Where do carpenter ants nest?

Where do carpenter ants nest? Do you know? Not many people do.  The reason is that like it or not if you have carpenter ants you also likely have moisture damage.

Carpenter ants are a common issue in Connecticut.  In fact its the call we most often get for service, so when I get a chance to show someone where ants nest I take it.

The moisture around these window frames provide a perfect nesting spot for carpenter ants

Last week I was driving in Brookfield, CT and I saw a beautiful older colonial in the midst of a rehab.  The siding had been removed to show the underlayment covering the wood sheathing.  Since I was stopped in traffic I had the opportunity to look closer.  When I did I spotted the unmistakable signs of water damage. If you would like to know where do carpenter ants nest, look no further than the picture to the left.

The water damage that’s pictured is very common around window frames.  This is especially true where wood or vinyl siding may have been installed improperly.

As you may know carpenter ants don’t actually eat wood. Instead they look for moist wood and chew threw it and build colonies.  There are 2 types of carpenter ant colonies.  They are main colonies and satellite colonies.  Main colonies will likely be in wet wood like these windows and satellite colonies in a drier areas.  If you happen to find a main colony you’ll see that it contains both major and minor workers as well as reproductives and a single queen.

What should you do if you find a carpenter ant colony in an exposed window frame? This is the ideal situation and is easily solved with any contact kill aerosol.  This will eliminate the colony permanently in this area.

Last, the majority of homes that have ants have finished walls.  In some cases a service person will know the nest is located in a window frame.  In these cases the best course of action would be to drill a small hole near where the ants are seen exiting.  Once this is complete injecting a insecticidal dust will finish the job.

Carpenter ant control is easy once you know where they are.  The hard part is finding them and window frames are one of the top 3 locations to find carpenter ants.

If you have carpenter ants and need help, call Envirocare Pest Control at 1-888-879-6481. We can help

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