bees! ants! exterminator?

9 years ago

Do some ant colonies have both large and smaller ants? When we raise one of our garage doors, both sizes spill out onto the cement floor from a corner, with the big ones spreading out like Samurai warriors. (NW corner of the garage.) I put ant bait out yesterday; too soon to see any effect.

This morning I found two dozen teeny ants coming into a lower kitchen cabinet from where the water pipes enter the house. (North-facing wall.) Sprayed. Maybe should put ant bait there?

Bees are coming in and out of a dime-sized hole in our foundation. (West side of the house.) Using wasp spray three times hasn't deterred these bees, and I don't want to imagine how many are IN the wall above the hole. (None in the basement.)

Is it our record-wet summer? It's still HOT -- have had the A/C on for days. We do have a big storm forecast for tonight.

I'm starting to think I need professional help. Any advice?

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Comments (7)

sheilajoyce_gw
9 years ago
Do get professional help. You don't want to let the bee colony grow to such an extent that you have to tear down your walls.
ghoghunter
9 years ago
I also vote for professional help. Especially for the bees. Are they really bees or are the hornets? If hornets they can sting over and over. They can be dangerous!
Joann
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bob_cville
9 years ago
The first ants description sound like they are carpenter ants -- which you really don't want living in your house. The different sizes in the same colony, the defensive behavior, and not taking the bait all point in the direction of carpenter ants.

For the second ants the bait might work I'd do that and use caulk or something around the hole.

My guess on the "bees" is that they are yellowjackets, which are small, with bright yellow and black striped abdomens, and no sense of humor at all. In one house we lived in there was a yellowjacket nest just under the bottom board of the siding, right next to the back door.

If the door slammed, they'd come out angry. I bought a cheap can of wasp and hornet spray, and tried spraying them as they came out. The force of the spray would knock them to the ground, you could then continue spraying until one was in a puddle 3 inches across, it would walk to the edge of the puddle, shake off, and fly away. I returned the cheap spray for a refund, and bought a name brand can that worked much better. However after spraying the exit extensively they stopped using that exit, and instead would exit into the basement. Yay.

At a different house there was a nest of them in the ground, and solution I tried there was to set the snout of a shop vac next to the hole, turn it on, and leave.
sheilajoyce_gw
9 years ago
I have seen news stories of huge honeycombs between the studs of a house. Some were so big that honey oozed through the walls. All had to be removed, and that meant ripping out to the studs. So do get professional help. if you want, you can call the kind of bee keeper who specializes in removal so that they can relocate the hive.
chisue
Original Author
9 years ago
Thank you all for the advice! The exterminator just left.

Yes, the different-sized ants in the garage are carpenter ants. He sprayed.

The 'bees' are indeed hornets, and dead and dying ones started appearing in the basement after I posted yesterday -- effects of our wasp spraying. The exterminator guesses they started their nest only six weeks ago. The adults will die from the spray he used, but we may see a few more hornets as larva mature. At least now we can vacuum up the corpses in the basement. The central vac cannister is only a few feet away.

I'll take care of the kitchen ants.

When I tried to call the exterminator yesterday...I had no dial tone on our land line. Guess where the phone box is! Yesss...on the basement wall beside the hornets! A coincidence?

After spending 30 minutes on hold with AT&T this morning, they say they will send a tech out...SATURDAY. Wow, service in five days! Isn't that wonderful? Now I *know* it's time to cancel the land line. The only incoming calls on it are robo-calls anyway.
sjerin
9 years ago
I hope you will remember to warn the phone guy about the hornets! People do die from their stings if allergic to them.
chisue
Original Author
9 years ago
The reason I waited to call for phone service was to be sure the exterminator would have come. When I called, I told the dispatcher about the hornets.

Amazingly, someone did come out this afternoon! It took her two hours to trace the difficulty -- not in our phone box, but in two further-distant 'boxes'. We've all been in the basement now without troubles. I have high hopes the nest is not going to re-establish.

bees! ants! exterminator?

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bees! ants! exterminator?

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