Anyone have problems with small Carpenter ants?

[Lionfish Lair]

I'm being driven insane!!!

 

[reeferfoxx]

I'm being driven insane!!!

When I lived in socal, ants where always annoying. Living in the mid-west, i would give anything for just that one issue. lol

 

[Lionfish Lair]

Mine are more than annoying. I'm going to have to call in a professional, because I'm out of ideas.

My husband has lived here his whole life and we're now looking to get out of here. Socal is not what it used to be.

 

[TheEngineer]

Small carpenter ants? I thought they were all big.... Live and learn :)

I've found the liquid bait traps work best. They take out the colony and they are safe. Most are made from borax. Carpenter ants are common pests for us this time of year in the Northeast. Hot, humid weather drives them inside. I've been smashing a couple of the big guys a day recently.

 

[reeferfoxx]

Mine are more than annoying. I'm going to have to call in a professional, because I'm out of ideas.

My husband has lived here his whole life and we're now looking to get out of here. Socal is not what it used to be.

Ok that sounds bad.

Agreed with socal. I was born and raised there and I visit family frequently. It's very over crowded and politically jacked up. But I don't want to get into that lol.

 

[Lionfish Lair]

Maybe they aren't carpenter ants. I read that there are smaller ones, but maybe they just behave the same. None of the other ants match the description so well.

None of the baits work... They "eat it" and the numbers drop, but then they just come back in full force the next day or so. I guess that's a clear indication that I need to get someone in. I'm about to buy some powder to put inside the walls, but am thinking maybe I just need to stop and make the call.

 

[tautog83]

should always dip your corals..LOL yea they can be a pest for sure if the traps arent working its probably better to call someone in

 

[TheEngineer]

Maybe they aren't carpenter ants. I read that there are smaller ones, but maybe they just behave the same. None of the other ants match the description so well.

None of the baits work... They "eat it" and the numbers drop, but then they just come back in full force the next day or so. I guess that's a clear indication that I need to get someone in. I'm about to buy some powder to put inside the walls, but am thinking maybe I just need to stop and make the call.

The baits take a week or more to work. You should see less come back each time.

 

[SandJ]

We had the large, black ants. The borax liquid traps worked great for them.

I also use diatomaceous earth. Just sprinkle the powder out where they are (or they make a little device that blows/sprinkles the powder out and into cracks and holes). Works great and natural. We use it for flea and tick control on the animals, and can be given internally as a dewormer (animals and humans).

 

[Paul B]

Here in New York we don't have the small carpenter ants. We have huge carpenter ants. They are so big the noise of their chain saws drive me crazy.

 

[themcnertney]

My house was built on land elevated to match the rest of the neighbor hood. They used a combination of dirt and sand to make it level. It is like one giant ant farm. I have the small ones like you are talking about. As a fix to rid them I use Ortho Home Defense and spray around the perimeter of my house once a month. Be sure to concentrate on all the areas that are open. I.E. doors, windows, duct openings, around the base of your home does the trick for me. Make sure you never leave any food out in the open.

 

[jsker]

we were using these for the crazy ants, I think this what you are dealing with. They are tiny and move all over the place, the were diving my wife and I nuts trying to kill them off. We called in the pro's and they are using a bail to take back to the nest and the issue has seem to go away. We still see them but not like they were in the past. Like the pharm industry what you purchase over the counter and what the pro's use are different.

 

[Lionfish Lair]

The baits take a week or more to work. You should see less come back each time.

I've had them out there for a looooong time. This is season 6 for me, but I swore after last year I would never put myself through that again. They were late coming this year because the weather has been cool, but I believe the neighbors are a part of the problem. They had a rotting fence for years. They lost their house and the new owners replaced it. Every animal that was hiding under that mess ran to my house. Now there is no one in there and I can see the ants pouring up into their foundation. There's also big construction going on in the next community and I'm wondering if the vibrations are changing something.

It's seems like they go for the baits the first day, but then they start walking around them. I can't use the baits in the house because because there are too many.

 

[Lionfish Lair]

The Terro are my favorite! I washed out all the cracks in the concrete outside and swept the granules into them. I was going to buy another bag and pour it over the grass.

I've used the liquid, but it's not touching them this year. I think there's just too many.... perhaps too many satellite nests or something.

You can't even have a drink sat on the coffee table in peace. They find it pretty quick. After every sip you have to cover it with a coaster.

 

[TheEngineer]

I've had them out there for a looooong time. This is season 6 for me, but I swore after last year I would never put myself through that again. They were late coming this year because the weather has been cool, but I believe the neighbors are a part of the problem. They had a rotting fence for years. They lost their house and the new owners replaced it. Every animal that was hiding under that mess ran to my house. Now there is no one in there and I can see the ants pouring up into their foundation. There's also big construction going on in the next community and I'm wondering if the vibrations are changing something.

It's seems like they go for the baits the first day, but then they start walking around them. I can't use the baits in the house because because there are too many.

Might be time to call in the pros. For me, I put a few baits around the perimeter of the house every 20 feet or so to figure out where they were coming in. Once I did that, I focused my efforts there.

 

[Lionfish Lair]

Yup... I think I'm going to need help. DANG IT!

 

[Waters]

We had them bad for years due to the large amount of trees we have surrounding our house. We recently had to have 6 trees removed due to the carpenter ants destroying them. They unfortunately always made their way into our house. One product that kind of worked for us is Ortho Home Defense. We sprayed the entire inside of our house along the baseboards. The only drawback with it is that it only seems to last a few weeks and then has to be reapplied. We got tired of dealing with it all summer so we finally called a pest company who now comes every month. It was relatively cheap and we haven't had a single ant in the house since.

 

[ihavecrabs]

Maybe they aren't carpenter ants. I read that there are smaller ones, but maybe they just behave the same. None of the other ants match the description so well.

None of the baits work... They "eat it" and the numbers drop, but then they just come back in full force the next day or so. I guess that's a clear indication that I need to get someone in. I'm about to buy some powder to put inside the walls, but am thinking maybe I just need to stop and make the call.

When you smash one, does it give off an odor?

If so you have odorous house ants. I'll take a picture of the ant killer I picked up at Home Depot. Worked incredibly well after many others failed.

 

[Lionfish Lair]

No odor.

I'll try anything once. :-)

I've also done all the cinnamon, clove oil, peppermint type things.

 

[ihavecrabs]

No odor.

I'll try anything once. :-)

I've also done all the cinnamon, clove oil, peppermint type things.

Combat Max Ant Killing Gel.

I put it anywhere I saw where they were getting in the House so it is the first thing they go for. Kills the colony.