# Yikes!  Ants!



## smoke freak (Jul 3, 2008)

Gotta ant problem... Got one stack-o-hickory thats loaded with ants!
Its next to a stack-o-pecan next to a stack-o-mesquite next to mulberry next to ... well you get the picture. Only the one stack -o-hickory has ants. Got another stack-o-hickory with no ants but this stack is so bad that trying to split a single log releases about a kazillion little black ants. I cant even pick up a piece of it without dozens of them crawlin on me. These are NOT carpenter ants which I would expect to nest it wood. Little black ants. And they have made this whole stack-o-hickory unusable. 


Any sugestions as to riddin my self of this problem???
Obviously sprays arent an option...


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## supervman (Jul 3, 2008)

That bites man. 
I'd look up Homemade Ant Killer or something of that sort of derivation on the net and possibly you can save some wood w no toxic effects?


And BTW I've never had smoked ants TO MY KNOWLEDGE !


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## bbq bubba (Jul 3, 2008)

Burn it all.


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## geek with fire (Jul 3, 2008)

I did a little googling and the one solution that I thought fit well around these parts was a combination of grits and nutrisweet (aspertame).  Supposedly aspertame was developed as a safe pestiside and the grits swell up and cause the little bastages to explode.  No clue if it works or not, but I'm getting hungry just thinking about smoked polenta.


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## flyin'illini (Jul 3, 2008)

Smoke'em.   Ant eggs with tortillas are an appetizer in Mexico.  (it's good)


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## pitrow (Jul 3, 2008)

napalm


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## erain (Jul 3, 2008)

hate to see whole pile go to waste, try preburning... think that would toastem to nothingness???.


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## travcoman45 (Jul 3, 2008)

Don't know if there is a real "safe" way a gettin rid them critters, specially bein smokin wood. Guess I'd burn the pile an cut my losses fer they decide the rest a the batch looks like home. Sorry friend, that stinks.

I just had a thought (that's dangerous) Wonder ifin a feller tarped the pile an started pumpin it full a smoke fer a good long bit if they'd think there was a fire an move out?  Might be worth a shot ifin nothin else it'll make the neighbors wonder what in the sam hill yer doin!


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## smoke freak (Jul 3, 2008)

Hey Trav. With my luck they would move into my house! Im thinkin I might try some of those bait traps where they take the bait back and it kills the queen and all. Have seen them work in other situations. Just gotta keep the dogs away from them.


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## cinnamonkc (Jul 3, 2008)

I wonder if that garlic spray would work like it does on the flies, mosquitos and such.  I'd try it at least.  Might add a bit of garlic flavor to the meat too!!


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## rwc565 (Jul 3, 2008)

I say just use the wood as you normally would.  The ants burning will not affect the smoke, they aint big enough. I had ants in some of my wood and I still used it,I could not tell the difference.  Besides we've all ate worse things than ants!


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## roscoe dog (Jul 3, 2008)

Drown them. Put enough water in a garbage can and submerge the wood.


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## cinnamonkc (Jul 3, 2008)

I think he was saying he can't even chop it to be able to use it because they swarmed him so bad...

I like Roscoe's idea of drowning them...


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## heapomeat (Jul 3, 2008)

oh heck just use the wood in your smoker anyways, what's the problem really? With the ant juices, you won't have to pre-soak the wood, and it might lend a nice flavor?  (grins)

Really, why not still use the wood?

You could always put the wood in the freezer a log at a time if you just want to kill 'em before smoking them.


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## mcp9 (Jul 3, 2008)

black ants dont bite.  act like there not there, and keep burnin!


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## smoke freak (Jul 12, 2008)

Here's the scoop. I couldnt even pick up a log without gettin swarmed. Try to split a log and ants were everywhere!

   Bought some ant stakes. Theyre baits where the workers take the bait back to the nest, which just happened to be in my wood. Around here hickory is a hot commodity, pecan even more so. Losing this wood was not an option! Within one week, the wood is almost ant free. Split the logs and carried them to the smoker without a lick of trouble. And thats it , problem solved.


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## smoke freak (Jul 25, 2008)

...huh?...


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## coyote (Jul 25, 2008)

smoke freak it was spam..and it is reported..


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## smoke freak (Jul 25, 2008)

...huh?...


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## richoso1 (Jul 25, 2008)

I wouldn't trust using that wood, sorry to say. Make a bonfire...


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## haglered (Jul 29, 2008)

I wonder if you sprayed the wood very heavily with white vinegar, perhaps even cut 1/2 with Water if that would get rid of them. I mean really soak the area.

 There is a gardner called Mike McGrath who has a show on NPR called You bet your Garden. I'll bet he could make a good recomendation. He is totally against pesticides and other dagerous chemicals being used on gardens and the like.   http://www.whyy.org/91FM/ybyg/index.html


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## moltenone (Jul 29, 2008)

burn it don't worry about the ants.


mark


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## 4t64rd (Aug 12, 2008)

What about steam? or boiling? Wood won't burn, ants might get outta dodge when it gets a little warm in there.


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## realsmoker (Sep 1, 2018)

I was recently gifted a fair amount of Plum cut last year and left out to season, some of it had those little red ants in it. I put the infested wood in a black contractors bag and left it out in the sun for two weeks, opened it up and most of the ants were dead, the few that were alive no longer were carrying eggs, so the eggs must have died, oh and I dusted it with Diatomaceous Earth totally nontoxic and hell on all ants.


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## Sal Barsanti (Jul 13, 2019)

I just pulled 3 large paper leaf bags out of my shed- filled with apple sticks that I split last fall.

I was going to cut them down to chunks using my table saw. I quickly discovered 100s of large black a ts in 2 of the bags. 

I dumped them out and tried spraying:

1- dish soap/water mix
2- Vinegar/water mix
3- Borax/water mix

The 3 rounds of spray might have slowed the ants down some, but it didn't kill them immediately  

After a while I proceeded to cut the wood without incident. 

Now do I check the bags of oak and cherry wood in my shed?


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## JWFokker (Jul 26, 2019)

Make simple syrup (half sugar, half hot water), add borax. Dispense into bottle caps. Place in multiple locations around ants. They'll all be dead in a week.

Or just buy Terro brand ant killer. Same thing. Sugar water borax mix. They have to eat it. No use spraying.


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## Sal Barsanti (Aug 3, 2019)

Updating this post re: large black ants...

After dealing with the initial ant issue in my yellow apple wood bags, it seems to have fixed the issue.  I have looked through the oak and cherry wood bags, no ants. 

I think I'll set up cement blocks and keep all wood bags off of the shed floor. 

* Just cut up a nice maple that fell in a neighbor's yard. Will add that to the cooking wood menu.


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