22
May
2018

Don’t Forget About Carpenter Ants

May 22nd, 2018
Don’t Forget About Carpenter Ants

Just because you can’t see any ants in the winter does not mean that they have all died off. They are alive and well, having found hideaways to hole up in for the winter. Carpenter ants are amazingly resilient creatures and are great at surviving harsh conditions. The cold winter temperatures aren’t going to get the best of them, they just make temporary satellite colonies in your home’s foundation and spend their time reproducing, so you’ll have a bigger infestation come spring.

Satellite colonies are smaller than the mother colony, and many satellite colonies connect back to to the mother colony. If you get a satellite colony in your home then once the weather warms up you have a much bigger problem, as all the ants from the mother colony can swarm into your house. They go where they find food, and if you have food in your home that isn’t sealed up tight, even pet food left out, then they will come.

If you see the beginnings of an infestation, there are some things that you can do to protect your home and hopefully nip the problem in the bud.

The first way to get rid of them, even though it may seem funny, is to vacuum up any little ants that you see crawling around. After you have sucked them up, make sure that you throw away your vacuum bag or the contents of the canister right away. If you leave them in the bag or the canister, then the trip inside of it may not have killed them, and they can climb their way back up. They are resilient.

NATURAL OPTIONS

Vinegar can be a great way to disguise the chemical trail that ants leave for one another. Have you ever wondered how ants know exactly where to go? They leave a chemical trail that the next ant can follow and get to the found food source. A solution of vinegar sprayed onto countertops and along the trail they follow is enough to kill this scent trail, making it impossible for them to find their way back.

Dish soap and baking soda mixed in a spray bottle also can be sprayed at the ants to kill them, though this natural remedy. This is not a permanent solution to getting rid of ants though and acts more as an aid if you only have a couple of ants.

Repairing leaks is probably your best bet at getting rid of carpenter ants without contacting a professional pest removal service. Carpenter ants love water, and your leaky faucet and pipes are just what they need. If you repair all leaks in your home, then you can discourage ants from coming to your home in the first place.

If you have a serious infestation of carpenter ants, then these home remedies will not be enough to stop them. At that point, you need to hire professionals to come in and remove them. The team at Gilpin’s Pest Control are happy to come to your home and help you free yourself from carpenter ants, and make sure they don’t come back in the summer.