Carpenter Ants...HELP!

6960 Views 9 Replies 6 Participants Last post by sahli29, Feb 18, 2010

MrsBeck

Discussion Starter · Feb 16, 2010

We have suddenly been invaded by Carpenter Ants. Weirdly enough, the only place in the house we are seeing them is in our bedroom, where there is no food for them. Unfortunately, they seem to like our bed, and worse still, they are nocturnally active. I'm normally pretty live and let live with crawly creatures, but I draw the line at GIANT ARMORED ANTS in my bed. One, it is unpleasant to be awakened by a crawly sensation, Two, THEY BITE! Last night, one sank it's mandibles in me hard enough to break the skin. Very bad way to wake up, I was quite upset, and did not sleep the rest of the night.

We've laid out some "Ant Hotel" type baits in the area we think they are coming in at. What I need now is something safe to put on the mattress and bedding, to hopefully make the bed repellant to them...without making it repellent to us. Our kids are older, but we do have an indoor cat and dog to think of. Any ideas?

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MissMommyNiceNice

· #2 · Feb 16, 2010

Diatomaceaous Earth might help. We had them eat the floor out of a sunroom in an old apartment we used to have. It really sucked. We ended up having to spray them, it was so bad. But a floor is different than a bed.

One thing that does help, even though it sounds weird, is a lot of time they come into houses b/c they are thirsty. They then stay b/c they find easy food source. Setting out a water source outside the home can really help.

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MrsBeck

Discussion Starter · #3 · Feb 16, 2010

Any ideas where I can find Diatomaceous Earth? Do you know how long the DE will take to eradicate them? I will be searching around the walls and foundation looking for leaks...there must be something in the interior of the wall that is attracting them...there's no leaks anywhere in the bedroom, and certainly no food.

My biggest issue though is finding a way to get them to stay off my bed, NOW. I cannot stand another night like last night. I'm hoping someone knows some magical substance that will draw an anti-ant force field around my bed!

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MissMommyNiceNice

· #4 · Feb 16, 2010

Try spraying it down with alcohol and then make a circle of salt or chalk around your bed on the floor. Move it away from the wall so you can make the circle complete. It works, as witchy as it sounds.

And I know witchy.

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MissMommyNiceNice

· #5 · Feb 16, 2010

Oh, and you should be able to get DE at a real agricultural store, like a feed store or something like Tractor Supply. Around here we have Agway & the Tractor Supply.

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Asiago

· #6 · Feb 16, 2010

You can also find DE at pool stores (it would be pool grade.)

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MrsBeck

Discussion Starter · #7 · Feb 16, 2010

Quote:

Originally Posted by MissMommyNiceNice

And I know witchy.

That's exactly the kind of advice I was hoping for. Some kind of protective circle. Thank you! DH may wonder if we've found a new religion, though!

Google seems to think citrus oil would work...any one have any input on that? I imagine the oil is pretty concentrated...not sure we would like sleeping on sheets sprayed with pure citrus oil.

About the DE...is that the same stuff that's in fish tank filters? There's a pretty high-end Aquarium supply store just down the street...it's a lot closer than any sort of agricultural/pool supply store.

Thanks for all your help so far, Mamas!

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bigteamug

· #8 · Feb 16, 2010

All the things mentioned may help in the short term with sleep, but in the long term, you want to get rid of those bugs. They will damage your house. They do like soft, wet, rotted wood - do you have dampness or gutter issues?

Also, I saw a book on the new book shelf at our library:

http://www.livingwithbugs.com/bug_book.html

Not sure if it is any good or not, but might be worth a look. There also looks to be a website...

Get rid of them now, before they get any more established.

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mumkimum

· #9 · Feb 18, 2010

We did use a citrus all-purpose soap for cleaning around things when we've had ant-issues, and have found it helps (used citra-solv, but there are others for sure). We get our boxes of DE at gardening supply centers, so that's another place you could check out for something. I'd do the perimiter of the room and lightly dust the floor (do you have wood floors? - if so, then kind of sweep it around too so it gets in any small cracks they might be coming in through and leave it for a week or so).

Also, regular ant baits don't often work for carpenter ants. A good pest company could probably suggest other baits or etc. that would be "safer" around pets and gentler to have in your home much less in your bedroom (instead of steering you toward heavily toxic stuff - we got good advice for gentle treatment of a tree in our front yard that had carpenter ants from a company we found in our area).

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sahli29

· #10 · Feb 18, 2010

Maxforce carpenter ant bait works.In a pinch you can use boric acid mixed with some jelly.At certain times the CA's eat protien or sweet foods.You can find the boric acid at many stores in the pest section.I get some at dollar store in spring. Put some bait out and watch where they take it.If you can find the nest that would be great.If not then just bait till they take enough food back to the nest to kill themselves.

A search will turn up plenty of things you can buy on line to bait them.Cloves and mint oil will deter them from the bed area.I hope they don't have a nest in your bed frame! I have come across some huge ones too,but TG never been bitten.Good luck!

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