We had to battle with carpenter ants this past spring. It was untimely as they became a presence during marketing our summer place for sale. In fact, a prospective buyer discovered em for us (teriffic...the good news is we sold the place and rolled the cash into this new pond development). Anyway, I spent time with the pro exterminator and he explained: there is a colony with a queen. The goal is to "kill the queen" (scary thought?) He called the process "baiting". He used a gooey gel that contains a sweet agent to draw them; it is laced with the poison. It is in a hypodermic-type needle and is shot like a small caulking bead into various inconspicuous areas inside the home. Outside, he sprinkled a couple of pounds of what looked like fish meal (tiny flakes) that are also sweet and laced with the same poison. The ants likely reside in a colony/nest in the woods surrounding the home and scouts are working the home looking for a place to establish a new colony. They will ingest the bait, go back to the queen, and regurgitate it as food for her to partake. The poison is a prepared, slow killer so they make it back home to serve the burp-burger supper. He told me that in 2 weeks, they will be gone...he was right on the money. I can retrieve the name of the pro's product if needed...I remember finding it on the internet. It was kind of expensive, but man does it work.
DD-1,
I find it way too ironic (perhaps convenient?) that you selected beer as your sweet trap. I got this mental picture of a beautiful home & landscaping with 40 or 50 near empty beer cans presumably strategically placed throughout the entire property...almost as if someone just dropped em there, one after the other, and started the next one??? :rolleyes:
