The most common place for carpenter ants to show up is in old tree stumps. They are often damp and rotting and the wood has weakened. They are also often very large, giving a new colony the space it needs to grow and expand. This situation is not an issue if the stump is in the forest or in a park, no one will be bothered by the ants daily duties and can ignore them. However, if that stump is on or very near your property it could result in your home getting infested with carpenter ants. It is best to contact professional carpenter ant exterminator Hamilton in the Greater Toronto Area to declare your home ant-free as soon as possible!
When the ant colony in the log reaches maturity they will produce winged ants of both genders. These ants will fly around and find a safe place to do their breeding dance. This place must be away from their many predators that will take advantage of the opportunity to get an easy snack. This means they may choose to try to enter your home through an open window to breed. This may not seem serious but when the breeding is finished the females all make a mad dash to find a crack or hole in the wood they can lay their eggs in. And every single one of these females will produce their own colony. This means in the time it takes you to make a peanut butter and jam sandwich your entire home could be infested by carpenter ants.
So what is there to do? If the stump is on your property you need to get it removed right away, as well as all rotting or wet or old wood on your property. Its very likely that if they infested one piece of wood like a stump there may be satellite colonies in other areas where wood is. Including living trees.