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Old 27-03-2003, 02:44 PM
bthache
 
Posts: n/a
Default Silver maple and wood boring ants

We have carpenter ants here every summer. A couple of years ago, I noticed
on one of our jackpines, saw dust coming out of a hole about 4 feet off the
ground and running down the tree. I asked an uncle who works in forestry
and he said it's most likely ants and that it's a good thing because they
are letting you know that that part of the tree has a problem. The other
good thing is that the rest of the tree above the hole and sawdust is
probably fine and that the ants won't hurt anything. They kind of help
clear out the problem spots. Two years later, there are no signs of ants in
the tree and the tree is perfectly healthy.
--
Tammie
Zone 2b-3a Far Northern Ontario
http://community.webshots.com/user/_tammie57


The term carpenter ant is more common. I am not sure if silver maples

have
their own species. I've only seen carpenters in Cedar up in Oregon, but

it is
possible.

Can you 'explore' the hole any? If they are ants just paying too much
attention to the hole should generate some defensive behavior. If you can

see
more deeply into the tree and it looks rotten, it probably is. Some

carpenters
use infected trees as colonies because the other bugs that the rot grows

are
tasty. The Cedar variety used the tree only as a home, and base of

activity.
There are likely Termite exterminators that would be helpful in diagnosis

and
treatment in you county yellow pages.


David Giunti email: unity
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No one mouth is big enough to utter the whole thing. Alan Watts

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