Posted by Frank on July 31, 1998 at 12:09:15:
In Reply to: Re: Ants posted by Dan Kruitz on July 30, 1998 at 06:20:31:
: Sorry to hear about your boat being attacked by ants.
: If you find "debris" and follow it up it may lead to a nest. We used to get them on our property and unfortunately lost a few oaks trees to them.
: Eventually we sprayed with malathion *caution: read the instructions!* and it worked pretty good. Even though you got the boat with spray, you may want to spray your property to help clear them out. They're coming from somewhere...
: Good luck!
This will not save the trees - it is just a temporary illusion. Ants only get into dead or diseased wood in trees. It is also not likely to get Malathion into the actual nests. You will often notice woodpeckers on the infested trees - they know what is inside. On the good side, most oaks are very long-lived, and will persist for many years while declining. You can better tell the conditon of an oak by looking at the vitality of the bark - whether it seems to be old-looking and the same from year-to-year, or if the sapwood is visibly growing rapidly beneath it, causing it to expand and look vigorous. Vigor is everything to a tree. Our local red oaks show reddishness through the bark when they are vigorous. In any case, the bark will be smoother and newer.