Ants stealing my wood!

robertm · May 4, 2020

Pulled the cover back on my wood pile yesterday to discover a bunch of mesquite chewed up and some of the oak crawling with ants. They appear to be carpenter ants. I don’t want to lose the wood and I don’t really want to throw 100s of ants in the smoke box either. A little concerned since the wood pile is close to the house as well.

I’ve read soap/water kills them, water bowl with sugar and baking soda kills too. Spraying water/ vinegar supposedly deters them.

What do you guys like to get rid of and keep them away?

BillN · May 4, 2020

Here in Az our mesquite is full of mesquite borers which leave big piles of sawdust, I'm not aware of anything I can do about it, the wood either has them or it doesn't. It still burns and creates tasty smoked meats.

Lynn Dollar · May 4, 2020

I have found something similar on some pecan I've been seasoning for the past year. I thought it was termites, but since I've got the wood elevated on blocks, I could not figure out how termites got to it.

I'm in the process of moving my pecan to another location.

Gimmethecash · May 4, 2020

I had a couple loads of Oak with powderpost beetles leaving lots of powdery sawdust. Almost none of that since I switched to Almond, just have squirrels now, and I keep the woodpile a good 20 feet from the house.

ModelMaker · May 4, 2020

Buy an anteater.
Ed

SmokeRingsMatter · May 4, 2020

First of all, move that wood pile far away from your house. I had both termites one year, and another year carpenter ants get into the firestop between the floor and the foundation. Luckily we caught it early and got rid of them. Would also be a good idea to get some termite stakes and ant pesticide and spray the perimeter of your house.

LYU370 · May 4, 2020

ModelMaker said:
Buy an anteater.
Ed

JD08 · May 5, 2020

Carpenter ants don't eat wood like termites. They nest in it.

1. Keep your wood away from your house. You don't want them confusing your house for firewood.
2. Get it up off the ground and not resting on more wood.

robertm · May 5, 2020

Thanks for the feedback. The oak was obviously ants. Evidenced by the ants crawling all over when disturbed.

The mesquite I assumed was ants but didn't see any. Split a couple logs open last night and found a bunch of fat juicy grubs. Quick search on the net, it's likely they are mesquite borers. Doesn't matter, they are huge and not going into my smoker. There is a pile of holey mesquite at the curb of my house if anyone wants it :wink:

I am going to heed the advice of folks on here and move the wood further from the house. I just wish my wife hadn't suggested that a couple months ago when I initially set up!

frayedend · May 5, 2020

I may be wrong but I think carpenter ants only mess with wood that is already rotted. Termites will eat good wood, but not carpenter ants. So if that's the case you maybe had a rot problem with the wood already? I just make sure when I'm stacking or chopping wood that any soft stuff is not put in the pile.

Lynn Dollar · May 30, 2020

Have you any luck getting rid of these ants ?

I have carpenter ants in my pecan. I used T-posts on the ends of my wood stack and ran 2X4 on top of concrete blocks to set the pecan on, but they still got into the wood.

I'm spraying the ground under the pile with Spectracide Terminate, which the active ingredient is Lambda-Cyhalothrin. Been spraying almost daily for the past 10 days and still seeing some signs of activity.

I'm not sure this is the right approach and not sure what to do next.

Adam05 · May 30, 2020

You can order Termidor and spray the ground around the wood pile. It’s what the pros use for termites and will knock down the ants and termites quickly.

Kmm · May 30, 2020

Definitely get the pile away from the house. Carpenter ants like to work on wood that is damp and soft. They are capable of searching out suitable nesting locations in the interior of the buildings, often far away from where they enter the structure. Yes they will praise he*% with cellulose base materials. So far as burning them....they will have no effect on flavor or food safety. Most folks who have had to repair for their damage will tell you burning in fire is a fitting end.

Sopchoppy · May 30, 2020

Last week I noticed the powder dust in a big stack of hickory that was cut 6 months ago. Started unstacking and notice pencil lead size holes in the bark in just about every piece.
Got to the bottom of the stack and found 20-30 small 1/4" beetle looking critters. No ants at all. Split several pieces and couldn't find any larvea or bugs inside, just tiny holes. Sprayed permethrin where the wood was stacked and waited a day to restack. Checking daily for dust, so far so good.

Lynn Dollar · Jun 2, 2020

I don't think carpenter ants are my primary problem. I found some kind of larva in a split today. It appears to have been in the process of morphing from a worm to bug or beetle of some kind . I will try to post pics with my phone.

Lynn Dollar · Jun 2, 2020

I found this in one of the grooves in this split

Lynn Dollar · Jun 2, 2020

Something is boring into the wood, laying eggs that hatch into a worm, which becomes a beetle of some kind. I have found worms that were alive, but this thing is dead or maybe dormant.

Ants stealing my wood!

robertm

is one Smokin' Farker

BillN

somebody shut me the fark up.

Lynn Dollar

is Blowin Smoke!

Gimmethecash

is one Smokin' Farker

ModelMaker

Quintessential Chatty Farker

SmokeRingsMatter

is Blowin Smoke!

LYU370

Resident Idjit

JD08

is one Smokin' Farker

robertm

is one Smokin' Farker

frayedend

Full Fledged Farker

Lynn Dollar

is Blowin Smoke!

Adam05

Found some matches.

Kmm

Knows what a fatty is.

Sopchoppy

Full Fledged Farker

Lynn Dollar

is Blowin Smoke!

Lynn Dollar

is Blowin Smoke!

Lynn Dollar

is Blowin Smoke!

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