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Old 05-08-2007, 08:13 PM posted to rec.gardens
Paul Cassel Paul Cassel is offline
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First recorded activity by GardenBanter: Jul 2007
Posts: 11
Default Chrerry Tree Infested w/ Ants or Termites?

symplastless wrote:


Ants are good guys. Leave them alone. Even if you have them in your house,
the reason would be rotten wood in your house. They stall the rot process
in building materials as well.


I 100% agree in leaving ants alone if at all possible. I am skeptical
about your statement implying that they only come into your house if
there is rotting wood. I'm also skeptical that they halt the rotting
process. How does the formic acid ants exude do that? I'd think it
further breaks down the lignite in the wood - that is ants destroy wood
rather than make it last longer.

Near me there is an ancient Indian city named by the whites Chaco
Canyon. Abandoned by Indians due to changed climate (dried out) you can
go there and find large pieces of wood which were trees over 700 years
ago. The ranger there told me that the wood still exists because there
are no ants (no water) to digest the wood. Was that information wrong?

-paul