carpenter ant

[johnbarry]

Carpenter ant or so I have seen on the net.

I have piles (I mean piles) of dust in the corner of the doors (external entry) I have read that these are created by ants. It says they are carpenter ants (belived to be in the wood) however the door is plastic the frame is plastic.

I have again swept them up, they will come back over time, how can I stop it. PS only seen 1 ant ?

Cheers
John

[Boris]

Carpenter ants produce sawdust – not normal dust ?  It looks somewhat different.

Never trust an atom - they make up everything !

[johnbarry]

Thanks Boris surely they need wood to produce sawdust, there is no wood (there was mountains of dust I swept it away)

Cheers
John

[Ed P]

John, what is the floor made from?

[Wheels-Of-Fire]

You do need wood to make wooden sawdust ?

What it is the plastic frame screwed too ? Sometimes they leave behind wooden blocks that were cemented into the brick.

[dwynnehugh]

This reminds me of one episode of ‘Last of the Summer Wine’ when Howard tried to convince his wife Pearl, that they has ‘stone worms’ in their walls!!

The more you meet people the more you understand why Noah took animals instead of humans

[Bob Williams]

Will this WikiHow article help John, or have you read it?

https://tinyurl.com/y6jqg3la

Don’t have Carpenter ants, but every year I get ants outside, coming inside. Flying ants when the weather turns hot, usually June to August. Every year I think I have wiped them out, tried everything: sprays, bait traps, dust. The little buggas always come back, first signs are ants on my roses by the front door. This year I found a spray/dust combination that seems to have worked. Dust is from B&Q but can’t recall the source and name of the spray and the container has been dumped. Before we went on holiday we had a massive infestation, which is when I used the spray/dust combo. Not looking forward to coming back, but all we had was two Flyers inside the windows, one dead and one almost dead. Hopefully I have wiped them out. But that’s what I thought last year. And the year before. And – well, you get the message.

As an aside, I read that ants and wasps had the same original insect ancestor, millions of years ago. They downsized, split off and evolved separately when the Oxygen content of the planet became smaller. Look at the bodies: same shape. I tolerate wasps, they do more good than ants: pollinate just as much as bees, kill thousands of tonnes of harmful insects every year. Eat some, paralyse the rest and stick each one in a cell with an egg. Wasp Larvae hatch, eat the insect, grow to next year’s wasps. When a wasp is on your shed or fence at this time of the year, they are just taking a tiny sample of wood to make cellulose and build more cells in the nest. I have a tiny area of fence and another on the shed that I leave them and they are out now taking some. If I am in the garden, I just let them fly around me, no waving my arms about. If they land on my skin, I let them taste and they fly off, probably going “YEEEUUUCCHH! WTF was that!”

And yes I was stung 3 times in one day, but never since I learned to leave them alone. There is only one of me, there are thousands in the huge nest in a nearby tree! Their gang is bigger than mine…

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[johnbarry]

Ed I think it’s a concrete floor.

Graham I am not sure if it’s screwed to the wall or wood (the council did it) it could be wood (behind the plastic) as the ants are carpenters. It looks more like soot than sawdust.

It used to be just a gap between this one and next door. At some point (before I lived here) the council put a roof on and doors so it’s shut off.

Thanks for the link Bob, I had a peep I will study it some more.

 

Cheers
John

[Ed P]

Some people have a major problem with wasp stings. A friend of mine would die if stung as he has a major allergy to their sting. Yes he does carry all the stuff he needs if stung, but understandably is terrified of having to see if they will save him, as the medical profession helpfully say – ‘ Just do not get stung, in case it does not work for you ‘

I’m afraid this means the death sentence from June onwards for any nests near our house, just in case!

[Mark Turner]

I used to use a stuff called dethlac used to put it “a liquid” on a flat piece of plastic I think it was put it near to where the ants where congregating within a week they would all be gone. I haven’t seen it for ages though. It was really good stuff.

[johnbarry]

Cheers Mark a search shows B&Q have the spray version?

Cheers
John

[Ed P]

Deathlac works, but soon stops working on outside surfaces. Nippon is the one that Mark remembered, that works too but you have to put it where pets will not lick it.

[johnbarry]

Thanks for the replies, my concern deepens so I have passed it to the housing group (Council in disguise)

Cheers
John

[Bob Williams]

Had an ant infestation on the back garden for a change:

This is what I wiped them out with:

Got it from B&Q. the spray kills either on contact or very soon afterwards.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[johnbarry]

I will try some of that, it looks like they are eating the PVC door so I need the Housing Group to see it first.

Cheers
John

[Wheels-Of-Fire]

My mum had an interesting ant nest setup a few years ago. Ordinary garden black ants with one nest under the concrete shed base in the back garden and another near the driveway gates at the front.

For the year or so that they were there they had a continuous train between the two, marching up the drive by the side of the house for a distance of about 40 feet.

Facinating to watch and they never tried to enter the house but by the next year both nests had just gone.

[Bob Williams]

” …by the next year both nests had just gone. ”

They will be back Graham. I have gone several years between infestations, it’s like they are building up underground and then out they come again. First time for me was digging them out in the front garden. I never saw so many ants in one place before and there were probably millions of eggs. I slaughtered the buggas, but they came back a few years later and come every year now. Interesting point is that they now seem to be much smaller than they used to be.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

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