Ants. Indoor ants. Uninvited wood-eating indoor ants.

[88V8]

So there's this ancient wonky beam in our 400 yo cottage.
Little piles of dust begin to appear on the floor.
At night, I see ants.
Small ants. Not carpenter ants, thank goodness.

Due to cobbled up extensions over the years, this is a beam in two parts.
The front, a lintel over an internal doorway, is about 5x6", the dust is emerging near one end. The depth allows me to drill it at intervals and inject woodworm fluid (Cuprinol 5 Star) which I do, a lot of fluid as the beam was once external and is somewhat rotten. Many many years ago it was 'rot-proofed' by charring it with a blow lamp.
After three days the fluid has no perceptible effect on the dust production.

The back part of the beam is about 10" wide, of unknown depth as it's buried in the ceiling. That also is a lintel. Between the two parts, the beams support an 18" stone wall.
Under the back part of the lintel, the dust appears at the opposite end. Rather a lot.
Because it's buried in the plaster, there's insufficient depth to drill it with a down-slope, even using a flexible drive, and without a down-slope any fluid will just run straight out.
And in any case the fluid doesn't seem to work.
Hmmm.

So I tape a Nippon feeding station under the back beam, beneath the source of the dust. I cannot see whether the ants are feeding on the Nippon, but they are certainly feeding on our beam. Mucho dust.

There is no easy way to get above the beam.

How to proceed..... I have some insecticide smokes, those things one can use in a greenhouse. I think to put two of them in a cardboard box, tape it to the underside of the beam beneath the dust hole and set light to them.
That might produce a result.

Any other possibilities?

V8

[bungeejumper]

I could be a hundred miles off here, but are you sure the ants are the problem, and not a sign of something else? Ants have been known to feed on peskier bugs, or to farm them. I recently found an indoor ant colony that was feeding on scale insects that had sneaked into my citrus plants. Might be worth looking into what else ants will eat. Death watch beetle grubs, for instance?

It's been a long time, but ISTR reading that some sonic pest repellers worked on insects. Fried their little brains, apparently. Not that I'm 100% sure I'd want to risk something like that frying my brain as well, but you get my drift?

BJ

[Bouleversee]

I am plagued with ants this year (as are my neighbours) and there is no doubt about it; I can see the little blighters marching up and down and going into their holes. It is not wood which is getting their attention but mortar, in between paving stones, block paving, patio, steps and even the stones of a wall which is rapidly becoming a dry stone wall. They are also throwing up anthills in my lawns. They get into my conservatory, downstairs bathroom, kitchen and other rooms. I have put down some ant traps baited with a special fluid and squirted a special spray down obvious holes. In some areas I have sprinkled a powder. The diy shop has umpteen products claiming to deal with ants in various situations. It remains to be seen which will work best but, like the acorns, they are more numerous this year than previously whereas bees, wasps, birds and butterflies are in short supply..

[richlist]

In my part of Essex the weather this year has been far wetter than previous years. All the lawns are lush green when normally in August, at the height of the summer, they are usually yellow, brown and showing signs of drought. I'm sure that's why the ants are having a good year.

We use a product called ' Ant Stop' . Small white granules, sprinkled around, the ants take them back to their nest where it kills the colony in a few weeks. Works for us although I'm running out and struggling to find anywhere that stocks it. It's available on Ebay if you want to pay the postage costs.

[Itsallaguess]

We use a product called ' Ant Stop' .

Small white granules, sprinkled around, the ants take them back to their nest where it kills the colony in a few weeks. Works for us although I'm running out and struggling to find anywhere that stocks it. It's available on Ebay if you want to pay the postage costs.

I bought some 'Ant Stop' from Amazon a few years ago, and my tub still has some of the brilliant stuff in it -

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Home-Defence-Stop-Killer-Granules/dp/B00K5QYRUI

I've had really good results with it, although thankfully these have all been external to my home, with no need up to now for internal extermination, but I'm sure it would have similar good results if used internally as well...

I much prefer it over the powder-based solutions, primarily because there's no air-born powder, which I've never liked the idea of when using those types of applicators, but also because when using these 'Ant Stop' granules anywhere near cracks, crevices or holes, a small brush can be used to direct all the granules directly into the necessary dwellings, and that probably helps to explain why I've used to little over the past couple of years, and it's lasting so well...

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

[DrFfybes]

How to proceed..... I have some insecticide smokes, those things one can use in a greenhouse. I think to put two of them in a cardboard box, tape it to the underside of the beam beneath the dust hole and set light to them.
That might produce a result.

Any other possibilities?

V8

I suspect wrapping somethng in cardboard, taping it to a wooden beam, and setting fire to it would produce a result, and could get rid of the ants as a byproduct

The one I tried for moths war a pyrethrin 'fogger', although you do set light to it - in my case on an old tin food container on a brick.

Have you tried just shoveling Ant Powder into the holes you drilled?

Paul

[9873210]

Is there not something on every insecticide to the effect "COMPLIANCE WITH THE FOLLOWING CONDITIONS OF USE AND ALL PRECAUTIONS MARKED* IS A LEGAL REQUIREMENT"?

[bungeejumper]

Is there not something on every insecticide to the effect "COMPLIANCE WITH THE FOLLOWING CONDITIONS OF USE AND ALL PRECAUTIONS MARKED* IS A LEGAL REQUIREMENT"?

I don't know. Twenty years in the shed has rotted the labels off all my old pesticides, and all my old weed treatments too. In fact I can hardly remember what some of them were for. But hey, so far, so lucky. I wonder what this bottle of Agent Orange does?

BJ

[Bouleversee]

88V8 -

You might consider the Nippon Ant and Crawling Insect Killer which comes in an orange spray. The stream setting sends a very narrow jet with reasonable force which you should be able to direct into a hole if you can see it but you might want to wear goggles, face mask and rubber gloves if you are going to be spraying upwards and have a polythene sheet underneath to catch any drips. Are you sure it's not woodworm, though? Have you actually seen any ants? It's easy to squeeze woodworm liquid killer from a can into a hole in a controlled way.

Perhaps the manufacturers of both products could give you some advice or your local pest control people.

[88V8]

I have some insecticide smokes, those things one can use in a greenhouse. I think to put two of them in a cardboard box, tape it to the underside of the beam beneath the dust hole and set light to them.

I suspect wrapping something in cardboard, taping it to a wooden beam, and setting fire to it would produce a result, and could get rid of the ants as a byproduct

Yes.
Well, perhaps that needs some refinement

Thankyou to those who recommended the Ant Stop - yes, I have seen ants - I ordered some granules via eBay. I could put that in a tin lid and tape it beneath the hole.

The good news for the moment is that the dust has greatly slowed down. So perhaps chewing poison-impregnated wood has become detrimental to their health and the Nippon has proven irresistable.
We shall see.

I have been trying to find where they are coming in. One would expect a catwalk somewhere as they go in and out to feed, but I cannot find it. Mind you, with a thatched there are plenty of options, and until the advent of an effective cat, we couldn't even keep mice out, let alone something the size of an ant.
The cat also has a taste for spiders.
But not ants.

V8