Carpenter Ants?

[toberah]

It must be spring... Any kid-friendly, green solutions?

[Jenniffer]

It must be spring... Any kid-friendly, green solutions?

They like moisture. Dehumidifier?

[Black Dog]

They do like wet/moist wood. If you can get to the wood they are eating I think the most people/pet/environmentally friendly way to get rid of them is a product called Timbor. It's really just a powdered form of Boron or Borax which is a fairly inert mineral. At treatment strength it's harmless to humans and pets but kills wood boring insects (carpenter ants, termites, powder post beetles, old house beetles, etc). You make a solution by mixing it with water and spray it on the wood. It will soak in to a depth of 1/8" to 1/4" depending on the wood. When the little crawlies bore into the wood they ingest the boron and it keels them dead. Another benefit is that when the solution dries it crystallizes on the surface of the wood. That means other non-wood eating insects get it on them when they're crawling over it and then they ingest it when they eat or preen.
Good, safe stuff. I used it on all the framing of my house when I exposed it to replace the siding.

[Brian]

Though its not kid freindly, the best luck I've ever had is using boric acid in sugar water. Google for the recipe, its pretty common.

Put the mixture, along with some cotton balls in a small tub like a butter dish with no lid. Put it where kids and animals can't get to it. Don't worry, the ants WILL find it.

Once they do, you will see a slew of them coming for it.

Don't use too much boric acid, it doesn't take much. The way it works is that all the workers come for it, ingest it, then take it back to feed the colony. If it's too strong they will die before providing it to the colony. Once they ingest, the way I understand it is that their innards cannot absorb liquid and they literally die of dehydration, but the key is to make sure the entire colony gets to partake.

[toberah]

Though its not kid freindly, the best luck I've ever had is using boric acid in sugar water. Google for the recipe, its pretty common.

Wikipedia says it is about as toxic as table salt and works on roaches as well as preserving wood. There is a good spot where there are ants that the kid can't reach. Where do you buy it?

[Tony]

First, whatever you do, DO NOT spray them! Carpenter queens are very sensitive to the smell and the colony will very likely just SPLIT. Then you'll have TWO colonies!

You can buy ant baits at most local stores I think. Just remember you need to get the brand that says it's for both kinds of ants. Raid currently calls theirs "Double Control". See http://tinyurl.com/cdktrc . I don't know what specific poison they're using this year, but there's no way kids or pets can get into these things.

The only problem with boric acid and these other typical household baits are that it takes some 4-6 weeks to kill the colony. It works, but you'll have to live with them for a month.

If you're really serious about knocking down the whole colony quickly, you need something with lots of Fipronil in it. Try http://www.acepestcontrolproducts.com/caanco1.html - see the Maxforce Carpenter Ant bait gel. Like a 65% kill rate in 48 hours! I drill a couple holes in old pill bottles and put the gel inside those; kids and pets can't open them.

PS If you need any Timbor, contact me. I seriously over bought the stuff a couple years ago and have a ton of it left.

PPS Come on over and I'll give you a little fresh gel.

[Brian]

Boric acid can be found at many pharmacies. I figure it took about two weeks to do that job last time I used it. That was on the large black ants.

[toberah]

PPS Come on over and I'll give you a little fresh gel.

Really? I can knock on your door with an empty pill bottle! Let me know when (evenings or weekends anyway)!

[LazerFlash]

Maybe you could get these guys to come up with something a bit smaller, for home use:


http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/57/W48_155-millimeter_nuclear_shell.jpg




(The device is a 155 millimeter tactical nuclear artillery shell.)



http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a1/Upshot-Knothole_GRABLE.jpg/250px-Upshot-Knothole_GRABLE.jpg

[Jenniffer]

Really? I can knock on your door with an empty pill bottle! Let me know when (evenings or weekends anyway)!

Step into my parlor / Said the spider to the fly

[derricksonb]

It must be spring... Any kid-friendly, green solutions?

Squish 'em. It's fun for the kids, it's environmentally friendly and it solves the ant problem.

[Tony]

Ah yes, the "Ant Dance". A primary form of entertainment for about one day in Spring. But, despite squashing hundreds of 'em, you'll quickly realize there's simply no way you're going to be able to keep it up until the last ant walks past you.

[derricksonb]

....you'll quickly realize there's simply no way you're going to be able to keep it up until the last ant walks past you.

There's always WD40 and a lighter.....

[grafxgirl]

This is the first time we'll have our cat, Juniper with us for the spring. We've discovered she likes to play with them and eat them. Guess I don't need an exterminator this year.

[Tony]

Alas, ants have a nice chemical weapon of their own against cats - they're all loaded to the gills with formic acid. A close cousin to formaldehyde, the stuff tastes awful. The cat will learn, long before The Colony is threatened.

Now, the combination of the Ant Dance, WD40, a lighter, and a flaming cat dashing around...
http://smilies.vidahost.com/contrib/paladin/flamethrower.gif