It is that time of year when carpenter ants are starting swarm and create new colonies. This is when we will start see winged reproductive males and queens.

The colonies will only start producing reproductives when the reach a mature state. Typically the colony will be 6 to 10 years old and have population of 2000+ workers.

This reproductive state of the colony will happen in the spring on the first warm days. The males will inseminate the Queens then die. The Queen will then remove her wings and begin to look for a new nesting site.

Here we have a “Queen” that has her wings removed. She’s ready to nest.

Carpenter Ant Management:

The key to managing carpenter ant problems is to find and control the main nest and as many satellite nests as possible. Clues to aid in nest location include:

Inspections should consider the possibility of outside nest locations and the movement of ants into and through the structure via wiring and plumbing.

• sawdust extruded from galleries,
• location of foragers,
• trails produced by foragers,
• sound produced by ants within walls or timbers,
• possible entrances which may include wood in contact with soil and unfinished openings in the structure,
• piles of dead carpenter ants or scattered body parts that have been discarded will be seen below nests

The ultimate goal of preventing an infestation of carpenter ants should include:

• One control strategy is to inject the nest site with effective insecticides. The use of gel baits designed specifically for carpenter ants has proven effective for some carpenter ant pest species.
• keeping vegetation from contact with buildings,
• preventing wood-soil contact,
• ventilating to prevent moisture accumulation,
• stacking wood off the ground and away from buildings,
• repairing leaks in roofs and gutters,
• pretreating before and during construction of new buildings

(From the Summary of Carpenter Ant Biology, prepared by Dr. Laurel Hansen, and posted at http://faculty.spokanefalls.edu/LHansen/)

Here is a great document:

CARPENTER ANTS: THEIR BIOLOGY AND CONTROL 

http://cru.cahe.wsu.edu/CEPublications/eb0818/eb0818.pdf

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If you find any errors or have additional information that would expand on any code, building standards or manufacturer requirements please let me know.

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NCW Home Inspections, LLC  is a Licensed Washington State Home Inspection service located in Wenatchee Washington serving Chelan County, Douglas County, Kittitas County, Okanogan County and Grant County Washington and the cities of Wenatchee, Leavenworth, Cashmere, Oroville, Cle Elum, East Wenatchee, Quincy and many more…  

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