Carpenter Ants

Carpenter Ants

How do I get rid of carpenter ants?

In the north Florida area, we deal with two different types of ants, large ants (or carpenter ants) and small ants. Both ants follow pheromone trails. These trails are where we place the bait so the ants will take the bait back to the colony to destroy the rest of the colony.

We use these trails to place our bait so the ants will eat the bait, return to the colony, feed it to other members of the colony and the colony will be destroyed.

Carpenter Ants will excavate soil in flower pots or in flower beds to make their nests.

Here we have carpenter ants that have nested in the base of this flower pot, they have excavated soil around this flower pot to build their nest.

Now I’m going to show you the difference between the larger carpenter ants and the smaller fire ants. The best way to treat carpenter ants is with a liquid insecticide it leaves a residue that continues to kill the ants over time.

Another thing to remember about carpenter ants is they will invade rotten wood, so it’s important to repair any rotten wood that you have around your home.

There are two ways to treat the small ants one is with granular bait that’s disbursed to the ants will take it back to the colony.

The other way is gel bait that we place along the trails where they feed. Another thing to remember about small ants is that they will gain entry to your home through cracks and crevices. But most homeowners have problems with the smaller ants.

In this example, these are called pavement ants. They are treated with a granular product that the ants actually pickup and carry back to the colony. This will eventually kill off the entire colony.