et aR matinee eee. oe, Ee a SA Ee oo EES NE eee page 8, July 7, 1976 - North Shore News ‘RESTAU RANT — _ MOTEL “Showing steady. increase. Situated on main | - highway. Room to expand. 1¥2.acres, 10 units, | plus 3 bedrm. home. Attractive terms. Asking a - $350, 000— - 8 , Phone: Mrs. Maruska 985-4447 988-6131 . : ~(24hrs.). a Editor’s Note: In last week's issue, private building inspector Ed Samson explained ways. of detecting the destructive carpenter ants in your home. In this third and final part of - the series, Samson tells what happened when his colony of ‘ants was ‘‘bugged.’’ ~ (Readers who Have prob- lems with insects in their homes may address queries . in writing to Ed Samson, c/o the North Shore: News. by Ed Samson One day I fed a wasp to my ants, and inadvertently lost - my entire colony of ants. I . didn’t know at the time the wasp was dying of poisoning. ‘Of course, my colony being the social insect they are, they feed each other and the poison spread through the colony and, of ‘course, the’ queen or egglayer died and there: were no more eggs being laid, and instead of ants. being = replaced . they soon. alt disappeared. ‘One: day: I discovered my ants had bugs! Really! It’s incredible but my ant colony was lousy. What. do I do—call the pest . control people? They wouldn’t bel- ieve me if I did phone. | found out from the university that they were mites. I inadvertently irifested my colony by giving the ants a lusy bug, and it infested the colony. I was able to exterminate them by keeping after them _ with alcohol. Cleaning out _the dining room every day with alcohol. I suppose you could say that some of them literally drank themselves to ’ death, that is the mites, not the ants. Carpenter ants like sweet stuff as do all ants. Don't leave spills of ice cream, pop | or candy and always elgan up after feeding the pets. I have seen homes literally on*the verge of collapse because of ‘carpenter ant damage. Re- member a carpenter ant ‘infestation. means, there is something wrong with your — house. Find out what it is and remove it, because: if you don’t, you will get termites and will be faced with a very expensive rapair bill. One way of telling if you are getting carpenter ants is to find carpenter ant wings and no ants. That means she has bitten off her wings and -is starting to build a colony. Carpenter ant wings are very much like termite wings except the carpenter: .ant wing has very few veins ‘where the termite wings: have’ very many veins. Carpenter ants fly i in the late spring . or early” summer; termites fly in late summer. - “or. early — fall. about termites at a later Vil tell you date. I know of: a‘case where the o quoted — homeowner was $500.00 to spray for carpen- ter ants by a pest control company. The homeowner got rid of the problem himself for a few dollars. Their idea is not to remove the cause but to spray every few years for $500.00. The final analysis is to look after your house and maintain it,. and you won't get them—it’s as simple as that. After all,. your home is the. biggest investment of your life. Incidentally, don't buy the ‘small round ant traps for carpenter ants. They are far too smart for. them. Those small ant traps may be + ‘alright for the small garden ants but I know they: are no good for carpenter ants so save your: money. People have told me they actually Estab, 1924 Formerly North Vancouver Realty “gett Paul Climenhaga 088-4268 Avril Mayne | 055-0604 [E.N. Copping] Ltd. Blalr Mayne 005-0604 If you are considering Selling or Buying Your Home | Its oaslor to do.both through our reputable and oxperloncod — sales force who spccialises in finding buyers and sollors, Call , ono of our problom solvers now for professional and porsonalisod attention. _ 143. Lonsdale Avo. North Van. 985-3164 working. hear them in the walls In my colony of carpenter ants the queens or egglayers are the larger of the two with a large head and round abdomen like a pea. The king or male, the smaller of the two, has a very smali head and a pointed abddémen. The carpenter ant uses tools, I have seen them soak ‘ up honey with sawdust. How do they tunnel into wood? They . have very strong mandibles (Jaws) and on each jaw is a small saw with teeth. When he closes his jaws on a piece of wood the wood is like being between two saws. He then moves his head in a swivel motion quite fast, and cuts off a piece of wood. -He.. can decapitate an enemy quite fast. They- are ~~. open Weekends, holidays 12-6 pm - will | E CANADA PERMANENT? TRUST COMPANY | a CARPENTER ANTS use tools. They have been seen to use sawdust to soak up honey. vicious little savages. If an- ant is separated from the colony for a few days (niind you they are all from one mother) then is reintroduced to the colony, it is immed- iately killed and eaten (the good parts, that is). The abdomen of the queen ant is like an armadillo. It has, large scales that allows the abdo- men to expand and contract. So if you have carpenter ants in your home, find the damp wood and you find the nest. Destroy the nest with the queen and your problem is over. You don’t have to worry about ants that are away from the nest (looking for food and foraging). They. soon disappear. Of. course, remove the cause of the damp wood or they will come :- back again, but to spray a whole house is ridiculous. ‘793 DOWN: with Gov't. Grant 8% MORTGAGES | . through A.H.0.P. 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