If you live in Watertown, CT and need carpenter ant exterminating services, today is your lucky day. Envirocare Pest Control just moved into our new office at 1020 Echo Lake Road in Watertown, CT. The office is located directly behind FedEx and a half mile from Crystal Rock Water.
Pest Control for Carpenter Ants in Watertown, CT
Carpenter ant control is the most popular service we provide and also the most confusing to understand. Many people mistakenly think that carpenter ant control is easy. Unfortunately, carpenter ant control is actually quite difficult. The reason is that carpenter ants nest in wall cavities and (as you know) we can’t see through walls any better than anyone else.
However, there are clues that a professional exterminator will use in order to find a carpenter ant colony. They are:
- Live ants foraging in the home
- Presence of large black ants with wings
- Sawdust congregating under a window or roof line
Do-It-Yourself Carpenter Ant Control
Every spring and summer millions of people use bait “cups” to supposedly solve carpenter ant problems. However, very rarely (if ever) have I seen the do-it-yourself remedies work. There are many reason for this, but the two most common are:
- The ants never found the bait
- There were not enough bait cups to do the job
Assuming there is enough bait, if the ants find the bait and deliver the bait, it will work. But unfortunately, even the best plans don’t always work.
I Only See Ants in the Spring and Then They’re Gone
If I had a dollar for every time I heard this I would be a rich man. The reason this takes place isn’t because the do-it-yourself remedy worked or that the ants just left. What typically happens is that the ants’ food source has changed and the weather has changed, too.
Carpenter ants are actually more active at night, making them a nocturnal insect. The reason many people see ants inside in the spring is that the evening outside temperature is too low and the carpenter ants’ favorite food source is not active yet. Ants love the honeydew that is secreted by aphids in the summer. If you really think about when you stop seeing ants inside it will likely correspond to consistent daytime temps in the 80s and evening temps in the 60s.
How Do You Exterminate Carpenter Ants?
There are truly only 3 ways to get rid of carpenter ants.
- Feed enough carpenter ant bait to enough foraging carpenter ants and hope they survive long enough to pass that product around the colony.
- Find offending colony and treat it directly. The colony may be in a wall, tree or anywhere else, but the entire colony must be gone.
- Have a professional apply what are called non-repellant insecticides both interior and exterior and hope that enough ants come in contact with the colony and it dies.
How Do Professional Exterminators Do It?
A true professional will rely on a variety of methods and will use each judiciously depending on the circumstance. There are no cookie cutter ways of getting rid of carpenter ants and this is why it’s best to hire a professional right from the start.
If you have carpenter ants or know someone who does, Envirocare Pest Control can help. Simply fill out the form below for more information and we’ll be in touch within one business day.