Termite Season

It’s that time of year, when the ground thaws out and we get some warm days with some rain then in the morning the termite swarmers come up to find a mate and head back underground together to start a new colony. Often you don’t even know you have a termite issue on your property until you see these swarmers. The colony is generally located underground, usually below the frost line and above the water table, needing constant contact with the ground these termites construct mud shelter tubes as a means of transportation between the colony and the food source. Occasionally if there is a constant source of moisture a secondary colony may exist above ground and without ground contact.

The most common and widely distributed termite in North America is the Easter Subterranean Termite or the Reticulitermes Flavipes. Subterranean Termites eat mostly spring wood and leave the harder summer wood which they cannot effectively digest. Because of this termite damaged wood appears to be layered. A typical mature colony may consist of 60,000 to over a million workers. Sixty thousand workers can eat 1/5 ounce or 5 grams of wood each day. At this rate, a colony this size could consume 2 1/3 linear feet of 2×4 in a year. Sometimes there are several colonies within a structure so the amount of wood that gets consumed is multiplied, making it so important to get the proper treatment as to protect your investment.

Control is achieved by injecting termiticide into the soil around the perimeter of the structure which the termites cross through and bring back to the colony and being social in nature they then get the product on the other termites. Termite bait stations can also be used as an alternative or alongside of a liquid perimeter treatment.

So whether you see the swarmers, mud shelter tubes, damaged wood, or all three, when you see evidence of termites or anything suspicious call today for a quote.