Small Black Ant infestation in dead wood of collected Boxwood.... advice please ...

[Replikant]

So it is a 30+ year old collected large Boxwood. It is doing well and budding out off of old wood. On the nebari there are areas of dead wood that will eventually be carved out a bit and styled. Small black ants that were probably originally in rotted wood areas of the base are still nesting. As I dig back a bit into dead wood they come swarming out. Any advice on how to combat these? I could carve a bit and apply lime-sulphur ... would that do it? The tree was collected 30 days ago so wary of moving it at all. Any advice GREATLY appreciated. BTW have sprayed insecticidal soap on ants when they swarm out. Not sure if it really works on anything other than sap-suckers.

 

[lordy]

So it is a 30+ year old collected large Boxwood. It is doing well and budding out off of old wood. On the nebari there are areas of dead wood that will eventually be carved out a bit and styled. Small black ants that were probably originally in rotted wood areas of the base are still nesting. As I dig back a bit into dead wood they come swarming out. Any advice on how to combat these? I could carve a bit and apply lime-sulphur ... would that do it? The tree was collected 30 days ago so wary of moving it at all. Any advice GREATLY appreciated. BTW have sprayed insecticidal soap on ants when they swarm out. Not sure if it really works on anything other than sap-suckers.

I bought a bougainvillea on ebay that came from the gulf coast to the mid-atlantic region. Upon receipt I had the same problem, so I literally poured ant killer around the base of the tree, as well as into a hole in the hollowed trunk. After 2 days, no more ants. I then used a dental pick to scrape out any soft material, then applied wood hardener. For me, problem solved.
Boxwoods are a very hard wood, so I think the same protocol is called for. Think less is better, and increase until the job is accomplished. good luck!

 

[Replikant]

Do you remember which ant killer you used? Have seen them with Borax but unsure.

 

[Poink88]

Most crawling insect spray will work (just read the label). Check your grocery store, Walmart, Home Depot, Lowe's, etc.

I use Spectracide Termite and Carpenter Ant Killer and very happy with it.

 

[kirk@localbonsai.com]

http://www.amazon.com/TERRO-600-1-Pound-Killer-Dust/dp/B001B1KH1Y

This stuff kills'em twice in my experience