carpenter ants in insulation

[digitS']

It didn't seem appropriate to go back to put an update on this in the "what I did in the garden" thread. Behind the insulation board in the greenhouse, what had those ants been up to? Nothing.

What damage had been done to the wood sill and studs?? None that I could see. No hole into the plywood so they didn't work their way out into the cedar exterior.

Where were they? Entirely in the foam board. And, "they" amounted to 1 ant . . . There was an area hollowed out with multiple entrance/exits. They/he riddled about 3sqft in 2 boards.

I suppose I should not complain since this is a first in about 15 years but I don't want an ant to cause me so much trouble again. What do you do about carpenter ants?

Steve
who has $80 invested in some 2 by 4's, ready to build that new greenhouse bench today!

 

[ninnymary]

Steve, no ant advise here. Just wanted to say that I'm excited for you in getting ready to build that greenhouse bench. It's going to come in so handy.

Mary

 

[NwMtGardener]

Man, thank goodness it was only one! With that amount of square footage eaten up, if he had friends and family over, your greenhouse would be GONE!

 

[digitS']

There wasn't even any poop in there unless it looks like shredded foam insulation. That stuff had been pushed out of the complex and how I discovered the work he was doing. What was he eating to gain all this Mighty Ant strength?

Honestly, I thought they ate wood. That may show you how far my thinking has gotten on these things.

Steve

 

[thistlebloom]

Just one ant? That's so weird. Must have been a confirmed bachelor...and only in the insulation is strange.

We get carpenter ants every year coming up on the front doorstep and disappearing under the siding. I'm too scared to even imagine what they are up to...some day I may lean on that wall and it will collapse!
I hope not. I have in the past put a wide, thick band of DE around the entire house up against the foundation and that seemed to help. I also swept as much as I could behind the siding where they were going in and out. Whether that kills them and I just get new arrivals every year, or I'm wasting DE, I don't know.

I welcome them out in the wooded area because they do their job, but I guess they didn't get the memo that the house is off limits.

 

[thistlebloom]

Well they don't actually eat the wood Steve, they just excavate for their nests.
That's why you wouldn't see his castings.
I'm not actually sure what they do eat though. Maybe vegetation?

ETA- You got my curiosity up and I found this interesting page of info from the University of Minnesota. They even specifically mentioned ants in foam insulation.

 

[digitS']

Thank You, @thistlebloom!

A "satellite nest" makes sense. Of course, that means there are others, elsewhere.

I don't doubt that. I don't have trouble finding them during warm weather.

Steve

 

[digitS']

Steve, no ant advise here. Just wanted to say that I'm excited for you in getting ready to build that greenhouse bench. It's going to come in so handy.

Mary

I hadn't a clear idea of all the effort needed to set the 9 concrete blocks, 3 under each bench leg, Mary!

Try to level each as it is placed but it still comes down to pulling up 3 at a time to scape away or add another 1/2" of soil to get the legs level. Hours later, I'm almost ready to start cutting a few 2 by 4's!

Steve
victim of the way he did things in the'90's & seriously out of shape!