So, you want to get rid of carpenter ants!! It’s really not that hard, once you find where the carpenter ant colony is located. In previous posts I’ve gone over where to look for carpenter ants so we won’t be revisiting that. My purpose for this post will be to explain what is actually done to get rid of carpenter ants.
Not all products are the same
The sooner you realize that what you can buy at the local hardware store isn’t going to get rid of a colony the better off you’ll be. The truth is that most all the products that are store bought are what we call repellent insecticides. Once an insect comes in contact with the product they’ll die in an hour or two. These products aren’t very helpful if you’ve got no idea where the colony is located. However, the products professionals use are called non-repellent insecticides. For every ant that comes in contact with our products, you’re sure to kill several more.
Professional products don’t kill immediately, but the delayed action is the key.
Just using the above products isn’t enough
I bet you think I just gave away the holy grail to ant control, but I didn’t. Even when you use non-repellent products you still need to know what to look for in order to get rid of carpenter ants. The reason is that relying on the product alone to get rid of carpenter ants is inefficient. A carpenter ant colony could have thousands of ants in it. Can you imagine how long killing a colony would take killing 5 ants at a time?
Found frass?
This one actually is the holy grail when trying to get rid of carpenter ants. You see, IF (not every house will) you found frass getting rid of carpenter ants is easy. You can drill into the wall cavity and inject an insecticidal dust that kills on contact and provides residual protection as well. Not terribly difficult if you know how to do it.
Baits are tough
There’s no easy way around this one, baits for ants are tough. The reason is that carpenter ants have different food requirements at different times of the year. The truth is sometimes baits work and sometimes they don’t. It’s really a guessing game.
So, what is the best way to get rid of carpenter ants?
Call a professional. I’ve seen homeowners make massive mistakes that made ant problems so much worse. Fact is, that if you’re using the right company they’ll have an entire arsenal of products to use that will work far better than anything that’s store bought. So, put off the agony of seeing 20 ants a day. Call a professional and get some relief.
If you’ve got carpenter ants and are looking for a company you can trust to get rid of them, call Envirocare Pest Control at 1-888-879-6481. We can help.