We have carpenter ants and pest control is not working. they put down ant bait over a week ago and the ants are still coming in as they were before the ant bait. we have a very clean home and food is stored properly. We wipe our counters down with clorox clean-up and they just show up somewhere else in the house like a clothes sloset or the laundry room. someone said that we should try equal sugar substitute and the aspartame kills them. does this work? and are there any other suggestions? The ants are relentless and i'm getting very frustrated
2007-02-26 12:28:48 · 14 answers · asked by Nicole D 1 in Home & Garden ➔ Do It Yourself (DIY)
Believe it or not.
The cooperative extention of the Univ. where the Master Gardeners answer questions recommend:
Sweet n Low - (aspartane) Because it was originally formulated as an ant poison. They carry it to their nest and then eat it and die.
P.S. I stopped using it for human consumption!
2007-02-26 12:51:37 · answer #1 · answered by me 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Carpenter Ants Texas
2016-10-01 10:26:50 · answer #2 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The key to getting rid of carpenter ants, really any ants, is getting poison directly into the nest. The bait is supposed to do this. Ants share their food. You are only seeing abut 10% of the total ant population. If you haven't seen a reduction in a week, they aren't taking the bait.
The nest could be anywhere in or outside your home. Carpenter Ants will travel 50 to 100 yards in search of food and water. Does your home have any water problems? Like roof leaks or plumbing leaks? Capenter ants like to nest in water damaged, rotten wood. If you have these problems, you'll have carpenter ant problems.
Check your pest control contract for a guarantee. Call them and complain. They need to do a more thorough inspection to locate the nest, and use different bait or a different treatment technique.
2007-02-27 00:08:25 · answer #3 · answered by bugs280 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I really don't know the answer to your question, but I have the carpenter ants in my home too. I've had an exterminator out here twice; they aren't swarming us anymore but they are still there. We have no water leaks now but we use too. They have never left even after all the old wood has been replaced. I'm going to try the sugar substitute thing, anyhing is worth a try. I wish you guys all the luck in the world getting rid of the stupid ants; I just hate them.
2007-02-27 06:19:02 · answer #4 · answered by Texas Pineknot 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
We had carpenter ants in our bedroom wall. I could hear them eating the wood. We had a pest control guy come in and confirm this. He wanted a few hundred $$$ to come in and spray. We went to the hardware store and bought the ant drops. You put them on waxed paper and the ants come and get them and take them back to the nest. We had found the spot where they were coming into our house and put the drops there. It took about a couple of weeks but it worked. We could see that the ants were dying off because fewer and fewer were coming out. Good luck!!
2007-02-26 13:28:35 · answer #5 · answered by brian M 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Deal with the moisture issue. No wet wood no Carpenter Ants. The pest control people are treating the symptom not the problem. Find where the moisture is coming from get rid of any wet or rotted wood, you will have no more carpenter ants.
2007-02-27 06:27:24 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
i had carpenter ants and found the nest under the siding, took the siding off, about 3 pieces it was rotted, killed them with a good hornet spray , then talked to a pest control guy and got bait , they eat the bait, and contaminate there food stores, then they all die eating it, but you will have to keep the bait coming , year after year, just to control all the new nests, forever! buy it at Lowes its called Gants , it looks like a bottle cap on a spike , they give you 8 per box, speed a weekend following the ants like tracking a deer, just watch where they go and there path , then plant the bait on ther trail , read the box, do your homework !
2007-02-26 13:04:21 · answer #7 · answered by greghemmert 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Carpenter ants are only present where there is wet wood. Somewhere in your house there is a leak. Check thoroughly under all your sinks, toilets and dishwasher. Unless you find the source of their food, it will be difficult to get rid of them. Carpenter ants are typically unaffected by bait traps. You may need to call in an exterminator for $75-$100. Sorry...
2007-02-26 13:19:00 · answer #8 · answered by Dan 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Stop using bait. You are attracting more ants. You need to spray with ant killer now. It sounds like you have a nest somewhere. This could be a serious problem. They can do structual damage to your home. That could end up costing thousands. I saw a family of ants eat a 2 x 10 in one summer. It's cheaper to call in an exterminator now then pay thousands later.
2007-02-26 15:11:21 · answer #9 · answered by k h 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The only thing that worked for me was to bomb the house; you can buy 3 canisters for about $10, and I doubled what they recommend per square footage. Kills everything in the house for about a month. Nothing else keeps the carpenter ants out for me.
2007-02-27 03:18:58 · answer #10 · answered by stargazergurl22 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋