Looked around your home and noticed what appears to be sawdust around areas with wood such as beneath window ledges and realized you have been harboring carpenter ants? In this write-up, learn quick ways of detecting and eliminating the stubborn ants. Understand that carpenter ants are some of the most difficult insects to remove from their dwelling, due to their eating and living habits. They are known to tunnel through walls and tend to be highly destructive. This article dwells on effective products and methods of eliminating carpenter ants and how to keep them out of your home completely.
What really are Carpenter Ants?
Carpenter ants are large and have a dark brown, yellow or red, black and red, or black coloration, and some have transparent or light brown wings and bent antennas. Since there are different species of carpenter ants, color and size cannot always be a reliable source of identification. You can distinguish the species from others by the rounded profile of thorax they bear, the hair around their anus, and their heart-shaped head.
These features can be seen clearly under magnification. They are a species of ants that prefer to make their nests in wood and form colonies in moist wooden areas. However, unlike beetles/termites, they do not feed on wood as is the popular misconception; rather use damp wood to create nests. The adults are normally between 6 and 12 mm, while the queens range from 18 to 20 mm in length. The forewings of the reproductive male and the queen are larger than the hind wings.
Do carpenter ants bite?
Wondering if the ants can bite? Yes, they do. They bite when their nests are disturbed as a means of self-defense. Since they are quite large, the bite can be very painful. They are also scientifically proven to release a defensive chemical of formic acid. This acid can be directly sprayed to the already bitten body part, and this could, in turn, worsen the pain. Since they have a complex life cycle, it is advisable to control them as soon as possible.
What do they eat?
Carpenter ants are great lovers of sugar and protein. Protein such as dirty stove vent filter, food residue beneath dishwashers, and pet food crumbs plays a great role in enhancing a productive year of expansion. When outdoors, they eat both dead and living insects and when indoors, they eat pet food and meat, including jelly, honey, sugar, syrup, and sweet things.
Note that these ants will mostly interact with your house when they are traveling back and forth to their damp living spaces such as decks, broken sinks, tubs, attic beams, wall voids, showers, etc. The ants can also lay their nest in foam insulation.
Signs there are Carpenter Ants in your Home
Before focusing on how to get rid of carpenter ants or searching for the best ant killer, it is vital to be sure there are actual carpenter ants around:
- Frass: Carpenter ants burrow into wood to make nests, and this leaves behind sawdust-like deposits. Given that they cannot digest wood like termites, you should spot an accumulation of wood shavings in the area. In the pile you may also notice various ant body parts such as legs, given that they can still move after losing these parts or shedding their wings. If you notice this, it is a tell-tale sign you have an ant problem in your home.
- Swarmer: if you notice an unexpected emergence of swarmers especially in spring, look around for carpenter ants.
- Rustling: ant nests tend to get large very fast due to the multiplication of the insects. The many jaws working on wood to create a larger nest leaves behind some crunching and crinkling noise.
- Hollow Wood: when you tap on your wall, you should feel a difference with the presence of carpenter ant infestation. Ants mostly nest in walls, cabinets, structural wood, and beams that are a little damp. One infested sounds hollow.
How to Kill Carpenter Ants
The first step towards exterminating carpenter ants is to identify their nest. After spotting the colony, it is time to get down on an extermination process. Pay attention to areas that have moist wood. You can choose between pesticides and a natural homemade ant killer. This calls for each homeowner to decide on what works best for their case. It is advisable to start off with a homemade remedy as this is a safer way of eliminating insects.
Keeping Off Black Carpenter Ants
Black carpenter ants are the most common type of this class of ants. They are normally of moderate size, most of them containing more than 3000 workers within 3 to 6 years. To eliminate the ants from your house, focus on sources of moisture first. Understand that the ants need water to survive, and will, therefore, use tree branches and plants to get into your house.
Ensure all vegetation and tree branches are cut back from your house. Look for cracks and other openings in your home and ensure they are completely sealed. Most times the carpenter ants use them to get access to your home water sources and food.
Stacks of wood must also be stored away from your house, as the ants use them to make nests. Black carpenter ants can be eliminated through the application of sprays and insecticides in forms such as baits, dust, foams, and concentrates.
Effective Products
There are at least four known methods of applying pesticides, including interior void treatment, exterior perimeter treatment, baiting, and treating the infested wood.
- Interior void treatment: With the availability of foaming applications and insecticide dusts, it is not easy to conduct interior void treatment. Sometimes, dust can be applied but fail to act on the carpenter ants, and this is where the insecticide comes in. Dust fails to be effective when applied inappropriately. It is therefore important to make use of an electric duster. You can use delta dust ($21.77 waterproof, odorless, and non-staining insecticide) or Drione Dust ($64.95 non-staining odorless insecticide dust) in infested interior areas. Drione for instance is highly effective in dry areas while Delta works best in moisture filled areas.
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Perimeter insecticide treatment: commonly used and effective method of eliminating carpenter ants is the use of an approved ant spray or dust. Some of the best products on the market are Cyper WP, Tarstar Concentrate, and D-Fense SC.
- Cyper WP: Worth between $45 to $255, this powerful odorless concentrate can be used on the exterior, indoors, and outdoors. It is an active ingredient cypermethrin that has been proved to control ants for up to 3 months. It destroys ants by attacking their central nervous system. Due to its high concentration of active ingredient, it is ideal for tough insects such as carpenter ants.
- Tarstar Concentrate:
Selling at $35.81, this can be found in the form of granular or liquid concentration. It is one of the safest to use in a home as it does not harm pets and other non-target animals. It is highly effective in controlling carpenter ants. - D-Fense SC: D-Fense selling at $214.75 has about 5 percent of pure microcrystals of Deltamethrin. It is odorless and harmless in that it can be used in a home with kids and pets. It offers about a 3 month residual.
- Cyper WP: Worth between $45 to $255, this powerful odorless concentrate can be used on the exterior, indoors, and outdoors. It is an active ingredient cypermethrin that has been proved to control ants for up to 3 months. It destroys ants by attacking their central nervous system. Due to its high concentration of active ingredient, it is ideal for tough insects such as carpenter ants.
- Spot Treatment:
Bora-care can be used to exterminate localized carpenter ants. Worth about $77, Bora-care can be directly injected into the wood where the ants form a nest. To prevent colony relocation, it is vital to treat the entire area surrounding the nest. When subjected to a pesticide, carpenter ants tend to fragment their colony. Focus on areas showing signs of damage such as walls and the attic. Bora-care does not mess the painting, is odorless, and does not stain or change the appearance of wood. More so, it is non-toxic to non-target animals and humans. When dealing with a confined area, it would be more effective to use a foaming device. If the area is heavily infested, spray the pesticide directly after foaming.
Natural Extermination Methods
The first step towards eliminating carpenter ants completely is by identifying their nest. Follow the trail and see where it leads. When there, pour a solution of natural insecticide into the nest.
There are plenty of options that can deter the ants from ever getting back to the same location including:
- Boric Acid ($3.15): this is the go-to natural insecticide any homeowner can use. It can be purchased from the local stores where it should then be sprinkled around the house. It can also be mixed with water to form a spray solution.
- Cedar Oil: this is a highly effective natural essential oil that can be used to eliminate carpenter ants. When the carpenter ants come into contact with it, they suffocate from osmotic dehydration. It also kills the ants by emulsifying their body fats. The oil can be sprayed directly into the nest.
- Diatomaceous Earth ($9.95): this is another very effective natural product for eliminating carpenter ants. It has small particles of fossilized algae-like plants. It is known to desiccate ants quickly.
- Dish Soap: Dish soap can be mixed with water and baking soda to form an effective solution. The solution suffocates carpenter ants.
- Vinegar: White vinegar should be sprayed into cracks and countertops where the ants may be forming a trail. Vinegar is known to eliminate chemical trails.
Carpenter Ants Baits
The most efficient means of killing carpenter ants is by using baits. It is a method used when the nest is hidden and inaccessible. The baits decrease the population of the ants and reduce their chances of getting into a structure.
The following are some of the ant baits you can use in your home:
- Terro Perimeter Ant Bait Plus
($13.99): the weather resistant ant bait granules are packed in a 2 lb shaker bottle, and this makes it easy to spread the chemical in the infested area. It is a slow killer, allowing the carpenter ants to carry the product back to the colony, and kills both visible and hidden carpenter ants. - Advance Carpenter Ant Bait
($23.06): It comes with special small granule size attractant, making it one of the most effective ant bait. It can be applied inside and outside of your home. The bait works by allowing the foraging workers to get back to the colony and feed the queen, which in turn, eliminates the colony. - Niban Granular Bait
($31.85-$182.76): Niban is a virtually odorless moisture resistant ant bait that can be applied in both exterior and interior settings. It is applied in drop ceilings, crawl spaces, cellars, and attics to target the carpenter ants. The bait is easy to apply with a crusader duster to ensure the solution penetrates deep into the nest. It blocks enzyme production in the ants leading to starvation. It also kills microorganisms in the ant’s stomach. Niban has a concentration of 5 percent boric acid. - Maxforce Gel Carpenter Ant Bait ($21.95): this has superior ant attractants (honeydew) that eliminate carpenter ant colonies quickly. Worker ants are given enough time to carry the substance to the colony. Using an insecticide in the same area this bait is used can contaminate it and cause worker ants to die before sharing the bait with the colony.
Prevention
- Work on moisture prone areas such as roof and plumbing leaks.
- Cut bridges that could lead the ants into your structure such as tree branches and limbs.
- Seal all openings around your foundation.
- Stack furniture and wooden items away from your house.
- Prevent further infestation by ant-proofing your home through clearing lumber piles and rotting trees.
Everyone finds ants in their home from time to time. However, some especially carpenter ants are not just annoying but destructive too. If there is a colony in your home already, the best move would be to eliminate them completely as soon as possible. With the remedies provided on how to get rid of carpenter ants, you should now be well guarded in getting rid of them.
Hey – I tried the boric acid thing. Seemed to work at first. They were all eating it and there were even tons of dead carpenter ants around it, but then they stopped going to it and now they’re still here. I read the same tip about getting rid of carpenter ants on a different site and that offered no help either 🙁
Help!!
Darrel,
Do you know if there is any leaking water in your home? We had a major carpenter ant problem and when we renovated the bathroom, we discovered this was the source of the problem. Everyone told me if I have carpenter ants throughout the winter then I know for sure I have a problem. We had the ants all year and they were everywhere! In our beds, in our food, etc, etc.
Since the bathroom has been renovated and we replaced all the underlying wood with pressurized wood, and hardibacker boards under the tiles, we haven’t had problems with the ants. Water was seeping under the tiles and that’s what they were using to support themselves. The old wood wasn’t pressurized and it was amazing the shapes that were made in the wood beams. Perfectly smooth cuttings and holes. Those ants had a ball!
Hi, I found it interesting that you mentioned “having ants throughout the winter”. Does it make a difference? Mine show up outside every year in the spring on the pool deck (no way to keep that area dry) and every couple of years I will find a few upstairs in the part of the hoise that is the closest to the pool in the middle of the summer. I’ve never seen any in the fall winter or early spring. Is that mean that they’re actually not “in” the house? I’ve been wondering for a while if I have a real problem and if they are true risk to my house. I’d really appreciate if you share your knowledge with me. Thanks!
Hi everyone;
We live in Ontario Canada on a lake. We had a leaky bathroom window..and saw carpenter ants.So we removed the inside wall under the window..there were lots of wings and wood piles..we didn’t see any ants. we vacuumed it all and replaced insulation and drywall..though we got rid of them..well then we decided to take the outside wall off..WELL..as fast as I was vacumming them up by hubby was sweeping them..there were thousands of the suckers!!
So we replaced all the rotten wood..more insulation and a new window, including the frame.
Caulked everything. This was last month May 2015. We have seen a few outside since. However this AM June 16 2015 we went into the bthrm.and there were hundreds of baby ants..YUCK. We sprayed with Raid, I made another solution of BORIC acid and jam. Don’t know what else to do???
Bonnie, I’d suggest you call in a professional. I’m in Scarborough. We had carpenter ants the second summer after we bought our house. I called one of the big pest control companies, it might have been Orkin, and they came and treated them. It was just under $200, but ten years ago. We haven’t had any nests in the house since.
You are using to much boric acid. If the ants are dieing before they get it back to the colony, it is of no use. Tone down the mixture so the worker ants can take it to the colony, and get it to the queen. As long as the queen lives, the colony lives.
sO HOW MUCH SHOULD BE USED. I JUST FOUND OUT I HAVE THE PROBLEM AFTER ROOFERS LEFT. THEY ARE CRAWLING ALONG MY BEAMS (12′ CEILING) AND I FOUND SOME FLYING.
Go to home depot. Buy insect killer. Natural doesnt work, kill them…kill them all.
Really, they can be easily deterred why kill them all?
how do you deter them ? I have a big trail in front of my apartment door and a couple have even gotten in . I usually dont like killing things at all.
this man or woman knows what they are talking about. I have the same opinion with all bugs, the stronger and meaner the spray the better. Especially with spiders. yuck
Don’t be a ninny. The active ingredient is common ant bait traps is boric acid. So if you’ve got money to burn, and really dig the aesthetic of those plastic trays, sure, go for it.
Place solution in new container a little away from previous location.
Keep placing fresh container solution on alternate days
Sevin dust killed the crap out, of my infestation of carpenter ants. Never came back!
sevin dust what is that???
Sevin is an insecticide. I wouldn’t use it inside and I don’t believe the bag indicates that it is effective on carpenter ants.
It also causes cancer if you read the label so I doesn’t buy just for that reason
Air causes cancer. Use accordingly.
Dirty air causes cancer. Calling in a pest control company puts a worker at risk. Many people who apply pesticides on a daily basis become chemically sensitive. Each homeowner can order “baits” taken back to the Queen.
To much poison kills the ants before they can take the it back to the colony.
Try the mix with less borax.
Try a weeker poison. If they diy before they get back to the colony the colony is still alive. Use less borax in the mix
Borax and boric acid are NOT the same thing !!!
funny… the beginning of the article says buy boric acid commonly sold as borax
What is the difference between them? Borax and Boric Acid.
The harmful chemical on the warning label contained in Borax is as listed sodium tetraborate decahydrate. It still works. After getting renovations done in my apartment, it stirred up the ants. The solution I used was 1 quart of warm water, 1 cup of sugar and 2 tablespoons of Borax. I placed a saturated cotton ball in milk jug lid and kept it wet, in every area they were coming in through. In 5 days, they all gone.
Outside, I put 5-6 saturated cotton balls in an opened baggie. The evaporation condensation kept the solution from drying out too soon.
We have a cabin in the woods near water, our small cabin garage had Carpenter ants. In this one car tool shed area I used two FOGERS worked very well, of course killed all the other bugs also. I have used Ortho (red bottle) says it kills C A, sprayed it on but did not kill them on contact. Would like to find a spray that kills on contact. They are in my pine trees
Try cyper or bifen can buy it at domyownpestcontrol
I’ve had some success with deltamethrin based sprays. I flooded the roofing boards with the stuff and had corpses of ants raining from the ceiling of my garage for days. Sadly, however, I’m seeing signs of another infestation, so the queen must have survived.
Secret Formulas: If you find one that works, patent it immediately. Scientists around the world have been searching for years for ingredients that will attract and kill or repel carpenter ants. Some things that homeowners have tried include cinnamon, cayenne pepper, moth balls, boric acid and icing sugar.
None of them have been proven effective.
You have to mix the boric acid in proportion with a bait food that they’ll eat, like peanut butter or jam. If you use too much boric acid, you’ll kill the ones that eat it. That kind of defeats the purpose of the bait. You want them to eat it, take it back to the nest and feed it to the rest of the colony. Since ant colonies feed on a common food store it eventually poisons the entire colony, including the queen. Once the queen is dead, the colony dies and you’re problem will be solved. At least until another carpenter ant from another colony enters your house to forage. Just repeat the process if you see them and it will kill that colony as well.
hello,
i would like to try the boric acid mixture as it is Spring and we always get carpenter ants in the kitchen and I always call Pest Control and we *always* leave while they spray etc. etc.
we have an aging labrador who makes vacating the home a bit difficult plus if I can get rid of them on my home in a natural way I am all for it.
I know that they come from the basement but honestly I have not seen a “nest” nor do I want to go searching for it (grosses me out to a degree)
At the moment I have only spotted a few as it is early in the season but i did see one come up from the woodwork at the base of the fridge so would I put the mixture there?
thanks for your help in advance
Remove drip pan under fridge. Empty and clean with vinegar. Pull out fridge and inspect floor etc for rot and entry point holes
I have a rotten tree that fell in my back yard. The wood was cut up so it could be moved. friends went to try to get the wood out of my yard n noticed that it was covered in ants n terminates. how do we kill them off so the wood can be moved out of the yard. something affordable please.
Boil lots of water in several pots and try to kill them all by pouring boiling water on them. Try to get the queen in the nest.
Orkin. I can honestly say Orkin does the job. I had so many. I thought my counters were made of ants. Within 3 months they were gone. ORKIN YES.
Cut it and burn it. It’s the only 100% effective way to get rid of them
How long might it take to get rid of ant colony?
I just found a carpenter any and it’s night time I have to go to sleep but I don’t know what to do
🙁
If there is one then there are probably many. I was up all night last night and stayed out of my room cause that’s where the carpenter ants mostly are. I went in last night when it was late and dark and there were so many! !!! They are nocturnal so they work at night mostly spray raid all around your windows and boarders of the room. If your in a house then do the same outside around your house and look for the nest or the where they are getting in. If you go out at night and see if you can find the trail of them. You can follow them to the nest and make sure you have what you need to kill the nest and Queen before disturbing it or they will just move it. They are soo creepy and have huge mandibles. Yuck!! I’m so tired. I need sleep. I’m in an apartment so I’m going to have a hard time
Yes have just moved to a condo and have carpenter ants here. I have been bit 3 times waking me out a sleep and last night 1 drew blood; it is hard for me to rest; i need a solution today.
Send me your e mail i can help:) but t’ill then leave them alone , try at least. The more you kill them without knowing were they nest it gets bigger the queen has all her colony accounted for she will replace them by laying more eggs. 1-LOCATE NEST 2- have vacuum ready when uncovered suck them up 3- replace rotten wood 4- make sure you have no water infiltration if yes correct issue. Treat please call proffessional . 5- look for openings 6- treat to prevent every summer . Let me know how your doing ok Good luck be strong
I found they were probably coming ln because there is vine’s growing up my windows every where I saw the ants there is vine’s at that window .also watch the ant when you step on one that it will put itself back together I saw this
Your landlord should take care of getting rid of them.
is that true no matter where you live? I’m in Ontario and I just moved into a small house we’re renting. I’ve seen at least one or two ants every day and didn’t realize it was this big of a problem until today. Now reading this, I’m REALLY concerned.
Get 2 pieces of wood size 2×2 and put the ant in between them then step on it.
Sprinkle borax around the area
Tell it a bedtime story and tuck it in.
They come out at night, not sure why. I had the same thing this week. I only found one HUGE black ant in the kitchen, it was 3 a.m. I got it and killed it immediately. So now I’m wondering if there is a nest in the wood of this house.
Buy clear plastic traps and boric acid TIMBOR and add 1:2 sugar and put out a dozen
We find those creatures in our kitchen and in the living room. Also, I do not know what to do. I opened ceiling already in the basement under approximate location of the sink and kitchen cabinets to see if there is some wood dust. Didn’t see anything yet. These creatures started to show up up to 10-15 creatures per day (those we see). Checked accessible point in the house. Didn’t see any damage yet…
I will try some of those recommended remedies. I’ll do one at a time to see/find one most effective and will keep updating this ‘billboard’ for you everybody to use.
P.S. Used Lowe’s/Home Depot ant traps. Seems to me they do not work. Waste of money…
did anything work? I have the same problem no sign except the ant itself
you also want to go outside and cut away any limbs touching the house that way it decreases entrance in the home. I was told cayanne pepper or coffee grounds around house perameter helps to decrease entrance in home.keep water out sink and under refrig make sure no water in pan or leaking on floor.
what works to kill them
did you solve the ant problem? how
I they the baits a waste money. One house I rented, the carpenter ants had a nest in the insulation of the gas water heater. Not wanting to use spray around gas pilot light, I bought every available type of bait and traps and neither worked. The slumlord wouldn’t do anything so I moved.
Okay so…I’ve gotten rid of them three times these past three years I’ve lived in this apt. But around the same time of the year, they keep coming back. I’ve looked everywhere online, and even made my own “Ant Away” only works so much. It’s made up of freshly squeezed lemon juice, white vinegar, pepper, peppermint oil. & thinking to add soap to it… there everywhere in my bedroom. Never anywhere else. Even in my bed. I feel like their all over me. I had my maintenance to chalk up the hole their coming from, but there still coming through the hole under the carpet. How can I get them out of my bed and house forever?
Added dish soap to my repellent. (ajax) killed them faster. But still need help getting them out of my home
I’ve got lost of those ugly ants everywhere n I made a solution fr 1/4 part water 1/4 dish soap n 1/4 alcohol it helps for a little while but they come bk, I’ve got them in the living room n we had to clear everythg fr dinning table of any food cuz they invaded the boxes that were sealed n I had to throw this item away..these ants only come during the summer n whn winter comes alone there’re bk , I was told to go to Home Depot n buy a bag of CALE I don’t knw the name in English but that’s the name in Spanish any I was told to sprinkle all around the outside of the house n on the ant piles since we’ve had so much rain…that should help so I’m going in the morning n try it out I need help bad, this is horrible can’t take it anymore
It seems like the ants are only in my bedroom. Here it is winter and here they are. I tryed the boric stuff.doesn’t work. It is 4 ft of snow outside. My bedroom is off the patio i guess they are coming from trees ok but what do i do can’t afford cutting trees
CALL YOUR LANDLORD THIS IS THEIR PROBLEM NOT YOURS CARPNTER ANTS ARE WOOD EATERS NOT FOOD SEEKERS
Meanwhile, what do you do while you wait…
Go out at night with a flashlight and see where they go. Use boric acid and sugar. Yes they eat sugars. Spray vinegar on their trails you see at night using pump up sprayer.
Carpenter ants do NOT ‘eat’ wood. They bore into it and nest there which is why they are a threat to a home owner. They eat some of the same food humans do…prefer sweets, fats, even meat. They will feed on dead or live insects if no food source can be located in their scavenging ‘hunts’. The boric acid solution works and is pretty much the same technique that will be used by the professionals when they show up. Spray the perimeter of your entire home if you have just noticed the infestation but if ants have been showing up regularly or you see signs of saw dust or frass, best to call in the pros.
Carpenter ants are not wood eaters. Termites eat wood. Carpenter ants burrow through wood. Just as Carpenter bees do.
They don’t eat wood! !!! They seek out food and water. They chew through the wood to make trails and nests! !! Therefore causing structural damage that way. Termites eat wood. Carpenter ants do not.
NO NO NO. They are not wood eaters. They bore the wood to nest. They are after meat like dog/cat food anything sweet. They do not eat the wood. They are after food. There is always a master nest outside with branches that move inside. Mostly around wet areas, but if it is dry it limits the 3 kinds of workers because the eggs need moisture.
they don’t eat wood. they seek out sugars and proteins. they only burrow through the wood to nest in it. one is more likely to have them if the wood is damp or if they have a lot of dead trees in their yard. I get rid of them every year with sticky traps, diatomaceous earth, and using a vacuum. If you see lots of queens this is a good sign. kill them. they are looking for new nesting grounds. queens have the wings. if they are not queens it is likely that you already have an infestation and need professional help or to let your landlord know asap. they can do serious damage. I also usually burry a bag of sugar about 100 ft-150 ft from my house near other dead trees to bait them towards other nesting grounds. Boiling water in the nests works great too so long as you get the queens. only the queens breed so if you get the queens then you get the entire nest.
That is very true people upstairs from me have these ants and now they are coming down Landlord does not get his rent untill the ant problems are gone
My home has them..I had orken come in and spray ( expensive) they r coming from my neighbors tree which is 100 feet tall and grows overy my home……
Best option get new house and new bed
If you are in an apartment, you need to contact the owners to coordinate a professional treatment for ALL the apartments. Otherwise, they will keep coming back to you from the other apartments.
Hi, I just moved to a new house and I’ve been seeing carpenter ants in my kitchen and today they were on the sealing, I have kids and I don’t know what I should do. :'(
Hi I tried the peanut butter with Borax, not sure I got the mixture right. Dont know how much peanut butter to add to the mixture. Anyway they don’t touch it. I have put a piece of mango, a piece of strawberry, and a piece of meat. To see what they would eat. It’s like they are like they are not feeding? I don’t understand? I live in Alaska, not sure what to do?
next step is to call an exterminator. Any suggestions? Thanks David
Did you get rid of your ants? I am in Soldotna and they are pretty bad here. They are even in my lawn. Going to try the borax thing today.
Use a dish soap I a spray bottle ants don’t have lugs when beath it in it kills them dead
Buy “Bayer” bait put in little plastic traps. They carry to Queen’s nest. Also go out at nightfall with flashlight spray vinegar on their trail. Use powdered DE to block them from Queen. After all they they will attemp to move nursery. Repeat.
I use borax with grape jelly and water. They seem to love it, but I hate how long it takes to kill the colony. They are in the wall behind my cabinets and unless I take the siding off, it is not going to be easy getting to the nest itself. I have also found carpenter ants in my compost bin this year as well!
Hi
What are the amounts of each ingredient?
I would like to give it a try to see if my ants will eat it.
Thanks
I use old Greek yogurt containers and fill them up half way with Borax, then add about 1/4 cup jelly and then add enough water to make it like the consistency of Elmer’s glue. Mix and leave it in their path. I spray the area around them with vinegar to destroy their other scent trails, making sure not to get too close to the bait. Good Luck!
a. not borax — use boric acid. You get it at the drug store. If you buy an ant-treatment powder at the hardware store, it probably uses boric acid.
b. Do not use a lot of boric acid. I use about a half-teaspoon to a half-cup of sugar. I mix them in a plastic cup, like a yogurt container, and add enough water to make a soupy paste. Then I add a couple of cotton balls and throughly soak them in the goop.
c. I take a couple of plastic deli cups, like from chicken salad, and cut a few small holes in the sides, about a half-inch up (so the goop doesn’t leak). I drop the cotton balls into the deli cup and put the top on.
d. Then I place the deli cups in a few strategic places near the ant problem. It takes a little patience, and you do not want to instantly kill the ants. Once they discover the sugar, they’ll come back to it and get into it again. Then when they go back to the nest, other ants will help clean them off, and that’s when you start to wipe out the whole nest. It will take a few days, but it does work.
e. Every year in late spring, I make up a few of these and put them around, like on the sills in the basement, maybe under a heavy cabinet or bureau, and just leave them there. Make sure that kids or pets do not get into this stuff.
Thanks, Lars, for the tips <3 now here goes…
Borax is boric acid!!!!!!!!!@ duhh
To set the record straight. Boric acid is NOT the same as borax. i.e. H3BO3 vs Na2B4O7. They bear the same relationship to each other as hydrochloric acid does to sodium chloride (table salt). Both are used in pesticides. Boric acid is more toxic to mammals. (i.e. You and pets) But with care they both can be used safely.
Borax is a substance mined from the earth. Boric acid is made from a super refined process. Borax is not the most effective way to treat. For a few dollars you can get the real stuff. Do a Borax vs Boric Acid search on Google. Although Borax could be used, if I’m going to the trouble to drill holes in my walls and take off siding, I am going to use Boric Acid which can be bought at most home improvement or hardware stores such as Ace, Home Depot, Tru Value, Lowes. Or online. No sense in doing the job halfway just to save a few bucks. Borax, may be why some of you are not reaping results. I’m battling my own infestation, and even had my house tented in the past. Now I’m gradually taking down trees, replacing wood and tearing out walls in an effort to put a stop to it. Good Luck to everyone.
Borax is NOT the same as boric acid. Read the label or goggle the ingredients if you don’t have don’t have any.
Hi Larz, can you explain the cotton balls? You don’t just leave the container with “goop” for them them to take back to nest? I guess I am not sure I completely understand. Thanks!!
thanks for your information not yet used but like your idea .
Just to add an additional suggestion. I had carpenter ants all over my kitchen. I wasn’t sure exactly where they were coming from. I took an empty egg carton cut each individual cup out. Mixed in each one about an eighth to a quarter tsp boric acid with 1tsp honey. Mix well. Placed a few cups in different areas where majority of the ants were. Once they found it, which did not take long at all, they loved it and went to town on the stuff. I left them alone for the day even tho it did gross me out. I did figure out their trail and was able to place a carton of mixture on the floor in a corner in their path so I had less on the counter. By the next day there was only about a dozen ants still showing up. By nightfall 2 or 3 , now on the 3rd day I haven’t seen any. Ive cleaned my counters n cabinets with water n vinagar mix so that trail will be lost if any return. I’ll leave a few cups of mixture for a few more days on the floor near where they were just in case they come back. Yes keep this mixture away from pets. So far so good. The boric acid does work!
Borax = sodium borate. It’s boric acid with a salt added, as most acids are sold.
I’m not sure if this will help anyone but when I first bought my house the first night we had tons of carpenter ants and I figured I was stuck with them because I had a dog, 2 cats and a child in my house and didn’t want to use unsafe chemicals around them but I went to the store and got ecosmart organic insecticide it’s non-toxic and it worked 100% after I sprayed I seen no more but I still sprayed where the nest was for 2 days after it really surprised me I didn’t expect it to work that well and it’s not expensive
Last Spring I found several carpernter ants in my kitchen and bathroom, but one or two here and there in other places as well. A friend told me to get 2 gallons of ammonia and sprinkle it around the foundation of the house once per month (but I only did it twice this summer). Her mother always did it. It really seemed to work. Also, I bought finely ground, fresh black pepper and sprinkled it behind my cabinets and around the door openings. Between the two, no ants. I hate toxic insecticides!
Toxic insecticides are bad, but ammonia is good??
I use a mix of Borax, sugar & water, that’s it. Works just fine.
My husband and I are remodeling a mobile home which was given to us and found when we tore the floor up in the living room and took the skirting off the outside that there is carpenter ants all through out the underneath of the trailer and only the extension part of the home if the hole house is infested what’s the best way to get rid of them . Cause there everywhere now.?
can someone help me today 1-21-15 I was bitten by a long black close to an inch ant which ive known them all my life as pamorana ant here in south texas. the pain from this suckers is horrible almost everyone in my house has been bitten and its very frustrating and no one has mention this I want to know what on earth this ants are called? are this wood ants? or are they a different type of ant we are talking here! this suckers are hard to kill I hate them, and how do I get rid of them cuz they are inside my mobile home.
thanks
ana
ANA OLIVAREZ, it sounds as if you have a type of velvet ant, which is really a wingless wasp that looks like an ant. They are usually black with orange or red markings; however, there are some that may appear all black.
i got bitten at night i took apart the bed by the wall
there was a brown line on the wall .there carpenter ants
look it up
what can i do to get rid of these ant help
Are you sure they are not bed bugs? Bed bugs are brown and more.likely to be in your bed.
I have done everything suggested has anyone been sucessful truly???????
Use diatomaceous earth…they get covered in it and lick it off. Kills them from the inside out. Did this last summer and about 2 days later they brought out all their dead bodies and left them on my kitchen floor! Really decimated them but they keep coming back. The price you pay for living in the country! Just keep doing it. It’s non toxic.
We just discovered we have carpenter ants in the attic space where we can’t get to, except to blindly spray. We’ve seen them in 2 bathrooms on 2nd fl, an elongated hole just appeared in sheetrock ceiling (3″ x 1/2″), and I had one crawl on me in bed. I’m afraid our attic space is majorly infested. A couple of mos ago we had a bad leak from 2nd fl to 1st. We would like to use diatomaceous earth … how to apply? how much to use to get the queen and not kill off the workers too soon? Advice???? Thx.
DE will not work in this sit. Buy two Maxforce Carpenter Ant gel plungers and use mask and gloves, put in 24 bait plate stations. Close stations by snapping shut. Put anywhere you can in each room and attic and basement. BAYER makes Maxforce Carpenter Ant Gel so be very careful. Workers will find traps, enter and feed to queen and others.
Buy 24 more plastic traps and use sugar plus Boric acid in traps. Place everywhere.
I am chemically injured but can do this because I’m not handling above. Use Platex gloves, Mask and wash the clothing worn in washer without any other clothing.
Outside try Maxforce Complete Granular bait surrounding house if you have no pets. NEVER dig in that ground – ever in the future.
Hope this helps
I am fighting carpenter ants. I am going to try the boric acid and honey thing. I have tried the black pepper thing, but had no luck. I am desperate. Orrin wanted almost a thousand dollars with 89. Per follow up. At those prices I will have to start calling them my new pets. Any good helps will be helpful.
Boric acid powder and thats it!!!! 1) take the time to find nest. Dont kill them while they are foraging they usually come out at nite . You need to find out where they are coming from 3) buy a plastic bottle that you use with hair dyes that have a pointed top end. 3) wear eye goggles and a mask. 4) squirt the powder into the holes in your tree bark or in fine cracks and spray around their nest area in your attic or wherever they are travelling. You have got to find their nest. PS: all carpenter ants are not big some are as small as sugar ants- these are the babies that forage also although you will see the larger ants nearby as they supervise. Believe me I have studied these suckers for three years until I found the nest. I have spent lots of money on pesticides that eventually quit working or were rancid. I was at my wits end and wanted to pull my hair out…..the boric acid work within a week. carpenter ants do not eat would but she would so they can destroy your trees or house.
sorry about that last sentence above….. they do not eat wood but chew wood they tunnel it to make their homes
I do not understand why you have to find the nest. Don’t they take the bait back to the nest? I think I have carpenter ants in my kitchen, but the nest may be under my house, which is inaccessible to me.
There seems to be a chance that some ants get cleaned off by other ants when they come back to the nest with the poison on them. I think finding the nest ensures the queen will get the poison & die….no more population growth.
I need natural substance that will kill ants but will not kill honey bees. Thanks.
Just bought a house. Ants everywhere! I have no clue what kind they are, but they may be carpenter ants. I want to get rid of them, but don’t have a clue where to start.
Help!
should of checked it out before you bought…
Since you just bought your house this should be easy to do.
Like you did here, by looking up “how to kill carpenter ants” do the same but look up “How to make a bomb”. However, since it is a new home you don’t want to bomb your entire house away, so use you’re own judgement and cut the bomb mixture down some so that it just takes out that room that is infested with ants.
Doing this opens all walls and if your lucky some of the floor, then you will be able to see where the ants are either colonizing or entering in. You also could be fortunate enough exterminate them all together doing this (if you get the queen).
When you have finished this process, it is then time to rebuild. It would be best to rebuild and add (in the new walls) a natural ant deterrent. I like to use confectioners sugar and borax (equal mix) and add water to make a paste out of it. You will need a lot of this mixture to slather it on the inside of all the new walls. However, you will need to remove the old mixture and replace it with new mixture yearly.
You can make this a part of your “Spring cleaning” each year!
Good luck!
Just remember: if you have small children or pets that can get to it, don’t use boric acid. 1 teaspoon of liquid dish detergent into a spray bottle of water will kill if you can hit them with the spray. Barriers can be made with an unbroken line of cinnamon or cayenne pepper. Get the pest proof foam spray and fill in around the plumbing holes (kitchen and bath pipes), which also helps with your utility bills. They do like that water source, so they’re probably coming in where there’s water (kitchen, bath, leaky windows that sweat). Truth is, boric acid taken back to the nest is best, but if you have to get them out of your bed, you need to seal them off from the interior of the house.
Spotted carpenter ants last spring, in the family room coming from the same tiny gap between the floor and baseboard in a corner. There are no windows or doors near there but the family room is an addition with a crawl soace below instead of a basement. Yes the crawl space has lots of sawdust from drilling to do electrical wiring updates over the years. Also annoyingly my property line is nearby with my neighbours decripid row of cedar hedges and gigantic trumpet vine that has caused her to have carpenter ant investations in her garage where the vine covers. Ugh.
We fed them boric acid. They disappeared then popped up 20 feet away under the stove. Then they disappeared by May/June.
Low and behold they popped up last week after nearly a year. In the kitchen and dining room. We can neither locate nest, find a trail, see frass etc they all seem to be doing their own thing. The activity is random in the afternoon, peaks about 1-2 hours before sunset and is nil before sunset. The last few nights we have checked after dark, the house long quiet and there is zero ants to be found.
We kill 20-30 ants a day with zero trail or pattern if we wait/watch/follow.
Are the nests in the house or perhaps not?
How on earth can we locate the nests?
I hadn’t noticed these ants before, but we just had a very hard, steady rain for about 30 hours, and today when I went out on the deck, there were a bunch of black ants about half an inch long. I looked as good as I could under the deck but couldn’t see anything that looked like a nest. I went to the local supermarket for boric acid (it says above it is also sold as borax) but all they had was Borax detergent booster. The ingredients say “Sodium tetraborate” (a natural mineral), is this suitable for killing the ants?
I have the same problem. I just went and bought the Borax Detergent booster tonight also. Going to try this out tomorrow. I’m waiting for a response as well. good luck to you!
Borax detergent is NOT Boric acid. Go to the pharmacy and ask the pharmacist. It’s cheap but not everyone carries it. Boric acid was a common antiseptic used on wounds in the day. I have never had a problem finding it. But my large Shopper’s didn’t carry it. I had to go to a smaller Rexall. Just keep looking.
I just started to see these ants when we redid our dining room floor. They are everywhere now. There also tiny mini brown ants, or so they look like. There isn’t any moisture or leaking pipes anywhere close. They seem to be staying around our sliding glass door frame. That is where I see them coming in at, but can’t see them on the outside. There isn’t a trail either. I also have a newborn so I want to use something that is not toxic. Please help!
Thank you for the ideas. Am going to try diatomaceous earth, ammonia, and vinegar next. No way to seal this house. It is ancient and impossible. FYI these little suckers love soda pop. Ginger ale, dr. Pepper… it is unsafe to leave a glass lying around. Maybe someone can figure out how to exploit this fact.
I had always lived with carpenter ants appearing in the spring, both growing up and as an adult. The usual method was spraying with RAID or something comparable when they were spotted. That worked until one summer about 6 years ago we had literally millions of ants around parts of the foundation and hundreds inside on the floors and walls that would move from room to room. I decided to go with a professional exterminator that repeats treatments 4 times a year. They are pricey but effective as they can use chemicals we cannot. Done correctly these chemicals do not pose a problem to humans, pets, or plants. We have not had a problem with any ants or other insects since.
I am sorry but these chemicals are EXTREMELY dangerous. From depressions, to neurological symptoms, digestive issues, lung and breathing problems, cancers, birth defects. Please don’t think they are safe
yes, chemicals are dangerous, that is why only professionals use them. If used correctly and warnings heeded they are actually quite safe.
who did you use for the pest control
Hi, I rent the main and top floor of a house and have had carpenter ants since late winter. I have two kids, one with autism and one very young and the ants are mostly in areas that they play in. What is the safest way to get rid of the ants? I’ve tried cinnamon, vinegar, chalk and peppermint to get rid of them and nothing works. They are almost 10- 15 a day now
Call your landlord….You rent – not your issue to take care of.
The landlord has to take care of this issue and if you want it done in a safe natural way, they have to respect and honor that when looking for an exterminator.
good luck
It may be your landlords responsibility but that is not the case in every county or state. Everywhere has different rules. Definitely call your township office and see what their rules are.
A child with autism should not b near solvents – ever! Use only pure DE, pure organic boric acid, sugar and peanut butter. Don’t call landlord because the toxicity control will be out of your hands. Apologies to person who suggested calling owner.
We got some ants than look like those, in our kitchen… We tried tiding-up more and then , they where foraging into the garbage can… So we put it outside and the ants followed… But now they even get in the dishwasher ?!? So I started it 🙂 and as they where getting clean-up. They all went under the counter… Not quite sure what to do next… Cannot track theme any where else… Any suggestion?
Simple solution…
My suggestion to you would be:
If taking the trash can out side worked, then maybe you should take the dishwasher outside and the cabinets outside too – perhaps the floor to be removed too because that is what they are walking on under the cabinets!
Whatever the ants are attracted to should be removed to the outdoors. Maybe the ants are attracted to the “track theme” you have going on.
Good luck to you!
What are “Those” ants? What do they look like – never heard of them kind. I heard of sugar ants, carpenter ants, fire ants, etc… Never a “those” ants? Please describe them!
Why are you so hateful with everyone? People are just looking for pest help, and you seem to want to put them down, or make them look stupid (bomb their house~really!?!). Not everyone shares your love of sarcasm, so please be considerate….
GLR54 I don’t think Borax detergent and Boric Acid are the same thing. Boric Acid is NOT found in supermarkets. It is sold in drug stores. I know when I lived in California and we had a problem with roaches, Boric Acid would kill them. You’d put an unbroken line of Boric Acid around the whole perimeter of the room (especially kitchen cabinets) and they would walk through it at night when they came out. When they went back to their nests and cleaned themselves off it would kill them. Believe me it worked. I guess this is the same thing with Boric Acid. We’re having a problem now but we can’t find the nest. My husband says he’s going to lay down an unbroken line of Boric acid around the unfinished basement foundation and along every board including the joists and see if it can kill them and the queen. It worked for cockroaches which seem to be a lot tougher than ants so we’ll see if it works.
Borax is the basic mineral that is mined from the ground, and it is then refined through processing into boric acid. Borax such as you would purchase and use in the washing of clothes is not refined as much nor ground as fine as boric acid, and it is not labeled for use as a pesticide.
You can find boric acid in supermarkets by the insects killer section. I can be labeled as a roach killer on the front of the label. That’s why it can easily be passed up.
I have been battling with carpenter ants since I moved into my apartment in 2011. We have gone to our landlord and we get the whole “You are messy they problem is your fault.” We keep the apartment as clean as possible (we have a 6 year old so it’s semi hard to keep it spotless but theres no food particles on the floor hardly ever.) they won’t spray because of our cat and when they do come up where theres no evidence for the ants only of the mice we get (we have a huge hole behind the sink area because it’s a opened up area and maintenance refused to fix it.) I use a ecosmart pet and kid safe pesticide, it semi ish works but I am not sure how well honestly. we have a wooden balcony which I spray as well and it’s like they climb up our apartment building (which is brick.) and are coming from the mulch outside, is it possible?
Havecarpenter ant problem!! Been addressing it with traps & ammonia & making some progress finally !! My problem know is in moping my kitchen floor I accidently knocked over my extra virgin olive oil on wood floor !!! Got it up the best I could , nice shines floor ! Lol but now are these ants gonna be attracted to oil left !!??? Yikes any suggestions appreciated !!!
One word, Terro Ant Killer. Get the liquid, not the traps.
No, I do not work for them, but yes, it does work on carpenter ants. Use it correctly and it will obliterate them. Personal experience.
Read the label, active ingredient: Borax!
Just buy a box of borax and save a few bucks.
i know for a fact terro liquid kills them. i had these years ago at my other house, killed all my lilac bushes, i put this out and never saw even 1 ant for 3 or 4 years. the only problem is i had ants that pollinated my peonies and they didn’t bloom all that time either. never saw carpenter ants again though.. we r in the country now, i forgot about terro, will have to go get some. it has to be the liquid
I had 2 huge trees trimmed Thu winter. The guys said they’re infested with carpenter ants. There is no way I can get enough money to cut them down. Will this work on the trees? I checked my house and thankfully didn’t find any signed. Can you give my some advice?
Here is a natural way to get rid of carpenter ants in trees and a cheap way to rid the tree at the same time.
If you do it correctly, it will benefit greatly!
You will need a few supplies: Water (a hose preferred), a plastic container for gas (grill starter fuel works well too) and a lighter/ match.
1. dig a trench and make the ground soaking wet around the tree base.
2. douse the tree with gas or use a few bottles of grill starter fuel. Do this as far as you can reach up- it is best to find a tall person if you are height deficient.
3. throw a lit match on the fuel, preferred at the base of tree to ensure that most ants are killed in process.
*ENJOY*
****Remember to keep water nearby to help the fire from spreading to other areas you don’t want to burn****
Thanks for the suggestion, but I can’t do that. My trees Are about 40 feet tall and near my house. Also my town wouldn’t allow burning. Those things are just a bunch of little devils.
Okay, I FREAKED out when I saw the aunts populating my front hall. They kept coming! I kept killing them with my shoe, and knew it was futile. I read EVERYONE’S notes on here and saw frustration, lots of ideas and solutions, and more frustration.
So last night I went out and bought Boric Acid, Cotton balls, confectioner’s sugar, and diatemaceous earth. I was prepared! And I have SO MUCH GOING ON HERE, trying to get my house ready for sale, and I thought WHY AM I DOING THIS?? So I went back to the Internet, and saw a third party site that recommended “Terro” as the “best” first resort. Sweet syrup mixed with boric acid in a hands-off dispenser, “ANT BAIT.” HOOOOO-YEAH! This morning I bought the box of 6, and it works. Well, it brought more ants out of the woodwork than I could ever have imagined existed in the walls of my house! Mobs, droves, they were frantic to party on this sweet treat. It was gross, a writhing mass at the bait containers I’d put in the front hall.
SUPPOSEDLY they will carry this yummy treat back to the queen, and we’ll be done with it. I will let you all know.
I still plan to spread the diatemaceous earth outside, which treats them differently but is still a killer, but hope that it will only need to take care of the stragglers.
Gotta say, some of you on here have absolute HORROR stories of these creepies, and I had nightmares last night after reading all about YOUR infestations.
Wish us all luck. . . if this works I’ll shout it to the highest rooftops!
IT WORKS!!! This morning there was not ONE ant in the front hall. Not only that, but the little traps had been drained of liquid, so hopefully the QUEEN got her share! Yep, I’m a fan. “Terro.”
Well I just came back to this after trying the boric mixture last year. They didn’t touch it. Today I did it again only added more sugar, just watching how much this time. Seem to be attracted to it now. We’ll see. I did the vinegar trick in a spray bottle w/peppermint oil for trails toward my home & they were scattering. They didn’t like that. I’ll probably have to keep this up, I have 3 big oaks by the house & one is dead. Too much money to cut them, not on my line anyway. Wish you all luck.
terro works,I have used it in the past.i used the small traps.
Why do some keep calling them aunts ? There’s no u in ant, the u is only you writing about it ! Keep the u out of it, makes you look like you need more help than just with bugs ! Just sayin’ !!
And for God’s sake, stay away from the chemicals ! They’re likely to kill even you ! Try the boric acid (or Borax) and something sweet, like the jelly, sugar, or honey mixed with water to make a paste, sounds like about the safest ! For small black ants, Iv’e used borax in an empty clear plastic container (like you get when you order potato salid from a deli), first poke holes in the sides (a little up so the powder doesn’t come back out), make about four around it ! Put in some borax and then pour some honey into the middle and mix a-little of the honey into the borax, cover and place where they walk ! Lots of luck to you, and again, remember, no “u” in ant, or your uncle’s make get mad !
Sorry, here I go telling you how to spell, and then…..Well anyway ! I ment or your Uncle’s may get mad ! Hey nobody’s perfect, I know cause I’m married, so I know only too well ! You think ants are hard to handle ?
well I plan to try all of these suggestions as we were first attacked,well still are being attacked by black spiders,ewww,now carpenter ants.my poor dogs are being bitten badly,my children,and me and my husband.i thought it was because the former owners here left a disgusting mess here which is probably part of the problem.but thank you all for the advice,i plan to try it.and for all of you on here just to be ignorant why don’t you grow up and get a life your parents must be real proud
I only see them may/ june 2or3 a day for about 3 weeks outside then they are gone, are they still lurking or did they just show up and leave ?
How do I get rid of the ants when I can’t even find out where they are coming from?
At first they were all over my kitchen counters and after I killed those off I had to disinfect my counters with clorox and ajax and dish soap. Today I left my apartment for a few hours and when I came back and went to use the bathroom they were crawling all over my bathroom floor! The carpet in my living room is dark colored so sometimes the ants blend in with the carpet when they crawl all over it so I can’t always tell when they are on the carpet.
I see then on the walls too sometimes. So I constantly have to vacuum the carpet to get rid of any that could be on the carpet. This has been going on for about 2 weeks now and still no trail or sign of a nest anywhere. Please help me get rid of them. No matter what I try they keep showing up and since I can’t find a nest it seems the problem will continue.
Had to come back and give an update for those who are still having trouble with this. I have one word for you- Ortho. This stuff is amazing it’s a miracle worker. It cost me about $20 at the home depot but the bottle huge. I vacuumed the carpet to clean up any ants that were there. I got rid of any ants that I could see crawling in my bathroom floor and kitchen floor and from there I took the ortho stuff and sprayed it all around my apartment.
Any doors you have spray it around the sides and on the bottom which is where most of the bugs make their way into your house in the first place. Once you spray any possible place where the ants could come from just leave the house. I left for about an hour and came back and I never saw another carpenter ant again and it has been about 3 days now.
But before I used ortho I was seeing these little buggers everywhere in my apartment. It works and it’s fast. If you don’t like spraying chemical stuff in your house you may just have to try something else like the borax method. But nonetheless good luck everyone.
What is the full name of the Ortho product you used?
Ortho home defense. I bought the powered sprayer and a refill. But the sprayer stopped spraying sucking up the product. So I used my tank sprayer.
I also bought bayer carpenter ant killer. Mixed 15 oz in 5 gal of water. Poured it around areas where I saw a lot of ants.
No ants last 2 days!!!!
I used Ortho home defense in my pump sprayer. Nothing else had worked. I made a super-extra-strength mixture, and soaked my bedroom. I sprayed it into the six, half-inch holes I’d drilled into the closet door for pouring boric acid with bait into the next. The carpet was so wet it strangled a vacuum cleaner. Hundreds of them came out of the two holes they’d drilled in the closet door. I was screaming and spraying and later screaming and vacuuming. Some survived long enough to get into the finished basement downstairs under the bedroom, but as in the bedroom, most died in their tracks.
I loved, loved stomping on any ant I found alive. Ha ha, you monsters! I win!
I did not win. They came back. When I opened the closet door to vacuum, two or three at a time scurried across the door jamb to the front closet corner and into a gap where the baseboards join. I turn a shop-vac into an ant-eater and pointed it down the crevice (where I’d poured Elmer’s glue in the beginning).
More calmly this time, I used small jar lids as trays for Revenge Granular Ant Bait (by Bonide; 5% boric acid) and put them in the closet, next to the closet, in window sills. Lots of dead ants in there now. It’s still quiet inside the closet door.
I just noticed that the box says the stuff is weather-resistant. The mother nest is a huge colony in pieces of damp wood the utility company left when they trimmed tree branches near wires a couple of years ago. I’ll try it out there.
I sprayed Ortho home defense there, too, but lightly. Problem is, these ants can detect arrogant pesticides and avoid them. Stealthy pest killers work better. There’s nothing I’d like better than to drown those logs in Ortho home defense. But if I did, the ants would flee in all directions and make more nests.
I just have to be sure I put them where my dog can’t get to them.
Find at least 4-5 day in my kitchen. Creeped out! I’m just going to buy an Anteater & put him in a pen outside my kitchen window!
I call one if my dogs ant eater. If there’s a ants nest in the yard. She will find it and enjoy a little treat. I find out when she comes by me and it looks like she has dirt on her whiskers. She only likes little ants. She never bothers with the carpenter ants. Now if it would stop raining for a few days so I can find out where the nests are in my trees. I have the boric acid.
Do I put the mixture of boric acid on/in something or just pour it on the ground? I put 4 ounces on a treated planter box, 4 more on a glass jar turned sideways, and 4 more in an empty buried yogurt container. No action at any site yet.
New question. Do the ants eat the crystals or do they drink the watery mix? I noticed the mix I put in containers crystallized. I dumped the left over water and the crystals on a block and a stone. No ants all day in the area. On the wood planter box where I poured the liquid mix, the ants seem to avoid that space. Any ideas?????
We just got new carpet in our living room. We haven’t seen them before we put the carpet in.we don’t know what to do to get rid of them.ugh please help us!!
My carpenter ants seem to be coming from behind a huge double sink vanity mirror. So I too cannot see the nest. 2 times a year there are hundreds all over my bathroom counter. .but they seem to have just hatched or are dying. I don’t want to remove the built in mirror….difficult task. Any suggestions?
My yard is full of ant holes. So many I can’t count them all. What is the best remedy for this problem. Also I see them very small in my bathroom. Are these wood ants.
I’ve always had some very small ants in my bathroom but it was never enough to make me think twice. Whenever I cleaned I would just sweep them away and mop. Early this morning I woke up to a full blown infestation, HUNDREDS of small ants as well as small flying ants! It was like a horror movie. I’m not sure why all of a sudden there was a huge group. I was able to kill them all by spraying them down with surface cleaner and paper towels. Before I left for work I threw out my bathmat and poured bleach all over my tiles. Is this something that will happen again? This is my second summer in this apartment and I never had a big problem before 🙁
I have a couple mounds of black carpenter ants in my yard that I’m trying to get rid of I have tried diatomaceous earth which has done nothing now I am on Terro ant bait traps. Fortunately I’ve not seen any in my house. I have 16 tarantulas and could not spray in my house. I hope the Terro works.
My neighbor suggested small piles of cream of wheat flakes. They bring them back to the nest, everyone eats them, it expands in their stomach and it explodes them. I tried it last year and it seemed to work. Lots of carcasses in the basement near the windows in the back, where I didn’t even put it. I just found my first big ant this morning so I’ll be putting some out again this year.
Hi. im having a horrible time with these ants! They are mostly in the kitchen but ive had them venture into my bed… Yuck! and other parts of the house but its usually just one or two but in the kitchen its multiple… i can see them go along the same trail from near my celing above my cupboard across to my other cupboard. ive tried bat traps but it doesnt seem to be working.. i have bought raid but im hesitant to use it only because i have 2 dogs and a cat . while i would move their food and water out to spray it still makes me nervous i want rid of the bugs but not at the cost of my animals safety.
i have carpenter ants that seem to love my aloe vera plants how do i get rid of them without hurting or getting rid of the plants
a year ago I made my own kit.cabs. using 3/4″cedar plywood. now I have a lot of carpenter ants in them. what is my solution?
a year ago I built my own kitchen cabinets, using 3/4″cedar plywood.now I have a lot of carpenter ants in them.what is the solution?
I found the nest last night quite by accident during a thunderstorm. One of my skylights was leaking, so I crawled up into my attic to find the source of the leak, found the drip, removed the insulation it was dripping on, and about $HIT myself when my flashlight scattered about 200 ants in a 12 inch area, half of whom were carrying eggs. I began screaming to my dad, “Get the Raid Ant killer! I FOUND the bastards!”
It took me about 5 minutes to retrieve the spray before I could unleash its fury upon the colony, and can only imagine that this gave the secret service time to whisk the Queen away in a manner similar to how our own secret service protect the President when there is imminent danger.
That being said, I took great pleasure in emptying almost a half can on a 12″×6″ kill zone whole screaming, “DIE, DIE, you bastards!” Now I need to patch the cracked beam that they’ve been using to get into my attic. So for all you who have asked where the nests are, if you have any leaks in your ceiling, chances are high that you’ll find a nest within a foot of that leak.
But I STILL have a question. Will the Raid Ant Killer ALSO kill all the eggs that were up there, or do I need to bring a shop vac up there and suck them all up?
Try bonide around your foundation. Works great but you have to to it every few weeks
Bonide carpenter ant control concentrate.
i have holes in my exterior walls and can see them and as there are several I don’t know what to do.. They have made they way inside my house! I’ve tried everything!
I have tried glue traps and vinegar straight up both work like a charm for a day and then they were back there back in less numbers but they keep coming back this past winter ice dams cause me to have a leaky roof and i know im infested with ants now they’re mostly in my bedroom I don’t know what to do I can’t afford a new roof and I don’t know how to fix ice dams I think the nest might be in the roof somewhere I’ve seen them going up the wall I also don’t have the time or money to spend on are you also don’t have to time or money to spend on a I also don’t have the time or money to spend on a professional HELP !
Nothing had ever worked for me as I could never locate the nest. Out of desperation, I bought a couple of chicken hens. Those suckers would spot a carpenter aunt from 20 feet away and run to the ant and eat it. I believe they eventually depleted the colony enough to starve the nest, as we began to notice a complete lack of ants.
After about 6 months, foxes got my chickens, but we didn’t see any more ants for several years.
It was cheap and effective, and the free eggs were just a bonus. I recommend it.
Ok, so I have them in my living room. Problem here is that I have a 30 foot vaulted wood ceiling – tongue and groove, and there is no way to get to them to check. There is absolutely no crawl space or otherwise. I have had the most disgusting white eggs a bit smaller than a rice kernel on my coffee table for a while, but not so much now. I have been unable to locate the point of entry at night, but they seem to circumnavigate the living/dining areas all the way into the kitchen. I’ve been uber careful about leaving any type of food out, and they’ve not attacked the trash. Not sure what to do at this point – any suggestions???
Found some helpful information here and had a good laugh at a lot of the comments.
Woke up the other morning only to find a whole colony chewing on my morning wood. Damn ants
A professional told me that the carpenter ants do not carry food back to their nests as other ants do, and therefore cannot be taken out with the boric axid, as recommended here. Call a professional, soend the extra money now, or they may destroy your house; much like termites.
How about this method-
1. Lay out some sweet bait so the scouts will find it and call in the troops.
2. Once you see a nice big column of ants marching in from (and back to) the nest, swap the nonpoisonous bait the boric acid solution.
– the column injects a much greater dose of poison into the nest that a single scout would.
The granular ant bait (Bonide Revenge, 5% boric acid) works well. The latest dead ants are clustered around the bait in the jar lids. It worked well the first time I used it, when I poured it behind everything — bookshelves, TV, office shelves — and under my desk. I was surprised how many I found dead in the stuff under the desk.
But I expected baits and boric acid to work like a pesticide spray: instantly. My room was too toxic to enter for weeks after I soaked it in Ortho. And the ants came back. I learned that this was fortunate, because they may not have built a replacement nest inside.
I also look forward to pouring boiling water on the mothership in the dead logs. That sounds too fun.
I’ve been through the whole regimen. From when I first heard a tiny sound, which became [scrinch scrunch scritch scritchity], I used ordinary ant bait, Revenge (Bonide) granular ant bait, boric acid powder, and finally the Ortho home defense mixture. The Ortho bottle says it kills carpenter ants and roaches. It doesn’t mention nests.
Will the Ortho work as a preventative? Or could I go ahead and spray the mothership and the intermediate colony outside next to the closet nest?
I’m also confused about whether carpenter ants carry poison back to its satellite or mothership nest, or just die en route, pointing the way.
I have had ants forever! Help! About 4 years ago I found a nest in the header of a window and sucked it all up and replaced the window and surround. In the last 16 years I’ve replaced my attic insulation, reshingled the roof, renovated both bathrooms, and the kitchen and got rid of my wood burning fireplace, got central air to control humidity, replaced my driveway to remove pooling water, redid my front steps and removed all bushes close to the house. Now for the last week I find a few ants in my dishwasher regularly, a few ants on the floors and even on the walls. What more can I do??? Do I have a colony in the house or are they coming in for the winter and if so what more could deter them?? Thanks for any help!!
I was just seeing every one’s opinions on getting rid of ants. yes you do have to get the queen, all those different ways work for a time. Boric acid works not because it’s a poison but because it’s an abrasive. It takes a little longer than poison but it will wipe out a whole colony if enough gets back to the nest. ants, cockroaches and a lot of bugs have ecto skeletons, the skeleton is on the outside. they have a protective oil or substance covering their bodies. when they walk thru boric acid it clings to them and the more they try to clean it off the more they are rubbing the protective coating off and with out that they dry up and die. it really works good for cockroaches because they have the ability to eventually become immune to the different poisons. boric acid can harm pets or kids if they ingest enough so be careful where you put it. the reason for adding sugar to it is to attract them right to it faster but just putting it along walls in cabinets etc where you know they are going to walk thru it works to. they take it back to the nest, and you know how they’re all over each other all the time, it starts sticking on all of them and pretty soon they die. maybe some get away but they’ll go where they won’t come across boric acid again. so leaving little trails of it under the sink, along baseboards, etc will keep them away. my grandma taught me that many, many, yrs ago. she always had a huge garden never had problems with bugs and used all natural things. she grew up in Portugal, they didn’t have all these new world fancy things. another thing she taught was how to get rid of big ant hills outside, red ants, fire ants etc. was with instant grits. they have to be the instant kind, but mix a teeny bit of sugar and to a cup or two, depending on the size of the ant hill, and sprinkle it all around the openings inside the holes, where ever they’ll go for it. they eat it, the granules are very tiny, and after a little bit is swells up just like when you cook it, kills them, it literally blows them up I guess. boiling water works, sometimes when I run into a million ants all of a sudden i’ll just pour bleach down the hole. it works for a while but the nests are so deep and complex and they have escape routes and safe “rooms” just pouring stuff doesn’t really do anything permanent.
Carpenter ants~~~We have 1 window they come into the house by and they make a trail across the wall to the kitchen. They are big, small, and some are huge with wings. They get all over the counters but don’t seem to get into any of the food. They do get on the honey jar near the lid. Tons of them and they are nasty. I have used a boric acid, peanut butter, butter, and karo syrup mixture. You heat slightly to mix and put into straws and lids. It gets hard and stays in straws and you can tape them on the wall along the trail sideways. Has worked for a while but then seems like within a year or so they are back. We live in a trailer house.
I call them bumble ants, like bumble bees. They come in the spring, leave when it gets cold, don’t bite, don’t seem to bother anything. I just pick them up and throw them outside. I probably have a disaster brewing somewhere under me……..
My house is completely infested especially my upstairs where my master bedroom and bathroom is. The whole room is knotty pine and the bathroom is all tile. It’s very dry in our upstairs. They are coming from all different directions and I don’t see any trails around our bedroom or bathroom so I have no idea where they are coming from but the are in my bed in my tub and around the sink .I kill hundreds of them a day and it’s starting to get out of control. We have ant traps all over our entire house but it isn’t helping at all. Someone please help me get to get rid of these things. I’m freaked out and my 4 year old daughter is terrified of them.
As I posted awhile back I had similar problems with large infestations of carpenter ants. I recommend you hire a professional. I personally use Terminix and have not had ant problems for over 5 years. Sometimes the home remedies work sometimes they don’t. It is well worth the expense IMHO. Other posters opined a concern about “chemicals” so if you are steadfastly against the use of chemicals a pro is probably not for you. I personally believe if the pest control firm AND the customer (you) are responsible the use of chemicals used to rid a dwelling of carpenter ants is perfectly safe.
I plan to purchase an Ant-Eater. I know they are ugly, but so are pugs and lots of people have pugs. If my Ant-Eater works out, I will raise and sell them to all my neighbors. Then I will open an Ant-Eater supply store. I will be rich and there will be no more ants
A Clever Fellow
Try using grits, I was told ants can’t burp, so when they eat the grits a reaction occurs and they explode.
Hey, I have an idea ! get a jar of karo syrup, and run a fine line
to a neighbors house… perhaps one you don’t care for… then wait for
the ants to go !
My exterminator just left my home. Here what he did. DELTA dust (which is dangerous chemical and illegal to buy in my state) around all doorways and window exteriors. Poking and prodding all gaps around the exterior of the home and putting it in with a puffer device getting the dust inside those cracks and openings. Sprayed entire interior home with ortho insect spray. The 12.99 Home Depot plastic container types. As long as it says carpenter ants it works. Usually as per exterminator shortly after you do these steps where you see the most of them running away from is where the problem or “nest” is.
I just destroyed a colony in my back bedroom. In Hawaii, many of the older houses have a curious high shelf in the bedrooms, unless you get up on a ladder, you never look up there. I found their hole after a swarm and used a local product called Term-out. A spray of non toxic eucalyptus and some sort of sulfate. The can has a flexible tiny hose with a needle at the end surrounded by a suction cup. Place it in the hole until the suction cup sticks to the wall and spray. Within an hour, they are silent. I had to duct tape the hole as it was large, then I inserted the needle in the tape. Worked like a charm.
I’ve worked for both Orkin and Terminix,this is what we used on Carpenter Ants with success, but first:
Locate colony by following ants on their trails.This is done by painstakingly finding what tree,(usually dead) or stump or other portion of a tree they are crawling up and down or around on.
Carpenter ants in houses either have established a satellite colony somewhere in the house-usually in damp and/or rotting wood or travel back out of the house to the primary colony in some sort of wood.
If you have located the ant “superhighway” on a tree piece of a tree,then
obtain this carpenter ant bait:
Advance Granular Carpenter Ant Bait, (Whitmire Micro-Gen Research Laboratories) in the 8 ounce shaker container.It can be obtained on Amazon.com.While it is not cheap, I have seen Carpenter Ants literally run to it and bring it back to their colony as soon as it is spread around, just like roaches run to the roach bait the pros use.It smells like spoiled food or fish.it looks like chicken boullion granules.Open it to the position where it comes out of 5 round holes and sparingly scatter it around on the ground encircling the tree/portion of a tree/other wood.if ants come right up to it say within 10 minutes or so,then you’ve got a winner.if not,then the ants are not interested in it,(Every insecticide bait does not work for every ant).If it doesn’t work try one of the other remedies listed here.
If the ants are inside the house scatter a little bait around the inner edges of whatever they are travelling on.Same thing as above they either will or will not take the bait, (restrain yourself from wiping it up accidentally as it can be mistaken for bread crumbs). Not to worry, the bait has such a low concentration of insecticide that your kids/pets can eat it without getting sick.
Again, if the bait does not work,try something else-why do you think Pest Control Companies try to sell you a year’s contract-they are in effect, buying themselves time to try several methods until one is found that works.
Peter
I had a leak on my roof and when I removed the drywall I could see he holes that the ants had left on the wood. I first caught the hole outside. I have let the wood dry out . Ever since I caught the hole outside today I have ants that are falling out of the ceiling which are dead . Do you think I have killed the ants.
I’m scared to sleep at night now, Reading all of these stories, and me being horrified of insects, it’s creeping me the hell out. I am finding a variety of ants primarily in the bathroom. I’m finding them scattered throughout the bathtub randomly. I think I’m just gonna Cut right to the chase and simply call Orkin. The summer is approaching, oh yeah by the way, I’ve seen them on my bed
Will try some of these to see what works. Thanks.
try termidor my son in-law is pest control in Hawaii they use this for ants and termites it works good don’t know if available in Canada
I’m not sure what to use,but I do know that if you dondont kill the queen,she gets very angry and will attack. My husband had treated the base of our house with something not sure what,but while sleeping that night I was awakened by him screaming and beating on his chest. I thought he was having a heart attack. The queen was huge and had pinchers whichwhich she dug into his n with. He pulled the body off but the head n pinchers were still in his chest. We got them out n he has a large scar.
the queen will not attack people “she” has an army of soldier ants that do the job-all the queen is responsible for is reproduction.
They eat protein as well…so just sugar bait won’t kill everyone…hope that helps
My son and daughter in law keep a few honeybee hive at our house. Is it safe to use boric acid in our situation?
I see a lot of people use borax in their bait. Borax IS NOT boric acid. Borax is sodium tetraborate and is a salt of boric acid.
I have some carpenter ants but there are too few to follow a trail, they don’t seem to follow a trail and I can’t find any piles to find a next… What do I do?
The ants do not die when they are vacuumed up. You have to kill them. My vacuum doesn’t have a paper bag so I have a sink full of soap and hot water ready and I dump them in. I did notice that some of the wings came off from vacuuming but none seemed affected otherwise. They certainly do not like soapy hot water!! If you use bags in your vacuum then maybe you could have a bucket ready to use. Otherwise they will crawl back out!!!! What does it mean if I’m not seeing them anymore? They came in suddenly and in huge numbers and a week or so later they are gone. I look everywhere for them just in case they have started new nests. Is this normal behaviour? I have a steam cleaner and I plan to take the trim off the window where the nest is and blast the steam on the nest. I expect this will fill most of the ants.
We found Carpenter Ants in our wood ceilling in our kitchen right at the corner of the sky light. It’s two days that we get wood chis dropping on our kitchen floor. We finally remove the glass and the wood from one side and saw them going inside and coming back with a small piece of wood dropping it out.
My problem is that they are under the pieces of wood on the ceiling and we have not much access to them only to the opening of it.
And if we spray Boric Acid it does not reach them at the back.
Any ideas????
For the last week or more we have had ants. I am not sure if they are black ants or carpenter ants. No frass, no trails. I usually only see one or two at a time. I have seen them in almost every room of our house. I bought the little traps, they are not working are not working…I tried just spraying vinegar around areas I thought they might come in, and there seems to be less ants…I also have been using the Ant-Be-Gone drops in the red bottle, in cracks and behind doors where my cats cannot get it. I am afraid of using a lot of things because of our pets… I am going to try a boric acid solution tomorrow & see if that helps…
I had someone come out yesterday from a local company. He said he could not detect any trails. The ants are in my house, some are flying. He is supposed to come back, but if he can’t detect the trails, then what good is his work? Should I call someone like Terminix, or try the natural methods first? I don’t want poison in my house, but I also don’t want to be a prisoner in my own home. The ants are crawling along my high ceiling beams, but now I’m finding them in my kitchen, on my dining table. I don’t have any leaks, live in a condo with two floors, and they are on both floors. I left a bit of instant grits on the table and the floor under where the beams are, because I found a frass trail there, which is how this all started. Aaagh! Help!
We have two layers of wood siding on the house. The ants are somewhere within the sidings, getting in thru a small space between the storm door frame. It’s hard to tell where the nest is. We sprayed last year and a ton came scampering out and we didn’t see anymore. Until this week. Trying boric Acid mixed with sugar. Wondering if we should seal up the space now or do we risk them moving farther into the siding? Help
I have put Borax all around the baseboards of my mobile home. Seems to have cut down on the ants but did not eliminate them. Also put Borax on the ant nests outside.
Another site said carpenter ants do not take food back to the collony, can this be true?
Help!! We have a disgusting ant problem. I think they are feeding on rotten wood under our upstairs toilet. About a year or so ago we had a leak and my husband repaired the leaky toilet seal. We have had ants in that bathroom for a couple years but this years it’s awful!!! I hate using that toilet cuz I’m afraid something will crawl out. Last night I went to use the restroom and there were three IN the toilet-2 of which dead.. Maybe husband killed and tossed in? One alive and Several scampering around the toilet. It’s so disgusting. I’ve been trying peppermint oil and water and I thought it was helping until last night they were back w a vengeance. My husband has a pile of wood against the home about 10 feet from the bathroom. We have also found massive amounts of them in our shed, now appears to be clear and in trees and such when cut down… We just cut down a few half dead ones about a month ago.
Help help! It’s so gross and I have kids and it’s my only bathroom w a tub…
they make ant traps that work most of the time. i also have an ant problem and i just put one in. they arent to expensive…
Help they are in my ceiling. I can seat in any room long before the dust is in my glasses and face. I.m having HEADACHE from sleeping in my house.Help
just found out i had carpenter ants at the bottom of my garage door ,seal,any suggestions
The vinegar water and cinnamon really work great. Only down side after you clean it up they come back
If you can have chickens they eat the crap out of carpenter ants. Used to have a lot and they decimated them the even jump up to get them.
Borax mixture DOES work. Boric acid is not necessary. I use it all the time; have some made in a medium sized jar marked ant poison, ready for pouring into smaller containers. We live in Central America, the jungle our back yard, where we get all kinds of ants. They come in to get out of the saturated earth during rainy season, and look for water during the dry season. Terro is no longer available here, so we make our own. Not once has it let us down. I will leave some outside near a nest or in the middle of a trail in a small plastic bottle with holes drilled in the lid so kids and animals won’t get at it. We even put it near nests in the garden. Helpful insects such as bees can’t be poisoned as it stays in the bottle. We refill as needed (not very often, once a year perhaps?). I just discovered carpenter ants around our property, so will be laying out the bottles again. We had an issue with them when we first moved in, as in by the hundreds, but we got rid of them using the Terro when it was available, and a citrus cleaner/water mixture, as noted below. The carpenter ants were easy to get rid of using the prescribed method, but the Pharaoh ants and crazy ants took literally months. I would recommend taking bait for red ants outside away from the house or not in a high traffic area, killing any found in the house. They have a nasty sting. Perseverance paid off!
We also use a concentrated citrus cleaner/water mix. Depending on ratio, the spray will either deter or kill. Smells nice and is environmentally friendly.
Hope is was helpful.
Ps I also use the ant poison indoors, but will smear a little of it right in the middle of the trail along the edge of the wall along the counter, or on the wall itself, and if possible, leave it in something flat. Within a few days, no more ants.
I have 10 senior/special need rescue pets and care for TNR cats as well as a plethora of New England wildlife and birds….I have carpenter ants in the dog den right next to my handicapped blind senior poodle! I don’t know what mixture of what born acid ingredients works and in whT dosage alongside animals???? Please advise!!
Thanks, Zoramar
Boric powder works quite well. It comes in a big squeezable bottle. Puff, don’t sprinkle it around the areas where you see them. I got rid of them by doing this and then taking an old can of car wax, cleaning it thoroughly, sticking a small plastic cap for some type of container, to the bottom of it, filling it wit some sort of liquid food for sick dogs, then putting it up on the rafters of my garage. Ants all gone. Now a smaller species arrived. I spent a good deal of Saturday afternoon making three more of these traps. The two extras are ready to go, loaded with the bait. That boric powder also gets rid of roaches. Be patient.
PS: Don’t forget to put boric powder in in cap and stir it in well. Flathead screw drivers are a good mixing tool.
I live in Texas and we have carpenter ants and the nasty fire ants.
My suggestion is that if you have them in hope to call exterminator to get rid of them.
Then every 3 months use any spray product containing bifenthrin to spray a perimeter around your home. Also use either spreader and granules or hose and feeder bottle to treat your grass and shrubs/gardens. Don’t treat vegetables that you eat. These products can be found at any of the big box stores, and I’m sure the local hardware/gardening stores have them too.
bifenthrin is very effective at killing all insects. It attacks their central nervous system.
All men, answer this question: “Have you ever been fishing in a cow pasture or horse field & saw an and hill or got bit by a mosquito?” We had lots of cows and horses when I was a child. Smell any type of repellent that you buy, and I guarantee that it smells like cow/horse crap. Just spread the stuff around your house and you won’t have to worry about any ants coming to your house, or mosquitoes bothering you this spring/summer, this I promise. It works for me each year.
Had an infestation 2 years ago and thought I took care of it. Now saw some frass coming out of a first floor upper door molding. I went to second floor above the door and pulled some carpet. Saw some winged ants right away. Then I put down both Terro and Revenge ant bait. right where they were but have not seen any activity. Doesn’t look like they touched it last night. Any suggestions