dead pests and other interlopers

bower · December 29, 2015

Yes it's finally cleanup time... the sticky traps. The windowledges.
I don't know the proper names of all the gang, so if anyone can tell me more about them, please do!
For starters I have two species of ants which are not the big carpenter ants I got rid of last year. These moved in afterwards. The black ones are the sort that keeps aphids. The red and black ones are little and they are biters. I don't know what other damage they may do ie whether they also destroy wood - the building.

bower · December 29, 2015

Also found a couple of beetles - snout beetles, weevily looking. Here's a little one dancing with a deadant.

bower · December 29, 2015

In the greenhouse there were a few extras - besides the million fungus gnats, some long legged fellers we call the harvestman, and this unnamed fly.

bower · December 29, 2015

And I was surprised to find one of these beautiful bees - indoors on a windowledge that looks into the greenhouse.

bower · December 29, 2015

So... the first thing I'm doing (besides sweeping up and gawking at dead insects) is repairing all the sealant around doors and windows on the ground level especially the greenhouse side.
Later on, I need to seal on the greenhouse side as well, and take apart the walls/structures where ant colonies are evidently lurking.

While they are cold and sound asleep.

Worth1 · December 30, 2015

How did you get rid of the carpenter ants.

Worth

bower · December 30, 2015

Major construction.

They had infested the knee wall that the glazing rests on and had done some strucutral damage.
Those big ants are all around in the woods but after removing the nests and leaving lots of borax type baits around they retreated back to the forest.
Then other types of ants moved in.

The problem with ants is due to decisions made by the men who rebuilt it, I would never have agreed if I had a say in the matter. They closed in that knee wall and certain other parts and they stuffed those closed parts with polybead - rigid foam insulation - which as it turns out, is like candy to ants. It's just the perfect nesting material and wherever it is still in the greenhouse, I have to take off what they covered with, get the stuff out and I hope not too much wood has to be replaced.
One window I know is being drilled out by ants as of this summer, which is why I think those little red/black ones are wood destroyers as well.

And this is the big down side of having a greenhouse attached. If or when you get pest problems, they are in your house before you know it.

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December 29, 2015	#5
bower Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Newfoundland, Canada Posts: 6,794	So... the first thing I'm doing (besides sweeping up and gawking at dead insects) is repairing all the sealant around doors and windows on the ground level especially the greenhouse side. Later on, I need to seal on the greenhouse side as well, and take apart the walls/structures where ant colonies are evidently lurking. While they are cold and sound asleep.

December 30, 2015	#6
Worth1 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Den of Drunken Fools Posts: 38,539	How did you get rid of the carpenter ants. Worth

December 30, 2015	#7
bower Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Newfoundland, Canada Posts: 6,794	Major construction. They had infested the knee wall that the glazing rests on and had done some strucutral damage. Those big ants are all around in the woods but after removing the nests and leaving lots of borax type baits around they retreated back to the forest. Then other types of ants moved in. The problem with ants is due to decisions made by the men who rebuilt it, I would never have agreed if I had a say in the matter. They closed in that knee wall and certain other parts and they stuffed those closed parts with polybead - rigid foam insulation - which as it turns out, is like candy to ants. It's just the perfect nesting material and wherever it is still in the greenhouse, I have to take off what they covered with, get the stuff out and I hope not too much wood has to be replaced. One window I know is being drilled out by ants as of this summer, which is why I think those little red/black ones are wood destroyers as well. And this is the big down side of having a greenhouse attached. If or when you get pest problems, they are in your house before you know it.