Safe Termite Control

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Termite Ecology

Termites are social insects that live in underground colonies typically numbering just under a quarter-million individuals. A king and queen see to the colony's reproductive needs, while soldiers guard the group against attack from predatory insects (ants are the primary threat) and workers venture out to forage for wood, bringing it back to feed the stay-at-homes. The most commonly seen termites are "swarmers," young insects that leave their colony in huge numbers to search for mates and new homes. Swarmers fly neither well nor far-in large part because their wings fall off easily. Consequently, the first sign of a termite infestation often can be a pile of discarded wings lying on a windowsill.

Termites need warmth and moisture, so when workers leave their colony to forage, they frequently build highways of earthen shelter tubes—rather like subway tunnels-to protect their delicate bodies from dehydration. These tubes typically extend vertically from the soil to the wooden portions of a structure—for example, up the inside of a crawlspace wall—and are the primary evidence to look for during a termite inspection of your home.

If you find termite tubes, destroy them on the spot and make periodic reinspections. If they don't return, you're probably safe, at least for the time; however, if new tubes appear, you've got a termite problem.

Prevention

By far the best way to control termites is to make your home unattractive or inaccessible to them. According to the USDA, many infestations can be traced to unenlightened building and maintenance practices. Subterranean termites need food, warmth and moisture in order to survive and thrive. If you can cut off their access to any of these three necessities, they'll either die or leave in search of greener pastures. Termites also need some way to get from the soil where they live up to the wood in the house where you live. If it's difficult and uncomfortable for them to reach the edible portions of your home, they'll keep to the woods where they belong.

If you're building a new home, make sure the foundation area is cleared of all wood scraps large enough to be gathered by a garden rake. Boards used as forms for poured concrete should always be removed when their job is done. Wooden posts set in cement are safe, so long as the posts don't penetrate through the concrete down into the soil. Foundation footings need to be high enough to prevent contact between the soil and the wood of the floor, but don't bother with constructing a "termite shield"—a strip of aluminum jutting out over the foundation where it meets the siding. Studies have shown that such shields are valuable only in that they force termites to tube over them, making it easier to spot an invasion during an inspection.

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