Ants Problems in Cumbria - Know Your Enemy

The usual ant problem in Carlisle and the Solway Plain is the Common Garden Ant or Black Ant. It's natural habitat is outdoors, with its nests tucked underground amongst plant roots, down lawn cracks, under stones and paving or, less frequently, in brickwork.

The ants invade houses in search of food, particularly sugar, jam, honey, treacle etc. The number of ants involved in an infestation is often very large, which means that there is no quick or easy method for a householder to clear these pests from their home.

Your ant nuisance is a very organised social insect. Worker ants on the hunt for food are the invaders you see indoors! They are sensing where you have sweet foodstuffs to carry off to their nest where they are used to feed the developing larvae and queen.

Ant Removal in Carlisle - Ask for Ant Control from Carlisle City Control

The flying ants which emerge in summer for their swarming flight and nuptials, are the fertile drones and females. The drones and new queens swarm in the air during a few days in July or August. Ants mate on the wing. Fertilised females then fly down and hunt out a safe location to create their new nest. Lying low over winter, the new queen will start laying eggs as spring starts warming the ground. A new colony has been born and you will probably have half a dozen in a typical Cumbria garden. The nests are only a real problem when the workers discover your sweet store!

Other ants that may make their presence felt include the small, tropical Pharaoh’s Ant, which will seek out protein rich foods instead of sweet stuff. Their lifecycle includes creating multiple inaccessible nests dipersed throughout the building's fabric. A pale coloured ant with a dark thorax and head, the Ghost Ant is cropping up in heated buildings more regularly nowadays. Similar in size to Pharaoh’s ants, these pests mean you need control by professional operators.

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Signs Of Ant Infestation

You see ants in your house or workplace
Small piles of wood dust
Sounds of rustling from a suspect nest
Winged ants emerging
Soil mounds over cracks in paving

The first clue to an ant infestation in your house or workspace is often visual! The sight of ants on the move in the building suggests further investigation is necessary. Usually these will be black worker ants which are usually more active in darkness. If numbers increase noticeably, then it's likely there's a nest close by. Worker ants are no slouches! They can and will go a long way from the nest get the food the nest needs. So seeing workers isn't a guarantee that the nest's nearby.

Another tell-tale sign of ant infestation can be small piles of sawdust by small openings in woodwork. Ants will often hollow previously damaged wood for their colony. The debris is often just carted out and dumped in small piles. Bits of dead ants can sometimes be a final confirmation, mixed in with the sawdust.

Sometimes you can hear the ants in their nests! Faint rustling sounds can often be heard from a suspect nest site giving another good clue. Use a hard object to hit the wood where the sound is loudest to stir the ants into defensive activity which should help you hear better.

With summertime, an ant infestation is often confirmed beyond doubt when the bigger flying ants emerge to fly off and mate. Window sills, door jambs and spiders’ webs are the usual discovery points. Flying ants will only be seen, en masse, close to their nest as: they disperse rapidly once they've taken to the air. If they are in the house, then you've definitely got an ant infestation problem.

Outside, ants often like to get beneath paving slabs and blocks. The clue is small conical mounds of fine grained soil with a “crater” in the top! The worker ants have excavated soil and piled it round an entrance tunnel!

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How To Get Rid of Ants: the Carlisle City Control Way

Ants can often be dealt with successfully by property owners themselves, but if your own homegrown methods do not work, or the ants return, then it would be wise to call in pest control professionals to help.

The traditional kettle of boiling water is effective as first aid but rarely clears a nest.

Ant Control Treatments That Work For Carlisle Homeowners

Aerosol insecticides can be bought over the counter at local DIY & garden centres. It’s important to follow product instructions as the chemicals can be quite harmful: used wrongly!

Powdered insecticides can last for weeks and kill ants by direct contact. The powder is poured directly onto nests or entrance tunnels if they are accessible. Powdered ant killers are usually no good outdoors as rain will wash them away.

Electric flying insect killers are useful for short term control when flying ants emerge.

Crawling insect pesticides also leave a residue on the surfaces where they’ve been sprayed around the cracks and openings you’ve identified and will last several days if they are not washed off.

If the problem is persistent – or keeps recurring then a professional ant control company, like Carlisle City Control, is usually the quickest and least stressful alternative for home or business. Carlisle City Control’s service includes:

We’ll conduct a quick Survey:to assess what ant control measures are needed.
Carlisle City Control can provide quick careful treatments with pesticides that do not cause problems higher up the food chain
Species Deterrent: Once we safely get rid of rats from your home or business, we will carry out further rat proofing work for your peace of mind: preventing future infestations.
All work is carried out by BPCA (British Pest Control Association) trained and qualified

Book your free consultation today

Ant Problem Prevention

Prevention is always better than cure and ant infestations can nearly always be avoided by a few simple precautions

Plain old fashioned good housekeeping in food areas
Storing food in properly sealed containers
Cleaning up spillages, especially of sugary foods straight away
Empty and clean bins regularly (not allowing food to rot)
Seal any holes or gaps around windows and doors

Ant Infestation Control Strategies For Carlisle Businesses

For businesses ants go beyond nuisance value. Uncontrolled, an ant infestation can damage profits and your customers' opinion of you! If your business is in any food handling or medical environment ants could potentially close you down. Pubs, restaurants, hospitals, offices, warehouses and other food and drink premises have to ensure they are compliant with the best standards in hygiene – and a key facet of that is being clear of ants!

A lack of control of ants can have significant consequences:

The patter of tiny insect feet will cause waste; as potentially contaminated food stocks and other products will have to be dumped. That costs time and money!
Reputation can be damaged if clients or the local department of health estations discover ants.
Infection outbreaks- ants - particularly Pharoah Ants, in hospitals or care premises can occasionally spread pathogens; causing unnecessary alarm amongst patients with the potential for infectious diseases.

All of these outcomes are easily dealt with and quite easily prevented.

Effective Ant Control for Cumbria Businesses

Our understanding of ants and their habits allow us to target our ant control procedures for maximum effectiveness with minimum disruption. We only use treatments in a way that is safe for clients, customers and staff!

Convenient inspection of your premises inside and out
Treatment plan that's specific to your particular ant problem and type of business
Treatment carried out over a single or several visits
An inspection and prevention service is also available