How do you get rid of carpenter ants fast and naturally at home? If your home or premise is infested with carpenter ants, then this post will give you a number of ways of to deal with it. These small creatures can be stubborn causing you a nuisance especially if they are large numbers.
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What is a carpenter ant? How do you identify carpenter ants? What do carpenter ants look like? Find the images in the post to understand more on their appearance. Read more to know the signs of infestation and how to control carpenter ants population and stop them from becoming a nuisance.
Here are some of the best Carpenter Ants killer:
What is a carpenter ant?
To answer your question you have to know first carpenter ants are indigenous to many parts of the world. They get their name simply from their nest building in the process of excavating the wood. They form smooth tunnels inside of the wood but do not eat the wood. Funny how they only tunnel and chew the wood to create nests.
Did you know that the western black carpenter ant colony when fully mature contains about 10-20000 workers? There is usually only one functional, wingless queen per colony. Usually, the swarmer are not produced until the colony is more than two years old.
How to Identify Carpenter Ants
How do you identify the carpenter ants? To start with, look at the color. Usually, they are red, black or a combination of both. Their bodies is segmented (oval) with an antennae normally with six legs. They are mostly found in the North throughout the U.S
What do carpenter ants look like?
Carpenter ants vary in size but can range in size from ½ to 5/8” long. As mentioned, black carpenter ants are common but they can appear as a combination of red and black or completely red, black or brown.
Below and throughout the post you will find images and photos of carpenter ants.
Signs of Carpenter Ant Infestation
To get rid of an infestation of carpenter ants, you have to first see them. What are the signs of an infestation? The only visible external sign of carpenter ants other than presence of worker ants is usually the appearance of small openings on the surface of woods. The tunnels dug by these ants in wood’s surface is enough to tell you of their infestation.
The ants usually expel the remains of wood which consists of sawdust – like shavings or debris of insect body parts. The accumulation of this remains below the holes is a good sign of an active infestation. A carpenter ants loves to attack wood that has been softened by fungus and moisture. Wood rotting in your home is another susceptible area where you are likely to see these ants.
1.Leaving a trail of big black and winged ants
Although carpenter ants dig tunnels in woods, it is possible to find them in your home. Typically, they look like ants you always see around. But a close look at them, you notice slight difference. They appear reddish, brown to black or a combination of both with a bent antennae. Their body is segmented or oval with a narrow waist.
2. Rustling noise
You must be keen to hear their distinct rustling noise coming out of their hideouts such as the inside walls, ceilings, voids and any other known hidden places such as crevices and cracks. Their colonies are in a constant movement in their nest, and they produce this sound.
3. Shed wings
These ants especially the swammers occasionally, shed their wings. If you spot the shed wings near your home in places like the windows sills, vents and at the corner of rooms. It’s likely there are carpenters ants.
4. Wood damage
Look at the wood structure in your home. Should you see any rotten wood or wood appearing to have collapsed, this is just an indication that the ants have been digging inside making it weak, soft or rotten.
5. Weather pattern change
This happens during cold weather where the ants begin to hibernate. When the weather begin to get warm, the carpenter ants will creep out and get on the move. You should be on the lookout and watch to see if you spot any ant that look like carpenter ants.
Carpenter Ants Photos, Images
To understand how the carpenter ants look like or appear, find the pictures, photos and images below.
Do Carpenter Ants Bite?
Yes carpenter ants bite. They have powerful jaws which can bite very painfully injecting formic acid into the bite wound. Usually, you will feel a burning sensation. But you shouldn’t be worried. The pain will subside. In fact, no serious health risk is associated with the pain.0.
How to Get Rid of Carpenter Ants Fast Naturally- Home Remedies
Most of the methods listed below are DIY. It make requires to be take part fully to get rid of carpenter ants. Some home methods may take time and therefore requires your patience.
1. Diatomaceous Earth
Think of diatomaceous earth anytime you’ve ant infestation in your home. This is the best natural home remedy that get rids of carpenter ant fast. Diatomaceous earth is completely natural and organic. It is not so poisonous as such but lethal when it comes to killing insect as such as carpenter ants. It kills the ants by drying the ants’ skeleton absorbing the oil in them.
Be careful when handling diatomaceous Earth. Avoid breathing in or getting the D.E onto your skin.
2. Boric Acid Bait
The other effective natural home remedy to get rid of carpenter ants is using Boric acid. Buy boric acid at a garden supply store. Here’s how to use boric acid.
- Mix sugar (powdered) with boric acid in a ratio of 1:3
- Add 2 cups of warm water
- Sit gently
- Fill cotton balls with solution and place the area where you see the ants
3. Make Carpenter Ants Bait
Make carpenter ants baits to exterminate them. It is a simple procedure anyone can make.
Use this procedure:
- Mix one part of boric acid with 2 teaspoons of sugar
- Add a cup of warm water
- Place a multiple baits close to the ant trails or the nest
Carpenter ants love sugar, as soon as they find the mixture laced with sugar, they will find it and drag it to the nest. Boric acid will kill the carpenter ants but it might time to kill the entire colony. Depending on the size of the infestation, you will have to place the baits five – six times before you finally see the results.
4. Dust
You can also choose a dust usually labelled for carpenter ant control. But if you are going to use dust, then you may be forced to use a hand duster to apply the dust to the void or if the nest is located in a wood where you suspect there is infestation.
Dust tend to work a bit faster to get rid of carpenter ants. But you will have to drill more holes or open the wall a bit more to make sure you are getting a larger coverage where the ants have sought refuge.
5. Boiling Water
To use this method, first find the carpenter ant nest. It could be inside or outside the house but probably in wooden surfaces. This is a natural home remedy to kill the ants’ colony directly and fast. It is simple:
- Boil about 2 liters of water (could be more)
- Pour directly into the nest
- You can add natural and soluble insecticide or even soap to the boiled
- Repeat the procedure three time to completely eliminate the colony.
6. Sugar and Baking Soda Bait
This is a simple but natural carpenter ant bait
This is procedure:
- Add equal part of soda and powdered sugar
- Add 2 cups of warm water
- Place the mixture in shallow dishes in location where the ants are. You can also place outside near doors and windows. The sugar in the mixture attracts the ants acting as the baits. But the baking soda will kill them.
5. Soap & Water
This is a simple but effective home remedy to get rid of carpenter ants fast.
Procedure:
- Mixture natural dish soap and water in a ratio of 1:2
- Spray as needed to eliminate the ants
- Repeat the procedure at least thrice to kill most of the ants until no ant is seen.
6. Vinegar
You have to try using vinegar to get rid carpenter ants. It an extreme effective natural remedy to eliminate ants completely. The smell of vinegar is enough to keep away the ants.
Procedure:
- Mix vinegar and water in a ratio of 1:1
- Put the mixture in a spray bottle
- Shake the solution
- Spray the solution along door frames, window sills, countertops and in the nest if possible
- Repeat the procedure thrice daily or as needed to eliminate the carpenter ants.
- Vinegar is a natural disinfectant and can also be used to clean surfaces.
7. Cinnamon & Cinnamon Oil
You should also try this natural home remedy to kill ants fast at home. Unlike vinegar and essential oils, cinnamon and cinnamon oil get rid of ants by interfering with their usual trails. Use cinnamon in any form throughout the ant problems areas and in their nest directly if possible.
8. Essential Oils
Like most ants, carpenter ants use trails for movement and communication. This is how the end up in your home searching for food. If you know how to disrupt the ant trails, then you will have succeeded in getting rid of these ants.
Essential oils can be used to simply disrupt these trail, which in the long run disorient the ants from invading your home. Peppermint, clove, lemongrass, tea tree, orange and lemon are all efficient in eliminating the ants.
How to use essential oil – Procedure:
- Saturate cotton balls or kitchen towel with the any of the essential oil mentioned above
- Use it wipe susceptible areas where the ants move
- Repeat the procedure daily until the ants disappear
9. Find the Nest
To effectively get rid of carpenter ants, if first locating and treating their nest directly. As mentioned earlier in the post, carpenter ants nest in moist and decaying woods. They can be found either inside or outside the home and from here you can follow the trailing ants back to their origin.
Tips in locating carpenter ant colony:
- Look for frass – Frass resembles sawdust; it is usually finely ground wood debris. This is an indication of carpenter ants digging into the wood to build their nests.
- Damaged woods
Look for damaged woods within walls, cabinets, doors and wood beams. Damaged woods is an indicator of an indoor colony.
- Attractant places
Places or things that are likely to attract ants in your home should be looked out for. They include dog food, jam or other sweets where you are likely to spot ants. Use their trail to find their nest.
- Woodpiles or other debris
If you have woodpiles or other debris inside or just outside your home, you should check thoroughly, the ant colony could be there.
Prevention & Tips in Getting Rid of Carpenter Ants
Before thinking of ways to get rid of carpenter ants, first think of how to prevent an infestation. Below here are the tips to successfully do so.
- Cleaning your home
Naturally, ants move in search of food. This can only happen if they find your home unkempt and untidy. Usually, remains of food particles on the floor that can be found in untidy homes. Keep your kitchen, flooring, windowsills and countertops clean. Without source of food, ants will not show up in your home.
- Seal all food tightly
In preventing ant infestation into your home, you have to make it a habit of sealing all food in tightly closed containers.
- Do not leave food remains or dirty dishes in the sink. If you deprive ants food, they will move out of your house.
- Take the trash our on a regular basis. Make sure all the trash cans are sealed and cleaned.
- Do not spill food – just in case you do, clean up immediately.
- Seal any crack, openings, crevices and holes
- Make sure all potential openings are sealed.
- Remove possible nesting spaces from your yards such as wood yard equipment, brush, dead trees, worn out furniture, clogged drainages. Make sure the places is moisture free.
- Timber or firewood shouldn’t be stored inside or right outside your home
- Trim or cut tree limbs and branches away from the walls of your home. The ants use these as channels to enter your home.
References:
- https://www.diynatural.com/how-to-get-rid-of-ants-naturally/
- https://pestsamurai.com/
- https://fantasticservicesgroup.com.au/blog/how-to-get-rid-of-carpenter-ants/
