It’s Spring at last! North-easterners are emerging from their homes to enjoy the outdoors. The first place we all notice is our yard and garden. Which plants made it through the Winter? We begin to clean up the Winter damage and design our garden.

Guess who else is emerging this Spring? Carpenter ants and termites. The way you clean-up and re-plant your landscape this Spring will make a great difference whether or not these pests find a way into your home.

What is pest-free landscaping? We’re not talking about a landscape that is free of insects. In this article, we use the term “pest-free landscaping” to refer to landscaping that doesn’t encourage pests to enter into your home.

Pest Free Landscaping – Soil and Mulch

One common Spring gardening activity is the re-application of a fresh layer of mulch and bark dust. Mulch and bark dust help keep the soil from drying out during the hot Summer and therefore promote healthy plant growth. But this moisture quality in mulch becomes a great environment for termites and carpenter ants. When the mulch layers pile up over the years until they are in contact with the wooden siding on your home, this becomes a major highway for carpenter ants and termites to enter into your home.

It’s best to keep mulch at least 4″ below the place where your home’s concrete foundation ends and the wooden structure begins. In addition, don’t let the mulch layer thicken beyond 3″. Excessive mulch can harm plants while becoming a super hotel for carpenter ants and termites.

Pest Free Landscaping – Raised Gardens

Do you have a raised garden against the side of your home? If so, you’ll be watering it throughout the Summer, keeping the soil moist so the plants can grow. However, this moist soil right against your house can harbor carpenter ants and termites. They also love the wet wooden sides of the planter. It’s pretty easy for them to tunnel right through the planter and into your home! Make sure there is an insect-proof lining between the planter and your home. Concrete or metal is a good choice.

Pest Free Landscaping – Trees and Large Plants

One great highway pests use to enter your home is trees and large plants that are in direct contact with the house. Eliminating this natural insect highway will go a long way toward preventing a carpenter ant or termite infestation. Inspect the area around your house for any tree branches that are in direct contact with the structure or overhanging the roof. Trim them back. Do you have vines growing up the siding? As attractive as they look, you might want to eliminate them.

Pest Free Landscaping – Thick Ground-cover

That dense ivy growing right up to the walls of your home keeps the soil moist, which in turn encourages carpenter ants and termites. Cut it back a few feet from your home so the soil immediately around your home can dry out, providing a natural barrier against these pests.

Pest Free Landscaping – How well did you do?

If you see any of the following signs, you might revisit your pest-free landscaping strategy.

Carpenter Ant warning signs:

• Swarmers (Winged ants)-This is a sign that the colony is looking to expand and look for a new nesting site
• Sawdust (fine wood shavings that the Carpenter Ants push aside to create nesting sites, known as “frass”)
• Crunching noises behind the wall
• Seeing more than 10 ants a day throughout your house, or seeing any ants inside your house in the winter months

Termite warning signs:

• Mud tunnels or mud tubes. These are typically found on the sides of foundations
• Swarmers (Winged Termites)-This is a sign that the nest is near
• Damaged wood-The wood will appear to be crushed, or you will see tunnels. Galleries will be filled with soil and chewed wood, while ant tunnels are very clean

Call ApolloX Pest Control

(888) 499-7378

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It’s Spring and ants are sprouting wings and reproducing near your home by the millions. The goal is to keep them out of your home, even though your home contains many things that attract them. A carpenter ant colony might be attracted by moist conditions. They like to burrow into moist wood to make their home. Pavement ants are attracted to just about every food that humans eat, and have extremely keen senses.

Safe Ant Repellents – Good Scenario for Their Use

If your home is ant-free at this time, safe ant repellents may be especially beneficial in keeping ants out. On the other hand, if you currently have an established ant problem inside your home, you may be better served by contacting a licensed pest exterminator.

Call ApolloX Pest Control Now

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An established colony of carpenter ants or pavement ants inside your home may not be successfully eliminated by the natural repellants named in this article. They’re already inside!

Safe Ant Repellents – How They Work

As we mentioned, ants have extremely keen senses and can sense the slightest odor of the food they crave. This is exactly why safe ant repellents work. Certain natural odors overpower ant’s senses making it hard for them to locate the food they need to survive and breed. When these odors are present, the are likely to look for another place to live.

Safe Ant Repellents – Plant Around Your Home

The great thing about the following ant repellents, is that you can plant them decoratively around your home. Basically, consider surrounding your home with beautiful herbs that smell pleasing to humans, yet repel ants! Here are a few:

• Mint
• Peppermint
• Basil
• Lavender
• Rosemary
• Thyme

Safe Ant Repellents – Bring the Herbs Inside

You can not only use the herbs as a shield around your home. Use them for cooking. And, more importantly for repelling ants, place them in sachets (small decorative net bags – about 2 inches in diameter) in places where you store food. You can place them on window sills, near doorways, basically anywhere there might be an entry for ants.

Safe Ant Repellents – A Few More Possibilities

• Garlic Cloves
• Cinnamon Sticks
• Chili Peppers
• Eucalyptus
• Black Pepper

You may find cinnamon sticks and chili peppers an attractive and even decorative alternative to the herb sachets mentioned above. If you continue to have ant issues, try eucalyptus, black pepper and garlic cloves.

Safe Ant Repellents – Chemical Warfare

• White or Apple Cider Vinegar

Vinegar acts as a fungicide, and ants love fungus, they feed on the fungus in decomposing food. Fill a spray bottle with the vinegar and spray it where you see the most ants.

Safe Ant Repellents – Not Working?

If you have tried all the above means and are still seeing ants in your home, it’s likely you have an established ant colony inside your home: In the foundation, crawl space, a wall void…etc. In this case, you may be better served by contacting a licensed pest exterminator.

Call ApolloX Pest Control

(888) 499-7378

We will inspect your home for the presence of an ant colony, then safely eliminate it.

Learn more about:

• Carpenter Ants
• Pavement Ants

Credits: Repellant list thanks to http://www.greenpestsolutions.com/2013/04/natural-green-ant-remedies/

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Carpenter Ant DIY Treatment – How To

A smart, environmentally conscious home owner experienced a resurgence of carpenter ants in her home after a 20-year absence of the ants. They were coming up through a dishwasher drain, traveling in numbers and swarming in the home. It was pretty scary, especially to the children.

The homeowner came up with this very inexpensive (less than $1) DIY treatment:

• 1/3 cup of powdered white sugar
• 2/3 cup boric acid

“Boric acid is a colorless white powder that is a mild antiseptic, but certainly not a problem to the health of your family even if you touch it with ungloved hands. It is found in nature in some volcanic environments near Tuscany and Nevada.  Boric acid and its salts are found in seawater and plants including almost all fruits.

Of course, you need to keep it away from small children as it is poisonous if ingested or inhaled in large quantities, but it is probably the least toxic form of insect bait you can use around your home with the exception of diatomaceous earth, which unfortunately doesn’t work as well or as quickly for large ants where I live.”

Credits: Safely Get Rid of Carpenter Ants in a Snap | The Healthy Home …

Carpenter Ant DIY Treatment – Benefits

  The smart homeowner placed a mixture of the treatment in an empty jar lid by the dishwasher drain, the ants took the bait back to their nest, and happily disappeared from the home.

The treatment appeared to have worked, saving a call to the pest control company, and the expense of that professional service.

Carpenter Ant DIY Treatment – Drawbacks

On the surface, this looks like a great solution. There were carpenter ants in the home. $1 and some ingenuity and creativity made them disappear.

However, there’s an all important question that needs to be asked: “What is the original goal here?”

We assume the original goal is to rid the home of carpenter ants, which have the ability to do damage to the structure of a home. This damage will most certainly be discovered during a professional home inspection at some point by a prospective home buyer when the homeowner goes to sell the home. When the damage is discovered, it will adversely affect the selling value of the home. In fact, the loss in value will make a few visits by a professional pest inspector look like the true bargain in comparison.

Carpenter Ant DIY Treatment – More Drawbacks

But let’s delve into this issue a bit further. Carpenter ants seldom live in one colony. A common scenario is a main colony, perhaps outside the home, with as many as 12 satellite colonies both outside and inside the home.

Now let’s fast forward to that home buyer’s inspection of our carpenter ant DIY treatment homeowner’s house. They not only discover the wood damage from the first satellite colony, but, let’s be conservative, they find 3 more active satellite colonies in the foundation and frame of the house that were not noticed by the homeowner. Each satellite colony, as it was left to grow, has created even more progressive damage to the home.

Carpenter Ant DIY Treatment – Even More Drawbacks

But let’s delve into this issue even further. Remember the main colony and additional satellite colonies outside the house? Again, let’s be conservative and say that the home buyer’s inspector discovers that main colony in some rotten stump, rotten fence or wood pile outside the home, along with 2 additional satellite colonies (total of six in all, more conservative than the possible dozen or more carpenter ant colonies).

Now the drop in home value could potentially cut into the children’s college fund or the homeowner’s retirement.

Carpenter Ant DIY Treatment – Benefit or Disaster?

So, on the surface, this smart DIY treatment that cost only $1 and appeared to work potentially ends up costing the homeowner $10,000-$30,000 or more (still being conservative), in the process compromising financial security and well being.

Carpenter Ant DIY Treatment – Here’s the thing.

While a homeowner can possibly eliminate visible carpenter ants with a DIY treatment (and the one we described is one of the best), it really takes a professional to track down every satellite colony and the main nest. You’ll need to follow the carpenter ant scent trails, and that’s a skill that professionals have, along with the tools needed. 

In addition, a good pest control professional will evaluate the damage to the home and suggest necessary repair.

But the value of a good pest control professional does not stop there. A good pest control professional will also discover other issues that need attention such as the hidden presence of termites, mice or cockroaches. 

The happy result of this scenario is that the health of the family is protected (some pests carry very harmful bacterial germs and viruses), and the resell value of the home along with the families greater financial security is also supported.

Carpenter Ant DIY Treatment – Conclusion

So, you as a homeowner have a choice. You can use the great DIY carpenter ant treatment we’ve given in this article and hope you’ve eliminated the problem. Or, you can call a good pest control professional and KNOW you’ve eliminated the carpenter ant pest problem, other possible pest problems and discovered any damage to your home, any leaky pipes, gutters, leaky roof issues that are slowly rotting the wood of your home.

Call ApolloX Pest Control

(888) 499-7378

We care about the safety of your family, the condition of your home and your long-term financial security.

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The older your home, the more carpenter ants and termites love it. Why? Because an older home is more likely to have a leaky roof, leaky gutters or drippy old plumbing. Why do these insects love water leaks? Because when leaks drip onto wood, especially over long periods of time, the wood softens and rots. This makes the wood more available for these insects either for burrowing or for a food source.

Carpenter Ant or Termite: What do they eat?

The preferred food is our first clue as to whether it’s a carpenter ant or a termite. Termites eat wood and therefore cause major destruction to the structure of homes. On the other hand, carpenter ants do not eat wood. They merely burrow into wood to create a home. Carpenter ants eat just about any food that you eat: Sweet food, greasy food, meat, grain. If it’s available to carpenter ants (sitting around the house in an unsealed container), they’ll go for it.

Now this presents another clue as to the difference between a carpenter ant and a termite. You’ll more likely see the carpenter ant going for your food. On the other hand, termites will be hidden away eating the foundation and structure of your home!

Carpenter Ant or Termite: What do they look like?

Carpenter ants have angled antennae. Their bodies are divided into three sections with a thin waist. Finally, they are dark brown or black. The reproductive version of carpenter ant–the one with wings, has uneven wings.

Image Credits: Ants, Ants and More Ants – Epcon Lane

On the other hand, termites have straight antennae. Their bodies are divided into only two sections: The lower section looks a bit like a grain of rice. They have no narrow waist. Termites are a white/tan color. The reproductive version of termite–the one with wings, is lighter brown (vs. brown/black carpenter ant), and their wings are equal in length. 

Image Credits: Ants, Ants and More Ants – Epcon Lane
Image Credits: What is the Difference Between Termites and Carpenter Ants?

-damage.jpg

Carpenter Ant or Termite: The damage they cause to wood looks different.

The third great distinction between a carpenter ant and a termite is how wood looks after they’ve attacked it. Carpenter ants create smooth burrows or channels in wood. As they excavate, they push the sawdust out of the wood channels (remember they don’t eat wood), and the fine sawdust forms small piles called “frass”.

On the other hand, termites simply eat the wood until it falls apart! Subterranea n termites don’t like to be exposed, so they create mud tunnels from the earth to the wood they want to eat. These mud tunnels are another sign your home is infested with termites rather than carpenter ants.

Carpenter Ant or Termite: Both Are Hard to Exterminate

Carpenter ants are very mobile. Unlike termites they don’t care if they’re exposed. They will travel (mostly at night) up to 100 feet from their nest, and even create satellite nests. You could have a dozen or more carpenter ant satellite nests on your property or in your home. Unless you manage to locate and destroy them all, you’ll never rid your home of carpenter ants.

Termites, as we said, are more likely to be hidden in places you don’t normally visit–for example in the foundation under your home, in the wood beneath the home’s siding, and in those mud tunnels they create which mostly exist where you will not likely see them.

Carpenter Ant or Termite: Both can do massive damage to your home. 

Of course, since termites eat your home, their damage is greater. In fact, more homes are destroyed each year due to termite damage than to fire. However, carpenter ants are also damaging your home. Therefore, it’s vital that you exterminate both carpenter ants and termites in or near your home. 

Consider the value of your home. Do you really want to trust this to a DIY job? Save a few bucks and lose your home, or destroy its resale value?

Carpenter Ant or Termite: Call a professional exterminator to ensure your home is protected.

Call ApolloX Pest Control

(888) 499-7378

P.S. Since both carpenter ants (who are active mostly at night) and termites (who love to remain hidded) can be in your home without you knowing, it’s a good policy to have your home inspected, especially if you have not had a professional pest inspection in the past few years. 

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Before we begin to describe the carpenter ant cycle, it’s important to identify carpenter ants. They can look like other ant species, which behave differently, cause different problems, and need to be eliminated by other methods.

Carpenter ants vary in size and color. At their smallest, they can even be confused with the tiny pavement ant. One way to identify carpenter ants is by the piles of sawdust they create as they shave off small bits of wood and carry them out of their nest. However these piles may be hidden inside of walls, so you could have a carpenter ant problem and not know it. 

Image: Credits: Identifying and Controlling Carpenter Ants – Modern Pest

Carpenter Ant Cycle: Nesting In Wood

Unlike termites, carpenter ants don’t eat wood. They excavate channels in wood for their growing colonies. While they do not cause the structural damage of termites, they can still be destructive. Part of the problem is the the wood they prefer is damp or rotten due to a water leak. They then excavate channels into this damp wood, weakening it further.

Carpenter Ant Cycle: Creating Satellite Nests In Wood 

How widespread is the damage? A single carpenter ant colony is comprised of many satellite nests. There are usually many satellite nests around the main nest. That main nest, for example, could be located in a rotten tree stump in or near your yard, with satellite nests in your home!

Image: Credits: Identifying and Controlling Carpenter Ants – Modern Pest

Carpenter Ant Cycle: Each Successive Brood Produces Larger Ants

Interestingly enough, the first ants produced by a queen are small in size (about 1/4 inch). This is where they are sometimes mistaken as pavement ants. Following broods by the same queen become larger–up to twice that size. As they forage, they are likely to enter your home.

Carpenter Ant Cycle: Swarmers and Reproduction

Later, as the nest matures, swarmers appear. Most swarmers appear in the spring, but can emerge throughout the summer. The female swarmers are easy to identify. They’re up to 4 times the length of the first brood of ants–as much as an inch long, and they have brown translucent wings. The males are about 1/2 inch and also have wings. After mating, the female will drop her wings and start a new carpenter ant colony.

Image: Credits: Identifying and Controlling Carpenter Ants – Modern Pest

Carpenter Ant Cycle: Ending the Cycle

To end the cycle, every nest and satellite nest both inside and near the home will need to be located and eliminated. It’s a real detective case and the hunt is most successfully carried out by a professional pest exterminator who can easily spot even the most subtle signs of a carpenter ant nest of satellite nest. 

In addition, since carpenter ants are so persistent, it can take multiple routine visits by the professional to thoroughly eradicate the ant nests and satellite nests in and around your home.

Call ApolloX Pest Control

(888) 499-7378

We’re the carpenter ant professionals!

The post Carpenter Ant Cycle – Identification, Nesting, Growth, Reproduction appeared first on Pest Control.

Carpenter Ants Emerging Now

 Credits: Carpenter ant season is now | Insects in the City

We came across this story and thought it would be timely to share with you since it’s April and carpenter ants emerging, become noticeable to home owners and business owners about now. Actually, carpenter ants began to emerge in March, as Winter drew to a close. If you have a carpenter ant problem, you may begin noticing signs at any time.

The good news is that they do not tend to damage the structure of buildings (unlike termites). However, who wants a swarm of winged carpenter ants emerging in the dining room while entertaining guests, or worse, in a restaurant full of customers, or in one of your patron’s hotel rooms!

That’s right: A swarm. Hundreds of winged carpenter ants flying around, mating, reproducing, on public display. A scene not soon to be forgotten!

Carpenter Ants Emerging In Homes

“This week my youngest daughter, home for the weekend for a visit, informed her entomologist dad that the upstairs shower was covered with large ants.  A quick inspection confirmed that we were being invaded by carpenter ants.  A few years ago we remodeled this particular shower, tearing out sheet rock and insulation and encountered carpenter ants living in the surrounding walls.  We thoroughly cleaned out what we could and sprayed the walls down with a residual insecticide before reinstalling insulation and more water-resistant Hardyboard® in the new shower stall. Apparently they are back.” Credits: Carpenter ant season is now | Insects in the City

Carpenter Ants Emerging In Swarms

“Swarming occurs when reproductively mature, but unmated, kings and queens leave the nest to mate.  These mating couples are winged and are referred to as alates, or swarmers.  The earliest swarmers to emerge in the winter are carpenter ants.” Credits: Carpenter ant season is now | Insects in the City

Carpenter Ants Emerging, Time to Indentify Them

“Carpenter ants are relatively large for ants, 1/4 to 1/2 inch-long.  They may come in different colors, but are usually red or black, or a mixture of the two colors (see pictures).  They may or may not have wings.”  Credits: Carpenter ant season is now | Insects in the City

Carpenter Ants Emerging, Locate Their Source

If you discover carpenter ants in your home, look for the hole where they are emerging.  This may or may not mark the exact location of the nest, but it will be close. Know that carpenter ants need water, so there is likely a water leak somewhere, dampening wood siding, flooring or beams, creating a perfect environment for carpenter ants to live and breed.

There are DIY methods of dealing with carpenter ants: Insecticide injection treatments. Unfortunately, carpenter ants are always difficult to treat and eliminate completely from the home or business.  

For most people, calling a professional is the best option for control. A good place to start is to schedule a professional carpenter ant inspection of your home or business. Then you’ll know for certain what you’re dealing with and your options.  

Call ApolloX Pest Control

(888) 499-7378

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The number one wood destroying pest in the United States is not the dreaded termite but the often overlooked carpenter ant. They can cause severe damage to the interior structure of a home in as little as a year. 

Natural Carpenter Ant Repellents: Begin by understanding their habits.

Your first line of defense is to understand carpenter ants and their habits.

Carpenter ants don’t actually eat wood, when outdoors they prey on smaller insects while they like meats and sugars when in your house. The carpenter ant parent colony is always found in a moist piece of wood – this could be outside in a fallen tree that stays relatively wet or inside your home behind the walls near a bathroom or other area that remains humid. The reason for this is that carpenter ants need the moisture to keep their eggs from drying out. Also look in foundations, decks, wood piles near your house, trees, gaps between boards, etc. Credits: How Do I Get Rid of Carpenter Ants — Is There a Natural Way?

Carpenter ants don’t carry bait back to their nests, so you have to kill them at the source. This means you have to do a little detective work to find the nest(s).  Credits: How To Get Rid of Ants Naturally – House and Carpenter Ants

Natural Carpenter Ant Repellents: Diatomaceous Earth

One of the best remedies for eradicating carpenter ants is Diatomaceous Earth (DE). DE is completely natural and organic. It is made from tiny skeletal remains of algae-like plants.

DE is a lethal dust for insects. Its microscopic razor sharp edges will cut through the body of insects, drying them out and killing them. If ingested by carpenter ants, it will shred their insides. There are different types of DE, so keep in mind you must get food grade DE for pest control. (You do not want the DE that is sold for swimming pools – it has a different make-up.) Credits: How To Get Rid of Ants Naturally – House and Carpenter Ants

Food grade DE is completely safe to be used around kids and pets and can be sprinkled around the home and yard without posing a threat. 

In order to get rid of a colony of carpenter ants, DE must be injected directly into the nest. You might use a medicine dropper to squirt dry DE into cracks where you find carpenter ants nesting. DE must be reapplied after it rains. Credits: How To Get Rid of Ants Naturally – House and Carpenter Ants

Natural Carpenter Ant Repellents: Cornmeal

Spread cornmeal around the area of the nest. Ants that eat the cornmeal will die when they drink water as the cornmeal will expand in their stomachs and burst. Cream of wheat and grits also work this way. Credits: How Do I Get Rid of Carpenter Ants — Is There a Natural Way?

Natural Carpenter Ant Repellents: Boiling Water

Boil several gallons of water and pour them directly on the nest. This is one of the methods that professional pest removal companies use (except they use a steam system). Credits: How Do I Get Rid of Carpenter Ants — Is There a Natural Way?

Natural Carpenter Ant Repellents: Borax

Confuse them to the point that they don’t know where your house is. Ants use scent to mark trails so that they and other ants can find their way back to specific places. Along these trails you will see tell-tale signs – salt sized grains of tan debris. Once you have located a trail cover it with borax. Borax is available in the detergent aisle of most grocery stores. Mix a solution of ¼ cup borax to 1 gallon of warm water. Spray this on the ant trail. The borax will eliminate the scent trail. Credits: How Do I Get Rid of Carpenter Ants — Is There a Natural Way?

Natural Carpenter Ant Repellents: Household Spices

Make a deterrent powder from some common household spices. Mix 1 tbsp crushed red pepper, 2 tsp cloves, 2 tsp cinnamon, 1 tbsp garlic powder and 5 bay leaves together in a bowl. Crush them thoroughly and spread a thin line of this mix on any possible ant entry points. This potent mixture will repel even the most stubborn ant. This natural mix can also be wrapped in a cheesecloth and steeped in water for a few days to create a potent spray for use on sidewalks, driveways and other outdoor places that pets and children may frequent (something that you wouldn’t necessarily be able to do with toxic ant killers). Credits: How Do I Get Rid of Carpenter Ants — Is There a Natural Way?

Natural Carpenter Ant Repellents: Remove habitat

It is important to remove possible habitats on your property including stumps and large unkempt patches of vegetation. There is usually a parent colony and several satellite colonies. Finding the parent colony and disposing of it through natural ant killers will virtually eliminate activity in all of the satellite colonies — they will regroup and most likely move on to more hospitable grounds. Credits: How Do I Get Rid of Carpenter Ants — Is There a Natural Way?

Not an ant detective? Don’t want to spend the time and hassle involved in tracking them down. We can’t blame you if you have other items on your schedule that are more important. Besides, there is an element of trial and error to all of the above solutions. Some people love this. For the rest of you…

Call ApolloX Pest Control

(888) 499-7378

We’ll get rid of your carpenter ant problem quickly and easily, with no action needed on your part other than calling us!

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Carpenter Ants Habits Are Vital to Nature’s Balance

Carpenter ants habits are vital to the balance of nature because they nest in dead wood and aid in the process of decaying. Although the carpenter ants play this important role in the natural cycle, they can become pests to home and business owners when they make their home in the wood structures of buildings. Credits: A Guide to Carpenter Ants | Batzner Pest Management

Carpenter Ants Habits

Carpenter ants habits result in the creation of elaborate passageways in the wood for nesting and movement throughout the colony, connecting them to different food sources.

These ants are most active at night, starting just after sundown. They emerge about 15 minutes after sunset and leave the nest to forage for food. They feed mainly in the tree tops, consuming “honeydew” produced by aphids and scale insects. Honeydew is rich in sugar and can sustain the entire ant colony. Credits: Carpenter ants can do big damage if left unchecked | Columbia …

Carpenter ants forage for food around their nest, carry it back to the nest, and share the meal with the rest of the colony members. Credits: A Guide to Carpenter Ants | Batzner Pest Management

Carpenter Ants Habits Fun Facts

Super Ant!

Carpenter ants are the largest ants in North America with super-sized strength to match their super size. Dwarfing other ants, these wood-destroying ants can reach a length of 3/4 inch and lift up to seven times their own weight with their powerful jaws. In human terms that would be like lifting a large dairy cow with your teeth!

Mr. Clean

Carpenter ants habits include excellent hygiene, removing dead colony members and decaying food from the nest promptly. They also collect plant resins to chemically disinfect their nests. Cleanliness improves the insects’ chance for survival by removing pathogens and bacteria that could endanger the colony’s health.

Ant Farmers

Carpenter ants habits include loving their sweets and being particularly fond of a sweet dewy juice called honeydew that is produced by tiny plant aphids. To keep the colony well stocked with its favorite treat, carpenter ants tend, feed and protect “flocks” of aphids, regularly harvesting the sweet honeydew for the colony’s snacking enjoyment. Credits: Three Fun Facts about Carpenter Ants – Allison Pest Control

Carpenter Ants Habits Inside the Home

Inside the home, nests are often found in areas containing moisture-damaged wood. The damp wood and warm temperatures inside a home is also conducive to carpenter ant colony survival. Carpenter ants found in the home can often be traced back to nests outdoors in nearby trees. Scout for ant movement 15 to 20 minutes after sunset. Use a flashlight to search for the carpenter ants moving along their pathways. These pathways will lead you to their food source and the nest. Credits: Carpenter ants can do big damage if left unchecked | Columbia …

Identifying Carpenter Ants Habits in Creating an Infestation

The most common method to identify an infestation is the sighting of carpenter worker or winged ants in the home. Although worker ants (ants without wings) can be seen in a home without an infestation, the identification of winged ants often indicates a mature colony that is ready to reproduce and form new colonies. Additional signs of an infestation can include the location of sawdust-like wood debris (frass) from tunnels created by ants.  A rustling sound can also be heard as the ants build tunnels throughout the wood in a home. Credits: A Guide to Carpenter Ants | Batzner Pest Management

When Carpenter Ants Habits Result in Infestation: What to Do? 

Carpenter ants habits can cause structural damage to your home. They bore passageways in your home’s wood foundation, framing and siding. Moisture can enter into the wood and weaken it, eventually causing it to decay. It’s best to have carpenter ants professionally and safely exterminated.

Call ApolloX Pest Control

(888) 499-7378

The post Carpenter Ants Habits – Pretty Amazing: Useful & Destructive appeared first on Pest Control.

Carpenter Ant Colony Behavior

For carpenter ants to create colonies, they will need mature male and female winged reproductives to mate. They mate and swarm during early spring to summer. After the mating season or nuptial flight, the male will die, and the female will search for a suitable nest. Once the nest is found, the female ant will deposit 15 to 20 eggs that will soon become her first workers. These workers will be responsible in nourishing developing larvae and the queen. It may take 3 to 6 years for a colony to grow to around 3,000 to 5,000 ants.  Credits: Understanding Carpenter ants | Horizon Pest Control Blog 

Carpenter ants are the only polymorphic ant. This means a colony will consist of numerous different sizes of ants. All ants that one sees are adults.  Credits: Big black carpenter ants and little baby black carpenter ants

Carpenter Ant Colony Sets Up a Satellite Colony In Your Home!

A satellite carpenter ant colony may appear in your home. These colonies might find the luscious, damp wood of an old house and decide that it’s the perfect spot to wreck havoc. Carpenter ants typically show up in your home because they are searching for food and water. They might be in a dying tree just outside your door or across the yard at the old shed. They might even be underneath that soft spot on your porch steps, where wood rot is taking hold. The tricky part is finding where they have set up their satellite colony.

Locating the Carpenter Ant Colony Satellite

Sometimes you might get lucky and see exactly where they are going. Unfortunately, for most homeowners it isn’t that simple. Now is the time to get up underneath the house and take a look at things. Since the carpenter ants don’t actually eat the wood, they will leave plenty of shavings on the ground near the nest. 

Another interesting (and slightly creepy) way to discover them is by using a stethoscope. Don’t have one? An inverted drinking glass might do. When you press the stethoscope against the wall and listen, you just might hear the busy rustling of those carpenter ants working away on their nest. Credits: Getting Rid of Carpenter Ants – Old House Web

Preventing a Carpenter Ant Colony Satellite

Keep all firewood dry, off the ground and away from your house, bringing in only what you need when you actually need it. Replace any decaying wood and keep a close eye on the things that might cause a problem, such as clogged gutters or leaks. Seal up any holes around pipes that might be an entryway, and place a moisture barrier in your crawlspaces to help deter them even further. Credits: Getting Rid of Carpenter Ants – Old House Web

Carpenter Ant Colony Satellite Signs

You will know if your home has a carpenter ant colony satellite when:

• You see a high concentration of ants going in a particular moist area
• You hear an active colony, creating a dry rustling sound that is similar to the crinkling of cellophane.
• You see swarms of winged ants trying to get out of the house
• You see sawdust-like boring outside their galleries and little openings in woodwork

Credits: Understanding Carpenter ants | Horizon Pest Control Blog

It often takes many applications to get control of your house back, as carpenter ants are tenacious. And besides, they often have a parent colony somewhere nearby, where they get an endless supply of fresh ants heading for the satellite colony you are trying to destroy. If you can find that parent colony, get rid of it too. But these colonies can be huge, so you might have to call in a professional contractor to help eradicate it. Credits: Getting Rid of Carpenter Ants – Old House Web

Carpenter Ant Colony: What to Do If You Find One In Your Home?

Carpenter Ant Colony: What to Do If You Find One In Your Home?

Call ApolloX Pest Control

(888) 499-7378

Why call ApolloX?

• You don’t want to crawl under your home (where you may discover more than a carpenter ant colony!)
• You want to ensure carpenter ants are completely eliminated from your home.
• You want to have the master colony eliminated (the one that sent the satellite into your home in the first place, and will do it again)!
• You and your family want to be safe from toxic chemicals.

The post Carpenter Ant Colony and Satellite Colony appeared first on Pest Control.

Regular treatment of building foundations remains important during this season, to keep warmth-seeking, crawling pests from gaining access. If you’ve ever had a mid-winter ant invasion in your home, you know what we’re talking about. Carpenter and other ants can and do invade buildings in winter and when they do they tend to take up residence inside wall voids, making control slower and more difficult. It’s much better to keep them out in the first place.

Ants don’t die at the end of the fall – they hibernate in their nests all winter long until spring. Many ants die over the winter, but most will live to help the colony get back on its feet.

Mid-Winter Pest Control Treatments: Termites

Mid-Winter pest control treatments are important for termite control. Termites also remain active during this time, continuing to move about, feeding on any wood they find, including our homes. Efforts to keep them in check should continue the year around. Credits: Pest Control in Winter? | Pest Control Center Inc

Mid-Winter Pest Control Treatments: Wet Weather

Each winter some customers express concern regarding treatments during wet weather. During this time of the year most treatments are performed in the areas around the foundations of buildings. Around buildings with eaves and overhangs these areas tend to be sheltered, don’t usually receive large amounts of moisture and are usually ok for treatment during light rain. However, should there be no eaves or overhangs or heavier rain becomes a concern, the treatment can be rescheduled for a different day. Once pest control materials have been applied and have had a chance to dry in place, subsequent precipitation will not usually affect the treatment. Credits: Pest Control in Winter? | Pest Control Center Inc

Mid-Winter Pest Control Treatments: 3 Reasons Why One Treatment Won’t Work

1) Short Pesticide Life-Span

Store-bought and commercially used pesticides for homes have a short residual life, meaning they break down and become ineffective in a short amount of time (1-2 months depending on weather). Once the material breaks down, your home is open for ants and other pests. One treatment will knock down an ant population, but queens constantly lay eggs, and the population will rebound in no time.

2) Pheromone Trails:

When a worker ant finds a source of food or water, that ant will return to the nest and leave a pheromone trail behind that tells the other workers where to go. These pheromone trails last much longer (up to a year) than any residual pesticide you or a professional will apply around your home. Once the pesticide breaks down, ants can follow these trails back into your home unharmed.

3) Cryptic Nests:

It’s not always easy for a pest management professional to find ant nests. Carpenter ants sometimes give us clues (piles of sawdust), but this is only if we’re lucky. If there are one or more ant nests inside your home, then a single treatment may help with one nest, but have little or no effect on a nest on the other side of your home.

 Credits: Is One Treatment Enough to Get Rid of Ants? « Modern Pest Control …

With regular visits, your Apollx Pest Control experts can monitor pest activity, give you expert advice to prevent future infestations, and actually save you money in the long run from unsuccessful DIY treatments and pest damage.

A single treatment only offers immediate gratification. If you want a long-term solution against ants and other pests, regular visits with preventative treatments is your best option.

Call ApolloX Pest Control

(888) 499-7378

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