Ants in the woodpile

[Eric Johnson]

I've stacked firewood in my basement for more than 25 years in various old houses and never had a problem with carpenter ants. And that's in the Adirondacks. They only wreak havoc on wet, rotten wood.

Now I live in the Mohawk Valley and yes, we have big black ants in the house this spring, but they're not carpenter ants. In a couple of weeks they'll be gone, with no damage done to the house.

A forest-dwelling ant living in a tree is not going to attack your house.

 

[Henz]

Well, anyone else wanna chime in?

 

[Bill]

Erick your experience is just that, I am an Entomologist for 32 years, and my opinion is a professional one. Not seeing carpenter ants in your house does not mean they are not present. Yes carpenter ants nest in homes and they like homes because they have water and mild winters. Carpenter ants only lay eggs in wet wood, but damage insulation and dry wood all the time. They even nest in hollow core doors, around dishwashers, bath tubs, overhangs, flat roofs etc. They are very complicated to control and can lay 1000's of eggs per day. So please don't give the readers here the idea that they will not infest there home, because they will.

They store dead insects in wall voids and eat this food overwinter. Carpenter ants do not hibernate they go into a stage of Diapose. They follow pheromone trails and can have dozens of satellite nests within a 300 foot radius of your home. Ant baits are useless against them, they have a stop feed action. Very thorough inspection at night may lead clues to where they travel and where you need to treat.

When splitting wood I crack ant infested wood real small, if it's heavily infested I throw it into the woods. In the Midwest carpenter ants do more structural damage than termites. Seeing black ants in the house should be taken very seriously. There are several different carpenter ants that vary in size and color, they are not all large and black. In the nest there are male and female non reproductive and also swarming reporductives, that can fly, and multiple queens.

 

[Henz]

Smokey, I have found a few big black carpenters and they seem to be more prolific this year than last. 1/2 of my house is crawl space the other old stone laid foundation and yes, it can get damp. My question is, what should be my first plan of action>? I have contacted both Terminex and catsEye pest control for pre-liminary inspections.

 

[Bill]

I recommend Termidor for an exterior perimeter spray, you may have trouble finding this material, but it's the best. The damage they do is slow but constant, they will not ruin your home in a short period of time, so don't let anyone pressure you. But if you look in the pictures forum of the big oak log with the winch on it, you can see they hollowed out an 8 inch hole 4 feet up the center of the tree. In a big wind storm this tree could of went down. If you live in the woods, or bring lots of wood home I would do three outside perimeter spays just as a preventive.

 

[Eric Johnson]

True enough, all I have is my experience. Quite a bit of it. I'm also a bit of a DIY fanatic, so I'm all over, under, in and around the houses I've owned. And in all those years of cutting firewood and storing it in various basements, porches, wood sheds and garages, I've never had a carpenter ant problem or found an infestation of any kind.

I'm not saying that carpenter ants don't cause structural damage to houses, just that I've never seen a relationship between ants in firewood and ant-related structural problems in any house I've lived in or owned. Obviously, its better to be safe than sorry, but I did think it was a bit of an over-reaction on ADKwoodburner's part to nuke the ants. I think the birds and other insect-eaters will probably get most of them, but if you poison them, it seems to me you run the risk of poisoning the birds as well.

Anyway, if what you say is true, Smokey, there shouldn't be a woodshed standing, including the one on my parent's farm in Waushara County, which has been kept stocked with red oak firewood--much of it from ant-infested trees--for the past 100 years.

 

[Henz]

Hmm, interesting takes on a contraversial problem..We "nuked" the aunts because we sell the firewood and dont think we want to take a chance at selling wood full of aunts to people.
Overall, I would rather be safe than sorry with aunts of anykind coming into my house.

 

[Bill]

There is no secondary poisoning with contact insecticides, so no worry about the birds, another one of my hobbies. Some people get ants others don't no rhyme or reason. I have had carpenter ants in my city home, no firewood, no wood-burner, but old elm trees near by. But my cabin seems to have none in the house, but I spray a few times a year. But the trees have them and bringing infested wood close to the house and in the house changes your odds. The home to ants is like a greenhouse is to plants. A very nice comfortable environment, that's why we live indoors in winter. You just want to minimize your risk. The wall voids of your home are not an easy place to inspect for damage or activity. So some precautionary steps may prevent a problem. Having water damage or leaking in a home in a wooded environment is the leading cause of carpenter ant infestations. Storing ant infested wood in the attached garage or basement is also not a good idea. When your splitting firewood even if it's infested with ants they will only be in part of the tree, maybe using that wood in the fire pit outside would be a better choice.

If anyone has ant problems I am more than happy to help out with info.

 

[Henz]

Well, my house is a heaven for ants...I have several inches of gap betwen my old rock foundation and the damn sill plates..My house was built in the late 1800;s and remodeled by a not so great do-it-yourselfer. It really was a bad purchase on my part..We are making improvements to it..One is having the iceoneyne sprayfoam in the crawlspace in July..Hence, the reason why I want to get the crawlspace treated etc..Also having it all done around the sill plates.

 

[Bill]

I like that spray insulation, fills every nook and cranny. There probably isn't a house made an ant cannot get into. I have even seen them in IV tubes in hospitals, imagine that.

 

[Eric Johnson]

Thanks for the information, Smokey, and the clarification on the risk to birds.

I've noticed that even wood that is full of ants when you process it, doesn't have any after it sits around drying all summer long. I think once you destroy their home by splitting the blocks, they either find a new place to live or succumb to predators in the process. I didn't find any ants in the pile when I restacked my firewood over Memorial Day weekend, but I did find plenty of walnuts and walnut shells.

Just another argument for drying your wood out properly--and keeping it dry.

 

[Henz]

did you say "re-stack" your wood! what is that all about. I ahve 10 cord of wood, two rows deep, 6' high and 7-8 4' pallets long drying in the sun..Its drying really nice

 

[Bill]

That's very true, I think when you open the wood and let the light in they often leave. There mostly a nocturnal animal and drying the wood out makes the environment not as hospitable. I have the little skinks in my wood pile, the ones with the blue tail, I bet they snack on them like popcorn all the time.

 

[Henz]

yeah, when spliting that softmaple, it was like a stampede away from the wood when we split it..carrying eggs and hitailing it..

 

[Bill]

The eggs look like the ants are carrying rice.

 

[Henz]

yup, exactally it. they were just pouring our of the but end through a big crack

 

[Eric Johnson]

I thought the rows were looking a little shabby and I had to replace the wood that I burned over the winter in the barn with the stuff that's been sitting outside. So ten cords went into the barn and the remaining 15 or so got repositioned out back. Crazy, I know, but it's part of my spring yard-cleaning routine. This wood is all 2-3 year old beech and hard maple, and it's very dry.

How much do you sell a cord for, ADK? Dry or green? Delivered?

 

[Henz]

Well, we buy whole logs so it all depends on what we get it for..This winter/spring was a good year for us to buy logs. We were getting them delivered t oour landing for $50/cord. Our small operation can pump out a cord an hour, thats buck and split not stacked. We typically sell green wood split for $150.

 

[Eric Johnson]

I was down in Pennsylvania last week at a trade show and a guy was telling me that he gets $120 a cord green, you pick up. $150 a cord for green wood sounds about right for this part of the country, though it can get quite a bit more pricey in places, such as near ski resorts and population centers.

 

[BrotherBart]

I thought the rows were looking a little shabby and I had to replace the wood that I burned over the winter in the barn with the stuff that's been sitting outside. So ten cords went into the barn and the remaining 15 or so got repositioned out back.

Sounds like you will make it to that "year ahead" by fall.

 

[Henz]

we deliver. we dont sell alot, I am talking like 30 cord through the summer up till about October..We also keep like 10 cord dry on had and sell that for alot come February..We get around $225 a cord then!

 

[Eric Johnson]

Things go the way I'm planning, BB, and I'll be 4 years ahead come fall. That'll be 40 cords and a new boiler that shouldn't burn more than 10. I think of it as a tax-free investment, but really it's just an obsession.

 

[Henz]

I have a friend like that, actually the guy who I do firewood with.ITs crazy how many rows of dry hardwood he has..But also nice to know if I run out I can grab some of his as long as I replace it in the spring!

 

[BrotherBart]

Things go the way I'm planning, BB, and I'll be 4 years ahead come fall. That'll be 40 cords and a new boiler that shouldn't burn more than 10. I think of it as a tax-free investment, but really it's just an obsession.

40 cords is gonna be a picture we just have to have! That picture will do more damage to my self esteem than the head cheerleader turning me down for a date.

 

[Henz]

I hear you there. I am tryingto get two years ahead, but with two kids, one being 8 weeks old its almost impossible