Nothing like coming home from elsewhere for a few days and seeing that tell tale sign of a perfect wee pyramid shaped pile of sawdust right on the floor in my living room,in front of my recliner.

They swarm every May and my chickens patrol the grounds like guard dogs eating every one they find.

Ive never had them in the house before.

Well they found a way up the wall to a massive tamarack tree trunk beam that spans the whole living room. The ends are inside the wall resting on the wall foundation,with the wood ceiling meeting nicely around it.
Its part of the "log home look" and the tenants are not paying rent.

The beam had a check crack partway down on one end,and in attempt to fix it,I filled it with that spray foam.I painted over that to have it look like part of the beam.Its been fine for years,till now!

I didn't realize ants love foam till Ken (White17) kindly informed me,so I promptly tore it all out,much to the dismay of the ants who angrily tried to thwart my progress. Its amazing how fast they suck down into a vacuum...I did get an amount of them right then but I fear there are more that wont show up in the crack check now.

The check has been left for a few days and every morn I listen for noise of ongoing party,and look for more sawdust.
So far I haven't heard much,and theres a few ants in the house roaming here and there.There is no food or water leaks inside or outside the cabin that is attracting them. They just seemed to take a liking to my big tamarack beam!

I dont trust that they're gone from my beam despite no more signs or sound from there, and Ive been looking into an effective way to get rid of them or at least to convince any others against moving in for the future.

Ive done research and learned a lot so far,and I think this may be whats called a satellite colony.

Ive learned they like basically two kinds of food,protein based and honeydew sugar based. Depending on what they want most at the time...

I would appreciate advice from you ADC folks please!

Advance 375 A ,a protein based bait, and Optigard Ant Killer Gel,a sugar based bait has been suggested ,along with a few other similar baits so far.

I would use bait carefully so that my chickens wont find it,or any of the other songbirds for that matter.

The forests around me are vast and the ants just can't be controlled there,but I can make a "fence" against them around my place.

Since I know where they are trying to nest,I plan to put a ladder up against it and drill a few holes partway into the beam from the very top (where they can't be seen) and put something in there to crash the party permanent.

Evergreen Dust applied with bellows has been suggested as a vey effective killer for them,as was Termidor Foam. I dont think I like the foam idea as any ants that may come out of the holes will be foamy and a mess to vacuum up.

Diatomaceous earth sounds like a great idea too.Also Seven dust....

After crashing the party,I would caulk up that check crack and paint over that to simulate the log and leave the holes for future access if they try that ever again.Or I can cork them up like a big oak barrel of whiskey,lol

Any ideas I would greatly appreciate help with before I actually order something.

I can't think of any better place to ask than here!

Thank you so much for any help advice you can muster.

Hey Sharon, make sure you draw some pictures of the ants. According to my son, we usually use Termidor but I noticed we also have

several bottles of Advance granular down stairs. Don't forget to pick up all of those very tiny saws, hammers, and screwdrivers that

carpenter ants tend to discard when they're choking on poison.

You could treat your beam with borate.

Barring that I'd worry about a leak in the roof and and eggs/larvae hatching out unnoticed. Not always, but most carpenter ant colonies are located around wet wood.

Termidor is the ticket.I use the foam for termite swarmers mostly.A little Advance granual goes a long way.Follow their trails to the house and put a little amount of granuals in out of the way areas where the chickens cant get to.
If you dont have access to termidore sc,you can use the foam on the trail where they walk.The foam will dissipate to liquid after a short time and do its magic.You dont need much.

Paul, nice to "see you" again! Ive enjoyed visiting with you at the WCT rondys.
What sort of pictures would you like to see? Them fleeing in terror covered in Termidor from the beam getting sucked up into the Black Hole of the vacuum? I think Trapstickman would do the perfect art for that one.
And yes Ive got a collection of the wee tools.Ill have a yard sale soon.
I like your info on the Advanced product. Advance 375-just like my 375 H&H big game rifle...

EBL, thank you too for your info. I have been hearing about Borate....my roof is metal and a bit less than 10 years old,and I did wonder about that when I read they tend to like wet wood. Ive seen no sign of leaks or moisture sign in the roof or walls,but I will keep checking anyway.

Vince,thank you and it sounds like the Termidor is the ticket. I can order all these things online easy enough.

And thank you guys who sent me private message to help. Your life experience is of great value. There is not one bug control company who services the outback where Im at,unless I missed calling one... so Im really on my own in this adventure.

Im learning a lot about this and one good thing is that these adventures stick with you in 20/20 foresight always in the future,and enables one to help others too along the way.

Ive seen these ants for years and eyed them with a raised eyebrow in mild interest,but now they have knocked on the door and received my full attention!

If they will not pay me back for use of my beam they will have to go.

Im not looking foreword to being on the ladder drilling a few access holes in the top of my beam into the nest, but the ends are worth the means.I see no more dust on the floor,or hear any sound from inside,but I can't believe they're really gone till I treat the beam inside as best I can.

Ill keep y'all posted....thank you again for your kind help.

Well heres the update of my journey with my ants:

I picked a couple choice places to apply the Advance protein and Optigard sugar gel baits. I placed two cages at those sites and placed the baits inside. That way my chickens and other songbirds can't access it.

It wasn't too long before some ants came in and found interest in the sugar get more than the protein. Ive heard they switch back and forth depending what they want so its ok.

In looking at the foundation wall I saw the line of transport the ants were on and had the thought of placing the gel on the wall itself-in the small holes and ledges right in the concrete in their path. The get sticks to the wall pretty well and lodging it in the wee holes and chinks was easy with the plunger application.

They lined up in groups at that gel like piggies to a trough! I was happy. The big and smaller ones liked it. No one seems to like the advance,though-but I thought I did see some carrying a few grains. Thats ok Ill keep both out anyway.

Some time later in the day I went out to check and there was still some gel left,but they were not lined up on it like I expected. I figured them to eat it till it was all gone. But Ill keep applying it anyway,and if they act like they like the gel when its just applied,Ill keep refreshing it.

At some point later Ill treat the house perimeter (away from the bait stations) with the Termidor and that should do it.

At least this way Im relieved I wont need to bore into my big beam after them. I see no sign of them still there anyway. They've gone elsewhere.

Heres some pics of them reacting just seconds after I put the gel in the chinks in the foundation wall.



You can see the shiny gel they're feeding on in the holes. Some of it ran more like water and they liked that too.




Id still like to know why they didn't still line up on it and finish it all-theres still some gel left. But Ill keep refreshing it.

Thank you all for your help. It works.

A perimeter spray of perithium for 15 to 20 feet works good for a lot of insects. If you got the pressure, do the whole building. Make sure to soak under the eves. Once a year and flys are non existent

Kermit,thank you for your good info. I like the thought of that footage.