Tag: carpenter

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Insect

Carpenter Bees – Do They Make Your Heart Pound When You See Them?

Carpenter bees look an awful lot like bumblebees, and you’ll often need a second glance to make sure which one you’re looking at.
Since both bees have bodies larger than their wings neither one looks like flying is a viable option for them. Every time one takes to the air it defies physical laws. But the visible difference is in the arrangement of the colors on these bee’s bodies.
Both have bands of black and yellow, the yellow on the carpenter bee is dull compared to the brighter yellow of the bumblebee. You’ll find yellow on the bumblebees abdomen, but the carpenter bee abdomen is black.
Also, the black abdomen of the carpenter bee is smooth and shiny. What Kills Moth Larvae A bumblebee is hairy, giving its abdomen a fuzzy, dull look.
These bees have different nesting habits too. The bumblebee Homemade Bug Spray For Indoor Plants builds its nest in the ground, or often in brush piles.
One late summer day as I mowed the grass I pushed the mower past a brush pile, and suddenly felt slight pain just above my ankle. I thought at first a mosquito bit me, but the pain was a bit more intense than mosquito bites. I didn’t pay it much attention at first, but after a couple more passes (and a couple more pain hits) I looked down and noticed some welts on my legs.
Looking around I noticed a number of small bees flying in and out of that pile of brush. Checking closer I realized they were baby bumblebees.
Studying the brush in the area of their entry and exit point I discovered a nest in the brush pile, which didn’t take long to eliminate once I knew what I dealt with.
Carpenter bees nest inside the wood of your structures, or in fence rails of wooden fences, even inside logs of woodpiles.
Carpenter bees chew their way into the wood from the bottom. They don’t eat the wood, they discard it as they drill a tunnel a few inches upward, then make a 90-degree turn and continue digging their tunnel horizontally inside the rail, or beam, or log.
After they tunnel a while they lay their eggs at the inner end, then use the discarded sawdust from their drilling to build a wall, creating a compartment to protect the eggs until they hatch.
If carpenter bees use your buildings to establish their “nurseries,” and you let this go on too long, you’ll have enough tunnels inside your support beams to weaken your structure. Eventually the building will collapse.
Bumblebee stings, from adult bees, hurt. This is one bee to stay away from.
Here again there’s a difference between the bumblebee and the carpenter bee. Male carpenter bees don’t sting. The female carpenter bee has stinging abilities, but you really gotta make her mad, and that’s tough to do.
But like I said, these bees look a lot alike, and if you get close enough to identify which bee …

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Lawn

Win the War Against Carpenter Ants

Home ownership, without a doubt, includes dealing with bugs. Few people would say that they like it, and yet it is something that nobody can avoid, regardless of their feelings. These living things do not just exist outside, spotted on the odd picnic outing or camping trip, they will get into the house, as well.
You may not have ever considered bugs, particularly carpenter ants, a threat. Oh sure, they would occasionally show up on the dresser in your room or a counter in the kitchen, but they were quickly dealt with. All you had to do was squish them with your hands, shoes or a tissue, and then the problem was gone.
After all, one or two ants can hardly cause any trouble, right? Wrong. Carpenter ants can actually forage through wooden items in the home, making said items weak, unstable and full of holes. For homeowners who encounter these trouble making ants, this is a costly problem if not treated.
Spotting a carpenter ant can be easy as pie once you learn how. The next time you spot an ant, be sure to check for several things. The first thing to look for is the size of the ant. A carpenter ant averages at about half an inch and their bodies are typically humped at the back. As for coloring, they are black in color, but will also have red, yellow or gray hairs on their bodies. Before taking any kind of specific action, however, you should ask an expert who can let you know what you are dealing with for sure.
When you are ready to try to get rid of them, there are several options available. The first thing you can do is dip a few cotton balls in a solution that is a mix of warm water and boric acid. Place the cotton balls near their nest, should you be able to find it, and wait for results.
If this is not something you would like to do, you can also spray the entrance to the nest and ants with aerosol pesticides. Should you find that none of these methods are How To Keep Bugs Out Of Drawers working, you may want to look up a pest control company. These companies can provide extermination services that will keep the insect control ant bug problem in check.
Carpenter ants may look like just another bug, but they can cause big problems for your home, digging and destroying your walls and other wooden structures. Trying to get rid of them on your own is fine and does Pest Control Courses work, but sometimes it is best to leave it up to the professionals. Be sure to consider their assistance before giving up and letting the situation grow even worse. Persistence is key in coming out the victor.…

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Tightening

Residential Pest Control: How Termites Differ From Carpenter Ants

Carpenter ants and termites have a lot more in common than most people would think especially when it comes to pest control. Termites and carpenter ants are both responsible for a large chunk of residential pest control house calls each year because they are both wood destroyers. Wood damage remains the number-one complaint by homeowners in regards to pests.
As any local pest control company will tell you, termites and carpenter ants will destroy the wood and interior of your home if left unchecked. This can cause expensive-to-fix damage and even threaten the stability of your home. Both pests cause billions of dollars in wood damage each year and can only be eliminated through expert pest control – ants and termites are both skilled at hiding their presence.
Physical Features
Al though often mistaken for each other in appearance they do have major differences, one of which is their body shape. Termites have a head and a thorax; whereas ants have a head, thorax and abdomen. Termite Pest Proofing Your Home wings are also usually much longer than ant wings. If you find an infestation but are not sure which type of pest it is you can bring a specimen to a local pest control company for identification.
Why They Use Wood
Termites and carpenter ants will both munch on the wood in your home however termites do it for nutrition while carpenter ants use it for shelter. Carpenter ants actually cannot digest wood cellulose and so will burrow into it instead of eating it.
One thing to keep in mind when it comes to pest control: Termites and ants both need access to water and will thrive in a moist environment. How To Prevent Mice In Apartment One residential pest control tactic to deter both pests is to eliminate food and water sources and keep the air in your home dry.
Where They Seek Shelter
Both termite and ant colonies can and will live inside the wood in your home. They will chew away at the inside of wood beams until they become hollow and begin to show surface damage. Carpenter ants tend to prefer wood that is already molding or rotting. This provides the perfect conditions for a colony: dark and humid, with insulated moisture. Termites, on the other hand, prefer to shelter in mud mounds, above or below ground. If you find any signs of a termite or carpenter ant nest, call a local pest control company right away to schedule a full inspection.
The Damage They Cause
Each of these pests leaves different evidence of their damage. To the trained eye of an expert in pest control, ants are meticulously clean. All insect remains and wood chippings will be removed from the nest leaving only little sawdust-like piles near damaged wood.
Within termite-damaged wood, you’ll find lots of remains, insect parts and mud. Termites travel through mud tubes within the wood in order to move food back and forth therefore termite-damaged wood will be much messier …

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Pests Hiding Spot

Halt Carpenter Ants in Their Tracks

How many times have you come across a pesky little ant in your home? Normally, you just squish the little bugger and move on. However, carpenter ants can do some harmful damage to your home. Here are some tips on how you can identify these little pests, what kind of damage they can do, and why it may be best to hire a professional pest control company to handle this problem.
Carpenter ants are scientifically known by the name of Genus Camponotus. The tiny creature got its name because of the way it bores out nests in wood. Carpenter ants are normally How To Get Rid Of Black Eggs On Plants black, but can also show shades of red and yellow. They are normally around a quarter of an inch to three-eighths of an inch in length and their antennae has twelve segments.
They sometimes have colonies of up to 3000 worker ants, and while they are known for boring their way through wood, their diet consists of other insects and human foods, especially sweets and meats. These ants usually live for around 7 years, but the queen will actually survive for around 25 years. The best ways to tell a carpenter ant from other ants is by their evenly rounded upper surface and waist that has only one node. Now that you know what they look like, you will need to know what kind of damage they can do.
Carpenter ants have the ability to eat through the wood of your home. This is not because they are hungry, but rather in search of a place to nest and raise their young. These ants also prefer wood that has been moistened already. This means the section of your house that they are eating through has likely been in a state of disrepair for some time already. Carpenter ants not only live in wood, however.
They are happy with any secluded place that is warm and humid enough to protect them from predators, meaning you can also find them in things like seldom used garden hoses, fence posts, and curtain rods. You can tell damage done by carpenter ants by the appearance of the damage. The galleries Choisya Pests And Diseases they build are very smooth on the inside, which is different than the shoddy look presented by beetles and termites. These ants can cause damage that can effect the structure of your entire home, which is why you will want to consider using an extermination services company.
Having a professional insect control ant and bug expert handling your situation will likely be the best way to manage your carpenter ant problem. This is because finding the source of the problem can be tricky, even for a professional. A pest control expert will be able to figure out just the right place to administer the proper insecticide to get rid of the problem for good.
Most store bought products will only result in a temporary solution, while a company providing …

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Bugs Control

Carpenter Ants – How to Know If You Have an Infestation and Need Professional Pest Control Service

Carpenter ants are one of the most common ants in the Northwest and posses the ability to destroy one of your most valuable investments, your home or rental homes!
Carpenter Ant Outdoor Activity:
The smaller male carpenter ants will begin crawling about as early as February and the larger females will emerge a little later in the spring. Their outdoor Garden Pests Control activity primarily consists of workers traveling between foraging sites and their nests or moving a satellite colony into a structure, like your home.
Colonies generally consist of a queen, brood (larvae and pupae) winged ants, and workers. Older colonies usually have satellite colonies, in addition to the main colony, containing workers, older brood and often some winged males and females preparing for mating flights (swarming). (Make sure your tenants know to contact you if they are seeing large flying ants, in or near your home. Their presence could mean that there is a nest close by or already within the structure.)
Main colonies are often found outside in damp wood (tree stumps, wood piles, etc.) where young brood can be raised in high humidity.
Indoor Activity
Satellite colonies do not require high moisture and can thus be found in various locations, indoors or outdoors and in very dry locations like beneath insulation in attics, Eucalyptus Oil For Bed Bugs sub-floors, window frames or wall-voids. The number of satellite colonies can vary from none to over 20, depending on climate and the length of time allowed to infest.
Though carpenter ants do not eat wood like termites the damage cause is comparable because they excavate tunnels and galleries into the wood to store their food and young.
Carpenter Ant Facts to Keep in Mind:
1. The ants you see crawling around the home are often only 5 – 10% of the actual ant colony.
2. During warmer months, carpenter ants are most active at night. People often mistake this for their absence.
3. Wood is not the only substance they excavate. They will choose other firm materials of similar density: foam, insulation, pressure treated wood, etc.
4. They come in different sizes, meaning they are “polymorphic.”
5. The queen can live over 20 years and can produce hundreds of thousands of young from just one fertilization.
4 Ways to Know if You Have a Carpenter Ant Infestation:
When looking to hiring a professional for Carpenter Ant treatment, ask yourself or your tenant the following questions:
1. Have they been present in your home for over a year?
2. Have you seen them during the winter months?
3. Have you seen winged varieties prior to their mating flights (swarming)?
4. Have you heard regular chewing noises especially at night?
If you or your tenant answer, “yes” to any of these questions, you can assume that you either have a satellite or main colony nesting in your home. This level of infestation will most likely require professional treatment.
If you answered, “no” to all of the questions but are still …

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