7 replies to this topic

[CampoKing]

Although folks might disagree with my approach, I do keep wood habitats for my Carpenter ants as a standard practice. I've learned that C. pennsylvanicus is capable of mitigating fungal problems on their own through unique cleaning behaviors, and with the help of wood mite and springtail populations (which feed on fungi and molds as a main part of their diet).






With that said, Carpenters have very specific preferences for the wood they will inhabit: it must be soft wood decayed through white rot fungi only. I've never found (healthy) ants in wood affected by brown rot, if I find any ants at all. They avoid fresh wood that's still rich in terpenes and phenols, among other stuff. However, white rot wood is difficult to come by as colonies grow and habitats must be expanded. So, I've been reading articles on the biology of wood decay and the chemicals fungi use to accomplish it. There's an interesting article from Wood Products Journal on the use of organic acids, such as citric acid, that may be able to artificially turn fresh hardwood into the more favorable softly decayed wood that Carpenters enjoy:

https://www.research..._staining_fungi

The methods in that article, and some others related to it, got me to thinking about using things like peat tea, hydrogen peroxide, and the white rot fungi already present in my older wood to strip any chemical treatments from readily available panels, craft wood, or plain 2x4's, and create an unlimited supply of my own wood for use in growing colonies.

My question is, has anyone tried this, and does anyone have thoughts about how to remove treatments and/or break down carbohydrates so wood is made softer? That is, what has anyone here tried when turning fresh wood from the hardware store into chemical-free, gently degraded wood suitable for carpenter ants?


I'm very curious if anyone else has done these things. At any rate, I'm going to spend my winter doing just this while my colonies are in hibernation.

Edited by CampoKing, November 28 2018 - 11:30 AM.

[DaveJay]

I have no insights to offer but it sounds very interesting, I'd be interested to see how you go.

[Wa.Va]

This sounds really interesting. I don't really have the experience with artificialy aging wood, i use time and patience So a faster way is very welcome indeed.

Edited by Wa.Va, November 26 2018 - 9:01 AM.

[CampoKing]

I did a lot more research and decided to take two parallel approaches.
Put simply, without a fancy chemistry lab, I don't see a "fast" method of softening large quantities of wood.
I'm going to see how long oyster mushrooms (a readily available & edible white rot fungus) take to feed on some oak logs I'll be getting next month. If the turnaround time is 1 or 2 *years*, that might match up with the growth rate of Carpenter colonies.
While that goes on, I'll see what i can do to soften and leach these scroll saw panels I have. The manufacturer says they're only kiln dried. I tested them out as habitat material for two of my colonies this year and the ants haven't died, so at least the fresh panels don't appear (too) toxic. I'll first test out if oyster mushrooms feed on that wood too, after it's been soaked appropriately. The time it takes fungi to turn those panels into something agreeable to ants is the big question

Edited by CampoKing, November 28 2018 - 11:43 AM.

[YsTheAnt]

How do you tell white rot fungus from other kinds? I am interested in keeping my ants in new ways, this seems like a cool idea!

[CampoKing]

How do you tell white rot fungus from other kinds?

I totally missed this response ages ago lol. Google was my friend in figuring what was softening old wood in the first place, and I learned about the different "wood decay fungi" that includes several types of white rot: fungi that eat the lignin in wood, but leave the cellulose. The result is wood that is soft but not completely structurally collapsed for nest purposes. It's just called white rot cuz the wood ends up looking pale or white, the color of pure cellulose.

Edited by CampoKing, December 13 2019 - 9:48 PM.

[ANTdrew]

I remember when you first posted this a year ago. Have you had any success creating your own white-rotted wood for ant habitats?

[CampoKing]

I remember when you first posted this a year ago. Have you had any success creating your own white-rotted wood for ant habitats?

I started this project, then changed jobs, moved, etc. I didn't get to finish, but I got oyster mushrooms to start colonizing a wet log of maple wood, so that's...Something? It didn't look like it would be fast. I'll look into this stuff again next Spring. I'm just now getting back on this forum after 6+ months away