Termites also popularly known as “White ants”. A termite colony consists of the termite queen, soldiers and workers. On the basis of their habit, termites are divided into two types, namely subterranean and non subterranean termites; it is the subterranean termites which are a major cause of concern for humans. Termites destroy valuable property, documents, furniture and furnishings. They crawl up through the minute cracks and crevices in the foundation and the walls of your building. Each year over 2 million buildings are invaded by termites, causing millions of dollars in damage annually. It doesn't matter where you live, your home or business can be a target for termites. Even buildings and houses on concrete slabs are threatened by termites finding their way through small cracks.
A. POST CONSTRUCTION TERMITE TREATMENT:
In the post-construction anti-termite treatment, chemical is injected into the ground drilling holes in the junction of floor and wall, soaking them with the termiticide and sealing them. By means of holes made at the junctions of walls and floors at 2 feet distances apart of the ground floor. Then these holes are sealed. This makes a completely undetectable chemical barrier around your property. This leads faster control of termites.
B. PRE CONSTRUCTION TERMITE TREATMENT:
Pre-construction anti-termite soil treatment consists of charging soil around the building and beneath floor with powerful soil toxicants so as to create a chemical barrier.
Termite Management
Imagine finding a termite mound as high as 10 feet in your yard. To researchers in northeastern Brazil, this wasn’t part of their imagination, but instead, a real discovery. They found a massive complex of 200 million termite mounds, which may be up to 4,000 years old. As you might gather, termites are rather sophisticated bugs that can survive even if natural predators, like ants, birds and toads, abound.
Each year, termites cause more than $5 billion in property damage.
Termites are known as "silent destroyers" because of their ability to chew through wood, flooring and even wallpaper undetected
Part of the reason why termites are so successful is because they live and work in social groups, called colonies. A subterranean termite colony might include several million individuals. Unlike other bugs, such as cockroaches and grasshoppers, social insects, like termites, depend on each other to survive. Each termite performs a specific job that helps the colony as a whole.
Every termite colony is complex and has one or more “headquarters,” usually found in a food source like a log. The colony centers are connected to other food sources by a series of underground tunnels. Worker termites use these tunnels to travel back and forth, and some of them bring food back to their kings and queens. In this chapter, we’ll explore the termite social system further. We’ll also look at the termite life cycle, from tiny termite babies to their mysterious queens.
Termites Types:
Drywood Termites
These are the general wood termites that usually attack anything made of wood such as furniture, cupboards, doors, and parts of a wall made of wood. They do not require soil or high moisture content for their survival. They only want wood to infest for a long time and can also be found in woods that quickly decays.
They are smaller termites, not more than the size of a rice grain. They are brown or cream-coloured termites, but a swarm of flying drywood termites can appear white. You can detect their presence by scraping the surface of their infested wood.
Subterranean Termites
There are the most popular termites to infest households. As the name suggests, subterranean termites usually live underground in large colonies with almost 2 million termites in a single colony. Normally they are quarter to half-inch in size and brown or black in colour. They have equal in size two pair of wings. The solder and worker termites are cream in colour with no wings.
Along with wood, these termites also eat anything that is made with cellulose like books. They travel in mud pipe-like structures to prevent themselves from open air. They create these tubes near the connection from soil to walls, to travel for food safely.
Dampwood Termites
Dampwood termites require high moisture content to survive, which is why they mostly attack decaying wood. They are the longest among all the termites with nearly 1 inch in size. By the time they are detected, the damage done to the area is
irreparable. So, it is very much necessary to get regular inspections and hire professionals for anti-termite treatments.
To hide their presence, they close the entry points with their faeces. As they do not create any mud tubes, they are very hard to detect. You can detect them through their facial signs and discarded wings. Those woods that have direct contact with moisture or water on a regular basis
Formosan Termites
These dangerous termites cause the most damage to the structure of the house than any other termites. They live in underground colonies and can create mud tubes on the walls for transport. They are often called “super termites” due to their highly aggressive nature. These termites chew through their preferred structures and cause damage to wooden fixtures and floors.
They are usually half-inch long and pale or brownish-yellow in colour. You can detect these termites through their swarms. Flying Formosan termites can be found near light sources such as tube lights and bulbs. They also leave many piles of shredded wings around the house. The wood these termites infest sound hollow when you tap on them.
