eChipmunks

What is the correct treatment for a carpenter ant problem?

We noticed that we have carpenter ants in a wood beam of our home on the outside. We were hoping that this would be resolved with one pest control application, but Orkin wants to set up a quarterly application plan, which entails a lot more money. What is the typical application procedure, and do we really need the "quarterly plan?" I appreciate your input in advance.

Public Comments

1. you can treat them yourself but do it right away!!!! get the spray from walmart and spray them good then spray them again in 2 days because the first thing they will do when sprayed is lay their eggs then get ant traps and put them is the areas they are in and anywhere you can where they are safe from kids and pets
2. Your pest control company is correct on many levels regarding a quarterly plan. First, there are no products that last indefinitely, they are actually designed to break down fairly rapidly in the environment. So once the current application have dissipated, there will be no active product left to stop them from coming back. Second, carpenter ants communicate through the use of pheromones. So ants will be drawn in again following the pheromones. Carpenter ants can forage for food up to 300 feet from their nest and can have numerous sub colonies. As far as do it yourself treatments go, you can absolutely treat pest problems by yourself but they do require certain steps. You must make a positive identification of the pest involved and then learn everything you can about them from reputable sources. When it comes to carpenter ants you need to know that the queen does not exit the nest to forage for food. So you can spray all you want, killing only workers. It will look like you killed them all but if the queen survives so does the colony and you will be re-infested. The other person that answered saying to use bait is on the right track there but I always recommend first following them to try to find their nest and then making a direct application with a dust type product. Always read and follow all label directions as the label is the law. Visit www.pestech.com for more information or www.pestechshop.com for products.