Easy DIY method for getting rid of a carpenter ant infection inside the home without the use of chemicals or other toxic substances.
We’ve had two major infestations of carpenter ants to deal with during the 25+ years of living in our home.
The first occurred shortly after we moved in. Our house was built in 1951 and sits in a semi-rural neighborhood with lots of trees, vegetation, and moisture due to a backyard lake. Needless to say, it is the perfect environment for critters of all kinds including carpenter ants.
The first infestation had me calling the pest control company in a hurry!
Calling Pest Control for Carpenter Ants?
Carpenter ants are huge and very scary looking as you can see from the picture above. While they do sometimes bite, there isn’t any poison, so if you are careful, you can pick them up with your fingers and throw them in the toilet or flush down the drain with no problem.
At the time, though, I didn’t know any of this, so seeing dozens of large ants running around my then retro style 1970’s orange and yellow kitchen was not a pretty sight.
I picked up the phone and called pest control and after a couple of toxic sprayings around our house, yard, and then in our attic over the course of a week or two, the carpenter ants were gone.
The Natural Approach is Very Effective
Our second infestation of carpenter ants happened just a few weeks ago, and this time, I handled it very differently.
Having the knowledge and wisdom of 20 years of green living behind me, I was determined and very confident I could resolve this infestation with zero pesticides and no call to pest control.
My youngest was especially freaked out by the enormous size of the carpenter ants even after I explained that they don’t have a sting like other types of ants and picked up one in my fingers to show her. Unfortunately, my little pep talk and demonstration didn’t do much to alleviate her fears of these intimidating, wriggling creatures.
The carpenter ants were swarming in our kitchen and bathrooms and after starting with just one or two here and there, over the course of a week, they came in by the dozens overnight while we slept making for a very scary turning on of the lights in the morning if you know what I mean. We spent the first 15 minutes of the morning vacuuming them up before we could even get started with breakfast!
Find Where The Ants are Trailing
After watching and observing their patterns over the course of a day or two, I determined that their primary mode of entrance into our home appeared to be the drain of the dishwasher.
Knowing where the carpenter ants are getting into the house is a helpful piece of information, but not entirely necessary if you wish to eradicate them yourself via nontoxic measures.
In our case, the dishwasher drain seemed a likely ground zero, so I mixed up my carpenter ant killer ambrosia and set the bait.
How to Mix Nontoxic Bait
My one cup of ant bait consisted of the following all of which cost less than $1. Believe it or not, this is all that was needed to get rid of ants quickly and easily.
- 1/3 cup of powdered white sugar
- 2/3 cup boric acid (where to find)
That’s it!
Note: you may use borax powder for a less strong mixture.
When I took our container of boric acid out of the garage utility cabinet, it consisted of a bunch of hardened chunks that needed to be pounded out as I hadn’t used it in a long time. So, I took out my mortar and pestle and pounded out a few big chunks to re-powderize and then measured it into a small ziplock bag that contained the appropriate amount of powdered sugar.
Boric acid is a colorless white powder that is a mild antiseptic, but certainly not a problem to the health of your family even if you touch it with ungloved hands. It is found in nature in some volcanic environments near Tuscany and Nevada. Boric acid and its salts are found in seawater and plants including almost all fruits.
Keep Away from Pets and Children
Of course, you need to keep it away from small children and pets. It is poisonous if ingested or inhaled in large quantities.
However, it is probably the least toxic form of insect bait you can use around your home. The one exception is diatomaceous earth, which unfortunately doesn’t work as well or as quickly for large ants where I live.
Where to Place the Bait
I placed a couple of tablespoons of the carpenter ant bait in the lid of an empty jar I was going to recycle and placed inside the dishwasher on the bottom near the drain just before going to bed. Before I did this, however, I was careful to run a load of dishes and empty everything out so the dishwasher was completely void of any plates, glasses, or utensils.
A Happy Ending to our Carpenter Ant Infestation
The next morning we were delighted to see that there were no carpenter ants running around the kitchen! When I opened the dishwasher to have a peek, they were swarming around the bait but were totally confined to that area.
I gently closed the door of the dishwasher and left the ants there, happily eating away at the bait they would take back to their nest to kill the whole colony.
It took a few days, but gradually, the carpenter ants swarming inside the dishwasher completely disappeared with nary a stray one left!
When I needed to run the dishwasher in the interim, I simply removed the container of bait, ran a load, emptied the clean dishes, and then replaced the bait near the dishwasher drain.
Simple, effective, non-toxic, and best of all, cheap with no call to pest control to come and spray who-knows-what hormone-disrupting, carcinogenic chemicals around your home for your family to breath and absorb!
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How do you get rid of them in your ceiling
How do you get rid of them in your ceiling we have a log cabin and they are way at the top of the ceiling
Try to see where they are trailing in and set the bait at that spot.
I just discovered yesterday as I was going to plant flowers near our desk that it was infested with ants…I believe they are carpenter ants as well. I will be trying this method out to see if it helps to get rid of them.
How much water/honey did you add, and was this just to make it clump up slightly?
Should I wet this or leave it dry?
Many thanks! It a wonderful website!
There are many different carpenter ants, the florida carpenter ant is red & black. These ants do not eat wood however they will certainly excavate through wood as the colony grows essentially wreaking havoc through a structure. Carpenter ants like damaged wood caused by termites, warm and damp areas like below a dishwasher under a tub , I think this woman is mistaking carpenter ants for another species that just happened to be on a tree, she was quick to say you were wrong though lol.. I experimented with different ratios of boric acid/sugar, to much of the boric the ants avoided the bait, a 3/1 ratio seems to work for me ( 3 parts sugar to 1 part boric acid ) and used warm tap water not bottled it makes no difference might have to heat the water a little to dissolve completely I added honey to thicken my mixture to a thicker paste like terro ant killer. My carpenter ant problem was outside but I think I have a satellite colony in my walls the main colony was in my back yard 60 ft away from where I spotted them on my fence I placed my bait in the path and would come outside nightly to check just over a week I noticed larger ants carrying white eggs or something so I must have gotten the queen with my bait but now Im seeing them inside my kitchen and bathroom at night and on a different side of my house, I realize they aren’t aggressive but that doesnt change how creepy they are,
Thank you so so much for all of your helpful posts! I used your method to get rid of our carpenter ants and it worked! It took a little longer since I forgot to moisten some bait for them and took a while to find their entry point. But they found the pile anyway and have disappeared! Whoohoo!!! Praise God! Also, I am going to use your suggestion for a fire ant hill I found out in our yard last week. We live in Iowa and don’t have fire ants as natives, but they have been moved up here over the years, unfortunately. Thank you so much for your posts on fleas etc. I am SO excited to order and use that microbe product that I feel like I have struck gold! Japanese beetles have become a serious problem up here over the past 6 years. Now, we all of an infestation of moles like nothing we have ever seen. From what I have read, we have the Japanese beetle larva to thank for that. They eat them. So we don’t want to get rid of our moles anymore. ☺️ I have a feeling people will be asking why our yard is the only one without mole veins covering it once those are gone. Seriously, it looks like moles have taken over the country side.
A carpenter ant infestations sounds scary for sure. I’m glad a found a way to get rid of them completely.
You are wrong about carpenter ants! The ones in PA. do bite and can be very nasty. They will also destroy your home made of wood.
Yikes! Glad we don’t have that type in Florida!
Yes, the bait should be mixed with warm distilled (not tap) water.
Place a piece of paper towel or a cotton ball in the container you plan to use and pour the water/boric acid and sugar mixture on to the paper towel or cotton. This method gives them a bridge and you’ll collect more ants. They’re attracted to the liquid. Using a 3 ml. syringe (or whatever you have), inject the water to keep the bait moist as it can dry out. The ants step in the mixture and carry it back to the nest.