If you locate a nest, you can remove it with a vacuum cleaner, then dispose of the bag outdoors. Unfortunately, you can't always find the nest or nests. If this is the case, control is indirect. Place insecticides very carefully, to form chemical barriers that foraging ants must cross in their search for food.
The ant then contaminates its body with the insecticide and carries it back to the nest, where other ant stages are poisoned. Slow-acting, persistent insecticides are best suited for this approach.
Insecticidal dusts often are used between walls (in wall voids), in attics, and in other areas where water-based sprays might cause moisture problems and where emulsifiable sprays (with strong solvents) might harm fabric, wallpaper, or tile. Treat the line where your foundation meets the soil. Treat it inside, if you can reach it through a crawl space; treat it outside, along the walls and entries.
A tightly constructed house with concrete foundation, good clearance, and a full basement with good ventilation is least subject to infestation.
- Remove logs, stumps, and waste wood near and under the house.
- Destroy all known colonies of carpenter ants within 100 yards or so of the house.
- Do not bring fuel wood infested with carpenter ants into the house.
- Do not build over stumps, logs, or sizeable pieces of wood.
- Check for signs of ants annually since presently registered insecticides do not offer long-term protection. A structure may be reinfested.
- Read the manufacturer's label carefully and follow the instructions.
- Avoid contaminating food.
- Do not use household sprays near an open flame.
- If household emulsifiable sprays get on asphalt tile floors, wipe up immediately.
- Store all insecticides out of reach of children and pets.
- Empty insecticide containers completely. Rinse empty containers and use rinse water in spraying.
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