How to Kill Carpenter Ants

Unfortunately, for homeowners, carpenter ants have not earned their name for their building skills. Instead, they are infamous for chewing through wood. Everything from your home to your furniture can serve as food for carpenter ants, which is why it is important to get rid of these pests as soon as possible.

While there are thousands of different species of ants, carpenter ants are characterized by their large size and black bodies. If you notice the actual ants or piles of sawdust around door jambs and other areas, you may have a problem with carpenter ants. It is also important to note that they prefer moist or moldy wood, so if you have a water leak in or around your home, you could be inadvertently attracting carpenter ants.

Use a Natural Bait

Once you have diagnosed the problem and you are sure that you have carpenter ants, it is time to take action. Keep in mind that ants live in nests, so when they enter your home they are searching for food to take back to the nest. After locating a food source, they will leave a trail for the others to follow. One way to begin attacking the nest is to leave out a bait that is a mixture of sugar and baking soda. The sugar will attract the ants, but once they eat the baking soda, it will expand and kill the ants.

Remove Scent Trails

You will also need to make sure that you get rid of the scent trails. The pheromone trails left behind by carpenter ants are powerful. Even if you kill the ants you can see, more will continue to follow the trail. Natural products like lemon, orange, or tea tree oil can be used to wipe down surfaces and eliminate the trails. 

Call a Professional

If these natural methods don’t seem to be doing the job, it is time to call in a pest control expert before carpenter ants do any more damage to your home. A professional can locate the nest, apply the right chemicals, and make sure that the nest is eliminated so that you don’t have to worry about several repeat treatments. For help with your carpenter ant issues, call the experts at Capital Pest Services Inc. today.        

Capital Pest is proud to be a family-owned and operated pest control company serving Raleigh, NC and its surrounding area (Chapel Hill, Wake Forest, Clayton, Pinehurst, Pittsboro, Fuquay-Varina, etc). Contact us for our pest control services today!