quality of your home.

How to Get Rid of Carpenter Ants in Trees Naturally

Perhaps you have an old oak or elm in your yard that is currently suffering from carpenter ants. Rather than remove the entire tree, it would be far more beneficial to treat the ants naturally.

If you cannot locate and poison the nest in a tree, you can do a few other things to make life more difficult for the carpenter ants. Boiling water poured over the bottom area of the tree is an excellent choice, especially when mixed with soap.

There’s also the bait maneuver. A mixture of sugar and baking soda can be left near the tree to tempt worker ants, who will bring the poisonous mixture back to the nest. The next thing you know, no more ants!