I am having difficulty sharing my garden with nature. I have a ton of ants running around outdoors, and lots of wasps and hornets flying about near my front carport garden. I found these ground nests, and I'm really not sure which pest is responsible. I did see something fly into one of the holes twice, and I'm thinking it's more of a hornet/wasp thing. But then, since I think hornets/wasps feed on ants, could they be ant nests?
Whoa is me! I have had an exterminator around twice this year for both. I am thinking for these ground nests I'll get DH to spray at night, taking proper precaution in the event the nest belongs to the stinging insects.
I hate using pesticides, but the thought of somebody getting stung is disturbing. Also, as I have had carpenter ants show up in the house now and then, I get sspraying done as needed OUTDOORS, not indoors........and I don't want a huge problem that results in the need to spray indoors as I am uncomfortable about that.
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I'm still observing my carport, and the ants have disappeared......FOR NOW anyway. I'm rather hoping the ant traps meant for indoors that I put out in the carport may have helped, but I can't know for sure so I'll keep them out until the weather freezes.
Dawn I just thought I'd give you a heads up. tonight I noticed Ebony sniffing my garage door (wood) and when I looked closer, there they were, carpenter ants on the move. there weren't as many as I had at the last house, maybe a couple dozen flyers and a hundred or so teenytiny crawlers. Apparently they had decided the door would be okay and were also crawling up the side of my stucco garage up to the wooden roof. Luckily I had a can of spray to get them with.
Anyway, just thought I would warn you in case yours are also moving around now too.
Yes fingers crossed. There sure are times when you have to take chemical or other approaches you might rather not use when it comes to pests and the damage they can do. All you can hope is they don't have long term effects on the humans but take care of the pests.
Yes, you probably will have a lot of replacing to do when you do want to paint. My veranda was a smaller example but it is an example. From simple cosmetic job to kill an hour or two to completely rebuilding and all that entailed.
Concerns over structural damage is what drives me to accept pesticide use on the carpenter ants. Although they don't eat the wood like termites do, the boring through they do to make their nests is just as damaging.
We think the problem is likely limited to the fascia boards. Those were looking pretty tatty when we moved in, so we hired someone to paint them a couple of years ago. Unfortunately we are still not in a position where we can afford to paint the whole house, especially since we suspect there may be a lot of boards requiring replacement-thus upping the total cost to far more than one would expect. Some areas of the siding isn't looking so hot either. Our neighbours had their home painted last year, and they said replacement of those really added up!
I hope our roof lasts at least a couple more years. We're crossing our fingers!
Oh gee, if those ants are getting into your roof I think I'd be reallllllly worried. Once those creeps are eating your wood you could be in for some very big repairs not to mention danger if they hit a support. You might want to get some advice from your municipality or someone (who isn't selling treatments) to see how far you have to go with this as it sounds like you have some determined ants there.
I had them on my front varanda at the last house. I never really thought much about them or even noticed them until I wanted to paint the railing. When I was scraping the old paint it became apparent the wood underneath was actually gone in places so I used wood filler. Next day, sawdust in places as the ants started a new tunnel. They really were fast. I ended up having to replace all that wood before painting (typical DIY job gone bigger than expected). I thought I'd taken care of it until I saw those hoards I mentioned coming out from under the step not long after. I'm glad I sold that house because there was a lot of wood on that house and I'm just glad I don't have to deal with it anymore.
Thanks for the info. Who knew! Maybe nature will actually be on MY side in the end.........with the ground nests, anyway!
I did some surfing on the net and it seems both skunks and raccons will dig up at night yellow jacket nests to get to the sweet combs. I guess they are immune to stings.
I have posted a pic of a dug up comb.
I also found this info>
"Since the nest was underground, we located it finally and then went at night and put a big piece of plastic over it, securing it around the edges with earth so they couldn't escape. Before securing the plastic, we poured a little gasoline down each hole.. The gas fumes did the trick. We left the plastic on for a week." The yellow jackets were gone.
Something strange took place in the night. It appears that a few sites were dug up by something. The only things I can think of that could have been roaming in the night are squirrels, skunks, or racoons. We only get the occasional cat, mouse, rat, or rabbit in the yard so I don't think it was one of those. Thesse are before and after shots taken in the morning sun, but 2 of the 3 areas dug are around the small iris that just popped up there. DH is thinking maybe a crow was after something, but I'm just baffled. Maybe I'll wait one more night to see if the 'mystery predator' comes back for more tonight!
I'm pretty brave when there are wasps/bees about when I'm weeding etc., and only occasionally I find it too risky and pack it in. But the swarming thing is a concern, particularly since loud noise can trigger it also. My car has a rumble loud enough to set off car alarms when I park beside cars with perhaps a more delicate system, so I'll have to be careful when I go out in the car with the kids. For now I told my son he can't play in the front.
I had no idea ants were useful to the fishermen! I have a feeling we will be plagued with the problem of carpenter ants until we at least 1. replace the roof and 2. replace the wooden fence. It is said that rotted wood sources are a curse, and those are the 2 things remaining that are suspect to me. We replaced the deck and shed, and thought we solved the problem. But early this year I found a hole in the house behind the deck that I got professionally sprayed and plugged, then the ants took route up a drain pipe to my roof, moving constantly between my side fence and this corner of the house. I got the exterminator a second time in this year to treat that drain pipe and do a second outdoor perimeter spray, and now the ants are on the opposite corner of the house going up my chimney! I think I'll pass on more ant-spraying this year-enough is enough. I'll wait to see if I have a problem indoors over winter, and take action then if necessary. As much as I can't stand any kind of nuisance bug infestation, I am still uncomfortable with regular pesticide use-especially indoor treatments. Hopefully I will be able to continue to manage without that.
:hairpull:
Here in BC (coast and interior) the big carpenter ant hatch occurs without fail during the first hot spell in May. I worked in a fishing/outdoor store when I was younger, and we would sell carpenter ant tied flies by the hundreds over the course of a few days during the hatch!
Be careful. I didn't realize how bad yellow jackets were until a paramedic acquaintance brought his son over to teach him how to mow a lawn (which helped me a lot at the time). Anyway he spotted a yellow jacket nest in the garden of the house next door (about 10' away) and wouldn't let the kid near it. he said they are totally unpredictable and just walking by a nest can cause a swarm. I think he said they take at least one person a day to emerg from being swarmed by them.
So serious little problem if they decide to be. Personally I had walked by that nest at least once a day (actually I had never noticed it) but he said the problem is you never know when they will go off on you.
I think they make a spray you can use from several feet away and I wouldn't use it during the day as they are probably too active then.
As for carpenter ants, the ones we have here can be caught once a year if you are lucky with your timing. They actually can be caught looking for a new 'hive' when they split and all of a sudden thousands of them just emerge. I caught them at my last house just by accident (I was out mowing and noticed the activity). A neighbour also caught hers while out watering one day. I think it's normally mid/late aug but you may check with your local city types who monitor parks and such as they tend to know the cycles of their local insects. It's quite amazing as zillions of them just seem to come out one after the other, dozens at a time, walking and flying and they all head off together like some mass army.
The nice part is you can catch so many (or step on them which is what I did and boy were my feet tired after) as well as find the main entrance to the main hive/nest so you know where to shoot the poison.
Darn-forgot Canadian Tire closes earlier on Saturdays. I'll have to pick something up tomorrow.
Thanks for the input. There's no activity at all around the cans-the seal of the lid is pretty good as the stink is held inside and you just 'die' when you have to open one! These things seem more interested in the garden, and it's maybe either for the flowers/plants/water or the bugs there. My dahlias are really covered with small black bugs on the stems and I never have the handy glasses on to figure out if they are aphids or ants.
if it is yellow jackets they eat other bugs and you will also see them hovering around garbage cans around your home and in public places., so you may want to spray your cans with something too if they are in the area of all the bugs. Ah yes skunks and raccoons visit here quite regularly. The dogs know as they yap like crazy inside and with a flashlight I see them through the windows. :mad:
This carport garden is a magnet for trouble. Earlier this year I had wasps/hornets nesting in the carport roof, and the exterminator treated that successfully. But it seems we always get a ton of these things in the latter part of summer too. I've become pretty good at tracking the nests dwon, the hanging type ones, but I've never had such an obvious in-ground find before. Maybe it's just showing up because of the layer of Black Earth I put down, which makes the dug-out sandy soil so clear to the eye.
I'm housebound today, so I've been observing the activity since 11am. Although I only saw 2 fly into the hole, they were busy collecting stuff. They also flew over to the alarm thing under the peak of the neighbour's roof, so there may be a new 'house' there too. At nearly 8pm now, things have slowed down-hardly an ant in site either.
Tonight I'll go out and pick up a product for this in-ground nest, as we only have the type of spray for hanging nests. Tomorrow I'll be doing a stakeout on my chimney, as there is ant activity there and I don't wish to have them as guest for Christmas, which is what happens when a nest in the house gets going. Been there, done that, told off the pesticide person on the phone who told me twice that "CARPENTER ANTS ARE DORMANT IN WINTER, THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE." (right, lady!) :hairpull:
Ah, the nature this year has been a bit much indeed. Last night I had to close the window when skunk fumes were floating about. Later, around 2am, I heard a rustling in the trees outside and I had to check that out. Guess who came by? Coons! Actually they were kind of cute....FROM MY DECK.
Here are a few pics nest holes and the insect.
They are a few dusts you can by that you spray down the hole at night. You may also try mixing a liquid bug killer with some water and pour it in the holes.
Usually there area few entrance/exit holes with the nest underneth the earth.
Yellow jackets often nest underground.
That looks kind of like the hole I saw a bee digging in my walkway. You say you've only seen something flying in once or twice - could be that it's a type of miner bee. They are solitary (no queen/hive), and they dig holes to lay up to 8 larvae. Once the larvae hatch & pupate or whatever it is they do (need to brush up on my high school biology obviously!) they leave. Personally I'd leave it bee :D but if you really can't handle having it there, a dose of Raid ought to take care of it.
Where's Pearl_girl?. She always knows these gardening type things. We have lots of ants around here but no holes that are that big. You're right to take an aggressive approach before someone gets a bad bite.