Wood destroying insects and organisms are a concern in any home with wooden structure or components. Wood destroying insects cause millions of property damage each year. Wood Destroying insects including carpenter ants, carpenter bees, powder post beetles and termites can damage your structure without you even knowing.

Carpenter Ants:

What do Carpenter Ants look like?

• Carpenter ants are black, red or brown in color.
• Carpenter ants range in size from 1/8th of an inch to 1/2 of an inch in length.

What are signs of Carpenter Ants?

• Damaged wood.
• Live ants. Carpenter ants are nocturnal. They’ll move in and out of your house at night to feed.
• Sawdust. Look for small piles of sawdust “frass” inside your home.
• Noise. Listen for the sounds of their activity in the walls which sounds like crinkling cellophane in the wall voids

What does a Carpenter Ant treatment entail?

• Carpenter ants have a satellite and parent colony. Ants first create a main colony (nest). As their population grows, carpenter ants form satellite nests, which may be inside or outside. Getting rid of carpenter ants begins with locating the ants inside the home with treatment to wall voids where their nests are located. An exterior perimeter treatment placed around the perimeter of your home provides extra defense against carpenter ants and other general crawling/flying insects. There are many tips to prevent carpenter ants such as repairing leaks in and around your home.

Carpenter Bees:

What do Carpenter Bees look like?

• 1/2 to 1 inch long, with black and yellow or, rarely, black and orange body markings.
• Carpenter bees are often mistaken for bumble bees.
• Carpenter bees have a “hovering” flight pattern.

What are signs of Carpenter Bees?

• A carpenter bee begins her nest by drilling a nearly perfectly round entrance hole (about 1/2 inch diameter) into the wood.
• Sawdust will often fall from these entrance holes.

What does a Carpenter Bee treatment entail?

• All carpenter bees holes should be treated individually along with an exterior perimeter treatment to prevent new holes from forming. There are many tips to prevent carpenter bees such as staining or painting wooded areas.

Powder Post Beetles:

What do Powder Post Beetles look like?

• Powder Post beetles are small, brown insects approximately 1/4-inch in length that attack seasoned hard-woods.

What are signs of Powder Post Beetles?

• Small holes about 1/16-to 1/8-inch in diameter.
• Fine, powder like sawdust a result from the boring larvae. The holes are a result of the adult beetles emerging in flooring, paneling, furniture, and other wood materials.

What does a Powder Post Beetles treatment entail?

• A pest control professional will treat the damaged woods with a borate insecticide.

Termites:

What do Termites look like?

• Termites have antennae that are straight.
• All four of the wings of a termites are about the same length.

What are signs of Termites?

• Pinholes in walls and wood trim, bubbled paint in walls and ceilings.
• Termite swarmers and/or termite wings.
• Pencil-sized tubes of mud.

What does a Termite treatment entail?

Thomas Pest Services, offer an innovative solution that eliminates the entire termite colony from the site and protects the structure from subterranean termites for years to come — the SENTRICON System. The SENTRICON® Termite Colony Elimination System is a revolutionary termite baiting technology that provides ongoing structural protection from termites using termite bait to treat subterranean termites.

Termites and other wood destroying insects can cause significant damage to a property in a short period of time. With this in mind, early and proactive treatments can minimize the damage caused by these insects. If you happen to find termites or ants or evidence of them, contact your Clifton Park pest control specialist immediately. Termites and other pests should not be ignored nor treated with over the counter products. Thomas Pest Services has the experience in termite control and preventing termites and ants in Schenectady,Clifton Park, Ballston Spa, Queensbury and surrounding areas. Contact us for a free inspection to prevent these monsters from destroying your biggest investment.