There are different food preferences during the active season, related to activities of the colony. Because the black carpenter ant has different food preferences during the season, a good control agent bait should include both proteins and carbohydrates. The alternative would be to have two different control agent baits, one with proteins in the spring, and one with carbohydrates later in the year. Baits must be placed where ants will find them. When ants enter man-made structures that are near their supply of wood, the entry sites, often cracks in a structure, should be repaired to stop such an invasion.
Ants commonly enter a structure by following utility lines.
Also keep food areas clean, which eliminates a food source. Management of carpenter ants, pp. Entomologist, Volume 42, Number 1, pages 33-39. Smith, M. R. 1965. No. 1326, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. 105 pp.