# Carpender ants



## OP400 (Mar 31, 2011)

Is there a way to eliminate carpenter ants from a log so you can still use some of the wood? I have the trunk of a honeylocust tree that has the critters in the wood. I saw the holes, but didn't know the ants were there until I made my first cut on the band saw. Any ideas would be great. I would like to get as much wood from this tree as I can.


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## jaxonquad (Jan 26, 2011)

Check with local pest control. I have a friend here locally and he gets me this granular stuff (looks like the stuff used to kill fire ants) takes care of em in a day or 2. 

HD does have some spray. I haven't tried it because the other stuff I was given works great and I like the idea of baiting rather than soaking....


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## Oak Tree Woodworks (Mar 25, 2010)

Submerse the wood in some Denatured Alcohol. I am sure in 24 hours there won't be any critters alive at least.

Now for the rest depending on how it is cut up.. 
you might be able spray the wood with a biodegradable water soap from a sprayer. High consentration of soap to water. throw in some brewed tobacco juice. and they should leave.

Get a Plug of chewing tobacco cut it in half and add it to (brew it OUTSIDE mind you) 2 quarts of plain water. over med heat. for about an hour...

this concoction works good as a bug repellent for your garden plants as well. 
I watched way too much PBS when I was younger.


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## OP400 (Mar 31, 2011)

Thanks for the info. I've used tobacco before on a houseplant (I set it outside) and it seemed to work well. I want to get some pen blanks out of this tree so I may try some of these things.


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## epoxy (Apr 21, 2011)

Borate rods/powder are another idea to consider, good luck


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## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

Carpenter ants don't ''eat'' wood, they eat other bugs, they tunnel into wood just for a place to live. I have milled several trees infested with them, once you destroy their ''home'' (by milling the log) they simply leave. It is a little spooky seeing them scurry out of a log and head to your wood pile though. I just use any old hardware store ant killer (spray or granular) to kill them as they come out. You don't have to treat the milled lumber from the infested log, they will have no interest in it once sliced up. If I get a log with ants in it I most often just flush them out (with a garden hose) well away from the mill before I cut into it.

Just for future reference here are a couple links to ''wood bug'' ID
http://www.upcrc.com/guides/wdamage/dwood.htm
http://www.entomology.wisc.edu/insectid/wood-attk.php


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## Hammer1 (Aug 1, 2010)

Darren is right, they only nest in the wood and usually only soft, punky, wet wood. Chances are the section they inhabited wasn't much good as lumber to start with. Just cut it out but don't be surprised if the log has internal issues, the ants wouldn't have nested there if it was nice and solid.


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