How to Get Rid of Flying Termites

Termite control is important to all home owners because of the damages they can cause. In order to decide on a useful termite treatment you must first understand their lifecycle and what is involved with extermination. Flying termites are only a sign of a larger problem.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. 
    
   Termite workers, Scott Bauer

   Understand what types of termites there are, and the damages they can cause. Termites are a social insect like ants, bees and many wasps, but they are more closely related to cockroaches. They are one of only a few animals that can truly digest the cellulose in wood and because of this are an ever present danger to our wood framed structures. There are over 2000 different species of termite worldwide and some 40 are found in North America. We generally only have to worry about four types: ground or subterranean, dry wood or powder-post, damp wood, and now Formosan, termites. Ground termites live in the soil and build mud tubes to travel up to the wood they feed on. Dry wood termites don't need a constant supply of moisture or to go to the ground. They will hollow out wooden structures and leave a powdery residue. Damp wood termites seek out water damaged and softened wood to set up their nests. Formosan termites are an introduced subterranean termite species that are very heavy feeders and will attack all types of wood. Termites will feed on all kinds of cellulose sources such as books, carpets, and papers. They have been known to chew through plastic and lead pipes to get to moisture and there are even cases of them chewing the insulation off of wires. Termite damage can be very costly to repair partly because they can do so much before being noticed.

2. 
    
   Termite Highway Emills

   Learn about the termite lifecycle. Being social insects termites have a caste system where there are workers, soldiers, queens, and males. The workers search for and gather food, repair the colony, and feed and tend to the queen and her brood. When environmental conditions are right the queen will produce pheromones that cause sexually active, winged termites to develop. These new queens and kings take flight usually after a warm spring rain. They are weak fliers and drop where ever the wind blows them. They then shed their wings and the males seek out the females to mate. Next they look for a place that will provide them with food, moisture, and shelter, to start a new colony. The queen will become a giant eggs laying machine whose pheromones control the colony and the king will exist to fertilize her when needed. Their offspring, depending on the type, may come to number between 3000 to over 1.5 million individuals.

3. 
    
   Termite Soldier, USDA Agricultural Research Service

   In order to control flying termites you have to find their colony. Killing the swarmers (the winged termites), or workers alone when they are out foraging will do no good. You have to get to the queen for complete termite control. Finding winged reproductives in your house or piles of shed wings at windows usually means a colony exists in the house. Regular household fumigants will kill the winged termites but they will not destroy the colony or queen. Carry out a termite inspection both inside and out for where the colony is located. Look for mud tubes around you foundation and behind vinyl siding. Don't forget attics and crawl spaces and tap on wood structures for signs of hollows and softness. Look for piles of sawdust-like termite droppings.

4. Treat your house and property to control termites. Most methods of termite treatment are best left to licensed exterminators because of the dangerous chemicals used. Whole house fumigation, where a tent is placed over the house and an exterminator fumigates the house, will solve the problem if the colony is not in the soil. Soil treatments such as repellents like, Dragnet, Cynoff, Talstar, Demon, and Prelude, can be used around the foundation, but you need to consider the long term environmental impact of these poisons. These repellents work by forming a barrier that termites will not enter or cross, but if there is the slightest gap in the barrier the termites will find and use it. There are also nonrepellent chemical treatments that termites cannot detect so they eat them or get them on their body and are killed by them. These are considered safer for home use and include: Premise, Termidor, and Advance. Because the termite workers feed the whole colony, they act as a delivery system for these poisons causing the colony to be killed. Exterminators can also kill colonies by injecting poisons into walls and foundations. Some of the safest inside poisons for home owners are Boron based products such as, Timbor and Bora Care. These are mixed up and sprayed onto wood and will protect it from termites for the life of the wood, but they will only kill the termites feeding on the wood not the ones in any ground nest. Bait station systems such as Sentricon, Exterra, Firstline, and Terminate, are methods to guard against termites that can be used by the average home owner. With these you use stations, which may be in the ground or inside the house, that are filled with bait wood and checked periodically for insects. When termites are found, the baits are changed to poisoned baits that the termite workers take back and feed to the queen, killing her and the colony in most cases. You need to read about each of these products to find out how exactly how they are best used and what types of termites they work against.

5. The best defense against termites is prevention. If you don't have any active colonies around then you won't have as many, if any of the winged termites showing up. The above mentioned bait stations are a good preventative measure. Check for any wood touching the ground around your house such as steps and poles or columns. Put a barrier between any wood and the ground such as poured concrete or masonry blocks. Use treated wood whenever possible. Watch for the mud tubes used by ground termites. Look for water stained wood to find roof leaks and fix them. Check outside faucets for leaks that keep your foundation wet. Make sure water does not stand around your house but that it drains away from it. Get termite breeding areas away from your house ie: wood piles, old stumps, rotten structures. Screen off attic accesses so bugs cannot enter through them. If you do see winged termites outside then consider using fumigants in your attic to guard against their setting up house keeping but remember they are usually a sign that a colony has already moved in and needs to be found. Until you get rid of the entire colony more swarming will occur and the winged termites will be back.

Tips & Warnings

• To tell ants from termites look at the antenna. Ants have bent, elbow shaped ones while termite's are straight. Termites also have no pinched in "waist" between the body segments, while ants do. The wings of termites are all the same size while ants have the front pair longer than the back pair.
• Be sure that any professionals you hire are licensed to do pest control.
• Read all directions and warnings before using any poisons.
• Wear protective gear and clothing when working with poisons.
• Remember to safeguard children and pets during treatments.

[bar10dr98]

on 2/24/2009 Termites can be so hard to get rid of, thanks for the info!