Find a carpenter ant nest
Your first objective should be to find a nest of carpenter ants. Know that there is necessarily a main nest and probably several satellite nests when the infestation is very important.
If you want to get rid of carpenter ants, the most useless technique is to kill the ants found at home! Others will always reappear, so to save time and energy one must find a carpenter ant nest.
Find an indoor ant nest
The easiest way to do this is to inspect the ground at night, using a flashlight. This is because carpenter ants, like most insects, prefer to carry out their foraging activity when humans cannot disturb them.
You can also follow the path of an ant worker in daylight, it can help you find a carpenter ant nest in no time.
Remember that these ants love wood and they build their nests there by digging and throwing wood outside. Result: sawdust on the ground in the desired location: strong clue!
Find an outdoor ant nest
Destroy a nest of carpenter ants
When the nest is outside:
The piece of wood that contains the nest should be discarded immediately. Try to do this carefully by covering your skin to avoid ant bites.
Consider planting ant-repellent plants in your garden later. It is a natural means of protection. Plants to favor are: mint, tansy and lavender.
When the nest is in a building:
In this case, it may be difficult to access it. You can use a vacuum cleaner to remove the ants and possibly the nest.
When the nest is in your house:
To destroy a nest of carpenter ants that is inside your house, there are different methods:
Flood the nest with boiling water
Use essential oils
Attack with borax
Boric acid is often used to destroy a carpenter ant nest. It is a powder insecticide that is mixed with sugar to attract ants and poison them. Warning, we do not recommend using borax if you have pets or children.
Call a carpenter ant exterminator
Carpenter ant extermination services are now very active in Quebec, so it is more reasonable to call on a professional to solve your problem. Years of experience allow them to find the nest of carpenter ants in a single visit, the cost of an extermination service varies according to the size of the infestation. An exterminator will take care of the problem effectively!