Problem ants

[cody]

It seems some Camponotus have made themselves at home in my grandparents walls. If they were not such a bother I would absolutely love them! They are really becoming a problem though and I'm in quite a dilemma. I know how to get rid of them but don't want to kill them! I don't really know what to do should I do.
Can anyone give me advice on how to get them to move without killing the colony? If you can I would really appreciate it!

[Wood~Ant]

Hi Cody and welcome to Ant Hill World

That's a real problem your grandparents have, as over here in England we don't have any ant species which nest in the wooden walls of houses, basically because they haven't got strong enough jaws to chew into hard wood. Although many do nest in soft wood or rotten tree stumps.

I have noticed that many homes in the USA are constructed almost entirely from wood, as they were cheaper to build than brick houses. To Camponotus species a wooden house is just another tree, so they make a nest in them. As like most ant, bee or wasp colonies, they are not discovered until they become a fairly large size and well established.

Sadly poisoning them is often the only option, but you could try making the wooden walls a very hostile place to live for the ants. Perhaps try smoking them out, or spraying the wood with a strong solution of disinfectant. I honestly don't know if anything will drive the ants to move out, but it is worth a try as long as your folks can put up with the smell for a short time

Hope this helps, and I'm sorry I can't offer any other solution to your grandparents problem. Good luck