carpenter ants?

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
Status
Not open for further replies.
toonces

toonces

Member
Nov 7, 2011
158
Farmington Valley, CT
i got to splitting some of the wood that i received a few days ago. so far (as i can tell) it's a mix of maple, a little oak, and something else i'm not sure of. well, when i got into one of the unknown pieces of wood, the thing exploded with big black ants. i looked it up and i think they're carpenter ants. so i figure this was a long-dead tree and they took residence. it was quite a sight; they swarmed all over my neighbor's splitter so i kept on splitting hoping to crush a few. after a couple rounds of that, i stopped to try to kill them since i wasn't sure what their plans were for my wood, yard, house, etc. i doused them with soapy water and most of them went kaput. some hid under the splits and loose bark on the ground. i drenched the area underneath the splitter and got most of what i could see. when i soaked the splits, they'd come pouring out. pretty gross or neat depending on your tolerance for this stuff.

anyhow, i think i'm doing what i can do by splitting and seasoning this wood as they look for moist wood. i hope they will go away as the wood dries. should i worry about them taking over my other wood or do they stick to specific species? thanks!

[Hearth.com] carpenter ants?
 
toonces said:
i got to splitting some of the wood that i received a few days ago. so far (as i can tell) it's a mix of maple, a little oak, and something else i'm not sure of. well, when i got into one of the unknown pieces of wood, the thing exploded with big black ants. i looked it up and i think they're carpenter ants. so i figure this was a long-dead tree and they took residence. it was quite a sight; they swarmed all over my neighbor's splitter so i kept on splitting hoping to crush a few. after a couple rounds of that, i stopped to try to kill them since i wasn't sure what their plans were for my wood, yard, house, etc. i doused them with soapy water and most of them went kaput. some hid under the splits and loose bark on the ground. i drenched the area underneath the splitter and got most of what i could see. when i soaked the splits, they'd come pouring out. pretty gross or neat depending on your tolerance for this stuff.

anyhow, i think i'm doing what i can do by splitting and seasoning this wood as they look for moist wood. i hope they will go away as the wood dries. should i worry about them taking over my other wood or do they stick to specific species? thanks!

View attachment 65568
Click to expand...
Carpenter ants only seek out wet rotting wood,if you store your wood in a dry environment your good,they also can't take sunlight well.
 
toonces said:
i got to splitting some of the wood that i received a few days ago. so far (as i can tell) it's a mix of maple, a little oak, and something else i'm not sure of. well, when i got into one of the unknown pieces of wood, the thing exploded with big black ants. i looked it up and i think they're carpenter ants. so i figure this was a long-dead tree and they took residence. it was quite a sight; they swarmed all over my neighbor's splitter so i kept on splitting hoping to crush a few. after a couple rounds of that, i stopped to try to kill them since i wasn't sure what their plans were for my wood, yard, house, etc. i doused them with soapy water and most of them went kaput. some hid under the splits and loose bark on the ground. i drenched the area underneath the splitter and got most of what i could see. when i soaked the splits, they'd come pouring out. pretty gross or neat depending on your tolerance for this stuff.

anyhow, i think i'm doing what i can do by splitting and seasoning this wood as they look for moist wood. i hope they will go away as the wood dries. should i worry about them taking over my other wood or do they stick to specific species? thanks!

View attachment 65568
Click to expand...

I wouldn't worry about the ants too much, if you see them crawling around the wood pile or the house, you might try a borax/sugar (1:3 ratio) solution as a type of poisen that is relatively safe for people and pets. Terro also makes ant traps that are essentially a borax sugar mix. Also, looks like you might have some hickory in the pile--is it tough to split?
 
They need moisture. Split and stack the wood so it begins to dry, and the ants will disperse. I've seen just what you described come pouring out of Lodgepole Pine rounds I was splitting. Actually, some of the intricate passages & chambers they carve out inside the trees are pretty danged amazing. In any case, I just split & stacked & pretty much ignored the carpenter ants, and they went away. A few stragglers would occasionally come crawling out of the stack, but they didn't last long. I've heard that chickens love them, if that's an option for you. :) Rick
 
  • Like
Reactions: ScotO
Turkeys love them too.
 
Prof said:
I wouldn't worry about the ants too much, if you see them crawling around the wood pile or the house, you might try a borax/sugar (1:3 ratio) solution as a type of poisen that is relatively safe for people and pets. Terro also makes ant traps that are essentially a borax sugar mix. Also, looks like you might have some hickory in the pile--is it tough to split?
Click to expand...
as far as i can tell by the way the splitter was working, it was indeed tough to split. i had some rounds of oak -- the same stuff i found difficult to split manually -- in there and they both split the same way. any idea which type of hickory?

what i'm hoping is the birds come and get em.
 
They won't pose a big problem. I noticed that if you do bring ants home, usually there is already a dominant ant colony in your area and when those foriegn ants try to take up residence, they are killed by the dominant colony. Not to mention spiders, birds, and other creatures that feast on the ants. I see some every year out near and around the woodpile, but none have caused any damage to it. I always seem to find them in dead locust stands. Like fossil said, some amazing labrynths and tunnels in that wood. hard to imagine how hard they work to build those abodes.....
 
i bet they came from that shagbark hickery, everytime i split shagbark hickery i allways find those carpenter ants. i allways spray my split wood once a month to keep the bugs away
 
They live in live & dead spruce trees here. Eventually they weaken the tree & the wind blows it down.
I've cut several live spruce trees that have a carpenter ant colony living in the bottom section.
Kind of scary when you see this black horde pouring out of the stump of a live tree.
Easy to detect them here, fresh fine white sawdust around the base of the tree by the entry hole, otherwise the tree looks healthy till it blows over.
The bottom 3 to 4' of the tree is hollowed out like in your picture.
I never see any in the splits after a few days, off to find another tree I guess.
 
Moody, what are you spraying with. A buddy of mine says he uses 7 dust...have you tried that?
 
Carpenter ants, like all wood-eating critters, are a persistent force of nature. As long as you keep your wood away from your home and outbuildings, I wouldn't worry. They will destroy some wood, but not enough to make that big a difference. If you have a contract with a termite company, they will keep an eye on any suspicious activity; if you do your own pest control, just keep your buildings monitored. Remember, there are folks on this site that keep stacks of wood for years and years without major invasions.
 
I find two or three fir or pine trees every year on my property that are healthy looking (good green growth), but have ants in them.
I usually don't see the ants: I see wood pecker holes in the lower trunk of the tree. (6-20" diam.)
We drop the tree, and there's the labyrinth of ant trails in the lower 5-10' of the tree.
Just some more soft wood for the Econoburn!
 
toonces said:
as far as i can tell by the way the splitter was working, it was indeed tough to split. i had some rounds of oak -- the same stuff i found difficult to split manually -- in there and they both split the same way. any idea which type of hickory?

what i'm hoping is the birds come and get em.
Click to expand...

Looks a bit like some shagbark that I split recently.
 
As others have said . . . no worries. I've had carpenter ants come pouring out of the split wood . . . give it a few hours and you will have no idea as to where they have gone. Unless your house or other wood is nice and damp they most likely will not take up residence after being evicted from their home . . .

I mean if you were sitting there in your own house watching TV and minding your own business and were nice and comfy and then someone came along with a giant chainsaw and cut up half of your house . . . and then a giant came along and started tossing your house and you and your family hither and thither . . . and then finally when you thought it was safe someone else comes along and starts whacking your house apart into even smaller chunks . . . well, most of us probably wouldn't stick around and would go far, far away to another safe place. ;)
 
  • Like
Reactions: JeffersonCoKs
firefighterjake said:
I mean if you were sitting there in your own house watching TV and minding your own business and were nice and comfy and then someone came along with a giant chainsaw and cut up half of your house . . . and then a giant came along and started tossing your house and you and your family hither and thither . . . and then finally when you thought it was safe someone else comes along and starts whacking your house apart into even smaller chunks . . .
Click to expand...
Sounds like Sat afternoon in the Ozarks to me. Just the average discussion with the neighbors.
 
  • Like
Reactions: firefighterjake
simular to most of the members ideas I keep a small sprayer on hand when I'm splitting too. I use a wet combination of basic Ortho insect killer and a 8 to 1 ratio with water. This way I don't miss many of them when the rounds split open and they all come a running.
 
There are carpenter ants all around my cabin in WV. Because the cabin is wood, and pier and beam construction, I spray the piers every 3 months in summer with Talstar (see link). It is a termiticide which also is labelled for carpenter ants. I got the Talstar on sale at Southern States Coop a couple years ago.

http://www.amazon.com/Talstar-Insecticide-Termiticide-Bifenthrin-Mosquitoes/dp/B00409QKRY

The locust tree which fell on the cabin last year ($8,000 damage) was killed by carpenter ants. The carpenter ants don't eat wood the way termites do, rather they carve out cavities to build nests. These cavities kill trees and can damage the wood in homes, so they are a real threat. Since I started spraying, I haven't seen any carpenter ants in or on the cabin, but I often find them when I split firewood. I also spray my split piles, following label directions regarding time between spraying and burning.
 
I've had so many brown ants under the bark of some dead ash, that was laying on the ground, that all the ants and eggs and everything else stunk. Bad. Carpenter ants are plentiful, especially in ash and silver maple. Never see any in my dry wood. Don't know where they go, but they ain't in the stacks.
 
moody said:
i use ORTHO Home Defense in the house an wood stacks it dose a super job of keeping all the bugs away . I use 7 dust in the yard an garden an that is some good chit to.
Click to expand...

It's not "7", it's Sevin, made by Ortho, if anyone is looking to buy any. I don't know if carpenter ants are listed on the label, but they are on the Talstar.
 
I think the 7 or Sevin issue started with me - my bad. I think the wife has some of the Sevin for use around her roses, so I'll swipe that till I can get something mo' better.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

N
Ants and punky wood - now what?
Replies
8
Views
3K
The Wood Shed
Woody Stover
Woody Stover
Woody Stover
Trying a new stack base system..
Replies
18
Views
2K
The Wood Shed
bigealta
bigealta
Mike Lawson
Update with woodstove: Question about Firebrick
Replies
9
Views
2K
Pacific Energy
Mike Lawson
Mike Lawson
MoDoug
The death of a red oak
Replies
22
Views
3K
The Wood Shed
MoDoug
MoDoug
EPS
A Carpenter Ant Question Answered For Me!
Replies
7
Views
1K
The Wood Shed
xman23
xman23
Top Bottom