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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