They usually come into buildings through cracks around doors and windows or through exterior holes in plumbing, electrical wires, TV cables, or phone lines. They can even crawl along overhead wire, shrubs or tree limbs that touch the building far above the ground.
They feed on sweets such as honeydew, plant sap, cereal grains, other insects and even oily or fatty materials. Food scraps or crumbs can be an ant feast.
The first indication of a carpenter ant problem may be a sighting of several worker ants crawling along a counter top, most likely in the kitchen. You may also see small piles of "saw dust". This debris is called frass. These piles will be directly below a small hole in some part of a wood cabinet, window sill, or trim. The worker ants push this debris out of their nests through the small holes. Another common sign, most often seen in spring , is a swarm of winged reproductives emerging. They may fly to the lights and many people confuse them with termites.
Carpenter ants can be hard to control.
The first step is to determine where the main nest is. You have to determine if they are foraging from outside or if there is a nest inside the building. A Carpenter ant nest can sometimes be detected by a rustling sound inside a wall or by gently "sounding" the wood to detect hollowed out areas. If they are foraging from outside only they can be excluded by sealing, caulking, or putting down a good chemical barrier.
It is recommended that you close all holes around pipes and wires and cut back any tree limbs or shrubs so they don't touch the building. Contact us today and we will have a knowledgeable pest control professional do a thorough inspection and help to implement and effective plan to control and prevent infestation. |
