MN Pest Control | Pest Prevention MN

Keep Those Pests Away This Winter

For many Minnesota homeowners, pest control is a chore relegated to the warmer months of the year.  But many pests gain entry into homes in the winter as they seek shelter from the cold weather.  In fact, according to the National Pest Management Association (NPMA), rodents alone invade an estimated 21 million homes in the U.S. each winter.

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MN Homeowners Stop Ants Entering Your Home

Stopping Ants Entering Your Home Minnesota

Minnesota homeowners have more than enough to worry about; the last thing you want to have on your mind is pesky ants wandering through your home and your life.

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Minnesota Pest Control and Extermination

Yuck Bugs? Exterminators Knock ´Em Dead!!!

Got creepy crawlies? According to the National Pest Control Association, cockroaches, mice, rats, termites, carpenter ants, ants, fleas, ticks, spiders, and silver fish are the most common household pests.

You are NOT alone. Almost every house in America has had at least one of these pests take up residence in the last year. You can try managing this yourself with do-it-yourself products, but they are not as effective as the service offered by professional exterminators.

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Fun Facts About Ants

Ants will enslave other ants, keeping them captive and making them do work for the colony.
Quite a few ant species will take captives from other ant species, forcing them to do chores for their own colony. Some honeypot ants will even enslave ants of the same species, taking individuals from foreign colonies to do their bidding. Polyergus queens, also known as Amazon ants, raid the colonies of unsuspecting Formica ants. The Amazon queen will find and kill the Formica queen, then enslave the Formica workers. The slave workers help her rear her own brood. When her Polyergus offspring reach adulthood, their sole purpose is to raid other Formica colonies and bring back their pupae, ensuring a steady supply of slave workers.  Hmmmm!

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Get Professional Help Exterminating Carpenter Ants MN

Get Professional Help For Carpenter Ants MN

Carpenter ants make their nests in galleries they bore out of wood. The nest can be inside or outside the house.  Carpenter ants are active indoors during many months of the year, usually during the spring and summer. When ants are active in the house during late winter/early spring (February/March), the infestation (nest) is probably within the household. When carpenter ants are first seen in the spring and summer (May/June), then the nest is likely outdoors and the ants are simply coming in for food. The natural food of the ants consists of honeydew from aphids, other insects, and plant juices, but they will readily forage for water and food scraps within the house.

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Ants Are on the March While Minnesota Homeowners Seek Pest Control Services

Minnesota Homeowners Seek Pest Control Services For Carpenter Ants

Ants are on the march, as Spring marks the peak months of swarming season. Reports are especially high during their swarming season, April through June. During these months, new colonies are established while fresh food sources are sought out. Carpenter ants are nocturnal migrating pests, with peak hours of activity just before and after sunset.  Many Minnesota homeowners are unaware of their property being invaded, as months may pass without any noticeable signs of infestation.

Ants encompass a broad spectrum of ant species. These species vary greatly in both physical appearance and behavior. This diversity makes it extremely difficult for the average homeowner to prevent or eradicate these pests, as different species are attracted to various food sources and environments.

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Keep Carpenter Ants Out Of Your Home Minnesota

Carpenter Ant Control MN | Minnesota Ant Pest Control

Once again, it is a good spring for carpenter ants. Activity by these common, widespread and abundant ants is very noticeable in the springtime, as the wingless workers work (enlarge nests, forage for food, care for the larvae) and the winged swarmers swarm (fly off to start new colonies).

Control of carpenter ants remains a frustrating and difficult job. The easily-stated, straight forward theory of control is to put a small amount of household insecticide spray or dust directly into the ant nest. This would be much easier to do if the nests were conspicuous and easy to locate. Nests may be outdoors in stumps, logs, hollow trees, dead limbs or firewood and they may be a hundred feet or more from the house where the ants are invading in search or food. Nests may also be inside the house in sites as diverse as wall studs, window sills, wood flooring, rafters, roof sheathing and the interior spaces of hollow-core doors.

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Pest Control For Carpenter Ants MN

Get Rid of Ants In Your Minnesota Home

Introduction To Ant Control

Ants are one of the most common pests in and around homes in the north central states. Ants are social insects and are divided up into three castes: workers, males, and queens (figure 1).

Figure 1. Typical ant castes, from left to right: queen, winged male, major worker, minor worker

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Carpenter Ant Control Minnesota

Pest Control Minneapolis MN | MN Carpenter Ant Pest Control

The sight of big, black carpenter ants scurrying across the floor is a creepy sight for homeowners because it might mean that they are nesting somewhere in the house. They are large ants, 6-12 mm long (3/8-1/2 inch); the flying queen ants may be nearly 2 cm long (7/8 inch). For brief periods in the spring and early summer the winged ants swarm into the air on mating flights. The queens are easy to see as they settle, shed their wings and search for decaying wood to begin their nest. Very few of them will find an ideal site, which is usually outdoors. Their presence does not mean that your house is infested. Carpenter ants are actually beneficial predators that feed on small insects, honeydew and dead and decaying material.

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What To Do About Carpenter Ants MN

Minneapolis MN Ant Pest Control | Carpenter Ant Control MN

Give Ants Their Marching Papers One by One

Carpenter ants do not eat wood; termites do. These ants eat insects and the honeydew excreted by aphids and other sap-feeding insects. Carpenter ants excavate nesting galleries in moist or water-damaged wood, sometimes within a wall cavity. Finding a few ants does not always mean there is an infestation. Early spring, before their regular food is available, worker ants often wander inside homes looking for sweets, fats, and other foods. Most carpenter ant damage occurs during the growing season. Large numbers of ants can be destructive, yet many times they are more of a nuisance than a serious threat.

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