I have (what I think are) Carpenter ants. My yard/driveway/trees are covered with these monsters. Yet there are no mounds. I can't find a beginning or an end to their line (I think they're just going from tree to tree or something.)
What's the best thing/way to get rid of them? My pest control said they can spray the yard for $100, but I'm sure I can do the same thing for half the price, I just don't know what to use. They tried coming inside during the cold winter, but they died instantly from whatever the pest guys sprayed in the house.
Help please! =O
First, identify the ant. There are sweet eating and grease eating ants so different baits are more effective. Put a very thin smear of peanut butter on a popsicle stick and put it in the ants path. You may have to tape it to the tree. After one hour see if any ants are trapped in the peanut butter. Freeze the popsicle stick and take it to your local extension office and they can identify it for you.
The ants in your trees are workers to get rid of the colony you really need to kill the queen.
If they are sweet eating ants you can use Terro bait ( boric acid and sugar water). It takes time to work since it is designed for the workers to live long enough to feed it to the queen to kill her.
If you can find the mound, amdro works if it is dusted around the mound. Keep a watch out, here ant colonies can have multiple queens and a lot of times, if the ants find their nest compromised they abandon it and move over five feet.
Bayer tree and shrub control can also work as a drench but only on ornamentals as it is a systemic. If it is a fruit tree, I usually use the baits or I coat the base of the tree with vaseline and dust roach proof (boric acid) on the vaseline. Ants will not cross the barrier as long as it is intact. I hose off the aphids on the tree and if no more aphids appear the ants don't have a food source.
Most of my ants are ground dwelling, but the fire ants have recently been introduced and is spreading. They are much harder to control since they are arborial ants and that means they never have to go to ground.
https://lancaster.unl.edu/pest/resources ... t267.shtml
The ants in your trees are workers to get rid of the colony you really need to kill the queen.
If they are sweet eating ants you can use Terro bait ( boric acid and sugar water). It takes time to work since it is designed for the workers to live long enough to feed it to the queen to kill her.
If you can find the mound, amdro works if it is dusted around the mound. Keep a watch out, here ant colonies can have multiple queens and a lot of times, if the ants find their nest compromised they abandon it and move over five feet.
Bayer tree and shrub control can also work as a drench but only on ornamentals as it is a systemic. If it is a fruit tree, I usually use the baits or I coat the base of the tree with vaseline and dust roach proof (boric acid) on the vaseline. Ants will not cross the barrier as long as it is intact. I hose off the aphids on the tree and if no more aphids appear the ants don't have a food source.
Most of my ants are ground dwelling, but the fire ants have recently been introduced and is spreading. They are much harder to control since they are arborial ants and that means they never have to go to ground.
https://lancaster.unl.edu/pest/resources ... t267.shtml