Smack! That's the sound of the termite lips as they feast on a delectable buffet of spruce, Douglas fir, pine, oak, or whatever your house may have to offer. Oh, you say you don't have termites in your home? Well, just wait.

Termites cause enormous damage to structures each year in the United States. Believe it or not, these varmints cause more damage to houses and buildings than the combined losses of all annual fires, storms, and earthquake damage. Would you like that in dollar figures? No problem, but be sure to sit down. Termites are responsible for $1,000,000,000 in damage every 12 months. Termites damage nearly two million houses a year. In this same period, only 400,000 house fires occur.

Run Silent, Run Deep

The novel/movie Run Silent, Run Deep would be a great motto for termites. At their best, they are virtually undetectable. They eat wood structural members from the inside out. Termites sense when they are near the surface of a piece of wood. They make the necessary adjustments to their stabilizing fins and yell: Dive, dive...!

Because they are so small, their munching and crunching can't be heard by human ears. As you might imagine, they use their size to their advantage. Termites can squeeze through a crack as small as 1/64th of an inch!

Termites build nests in the ground, as they love moist soil. The nests can be just below the surface or they can reside as much as twelve feet below the surface.

Termite infestation? Pick the best exterminator using my Termite and Carpenter Ant Checklist. I offer a 100% Money Back Guarantee.

Class Distinction

Termites live in very organized societies. Each grouping of termites is called a colony. These are similar to our cities. Each colony is ruled by a king and queen termite.

Within the colony are four other types of termites: workers, supplementary reproductives, soldiers, and reproductives.

The workers are the trouble makers. These guys are both sterile and blind. They are responsible for providing food for the entire colony. Some workers are delegated to stay in the nest and care for the queen, baby termites, and soldiers.

The supplementary reproductives have the easiest job. They merely hang out around the nest and do nothing. If either the king or queen dies or gets sick, they step in to make sure termite eggs are produced on a regular basis.

The soldiers are the termites that protect the colony. They develop armored heads with strong pincer jaws. Ants, you see, are a major enemy of termites.

The final group of termites are reproductives. I guess you would say that these are the princes and princesses of the termite society. At given points of time, these termites develop sexual organs and wings. Then one day they decide to take off. They swarm out of the nest, pair off, and fly to other sites to start new colonies.

What Termite Workers Do

As we just discussed, the worker termites are the ones we are concerned with. These are the only ones who leave the nest on a daily basis. They go out and hunt down various sources of food. A single colony of termites will fan out and rely on several sources of food.

For example, your house may be one food stop, the roots of a downed tree in your back yard could be another, your neighbor's wood pile, etc.

The termites build a well-developed underground roadway system between these food sources. Furthermore, the worker termites will visit each of the different food sites. They don't always go back to the same spot to eat.

This foraging for food takes place on a nonstop basis. The worker termites must constantly bring chewed up wood products back to the hungry colony. Each colony is like a miniature New York City, the city that never sleeps.

The weak link in the termite scheme of things is the worker termite. You see, this little devil must get back into the soil or into the nest (colony) every 24 hours or so. They simply get thirsty. By returning to the moist soil around their nest, they get filled back up with water and are ready to go out again.

This dependence upon water and the need to get back to the nest for water and to deliver food is how we can defend ourselves against this pest.

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Termite Facts & Tips

Termites are found in every state in the USA. Hawaii has the highest concentration of infestation with 15.1% of the houses being victims. Georgia tops the list in the continental US, where 5.5% of residential homes are affected. The national average is 2.3%. It has been said that there are two types of homes in the USA: Those with termites and those that will have them.

The termites love to live in warm, moist soil. Because we heat our houses in the wintertime,termites will construct underground networks that enable them to eat at these heated restaurants year round.

Termites construct airtight mud tunnels when they have to leave the soil to get to a food source.These mud tunnels are thin (about the size of a cocktail straw). The mud tunnels will be attached to concrete or concrete block walls, over and around metal termite barriers, plastic, etc. Believe it or not, they can actually construct these mud tunnels as free standing structures from the ground to a wood food source!

Termites will eat wood or anything made from wood. My sister had an infestation in her house.The termites found her boxes of Christmas decorations. They ate the cardboard boxes, some wrapping paper and other cardboard decorations! They have even invaded steel commercial buildings. What might they eat there? Well, the paper on the drywall, of course! A major international corporation with headquarters in Cincinnati had a major infestation in their new steel and granite buildings not too long ago. It seems that termites had some deep nests in the ground below the old buildings that were torn down to make room for the new buildings.

Termite infestation? Pick the best exterminator using my Termite and Carpenter Ant Checklist. I offer a 100% Money Back Guarantee.

Houses built of concrete or on concrete slabs are inviting targets. Termites can enter a house through tiny cracks, 1/64th of an inch! They can also enter along side of pluming pipes or where underground wires enter a house. Any place a wood wall sits on top of concrete can be a problem as well. Treated lumber doesn't always stop termites. They will build a mud tunnel right over the treated lumber to get to the regular 2x4 or 2x6's.

If you are building a new home, and can't obtain the new system, give serious consideration to pretreating your house with the barrier type chemicals. Newer, safer chemicals are now used that will work until such time as the monitoring system is available in your location. Pretreatment is quicker that treating after a house is built. It is also more effective and costs less. Simply tell your builder about this before any concrete slabs are poured.

Need more info? Go to the National Pest Management Association Web site. (http://www.pestworld.org).

Author's Note: We've received other emails with similar problems or questions. Here's one from Aaron S. of Los Angeles, CA, regarding termite fumigation.

"My house was fumigated for termites covered with a tent etc. After removing the tent two days later, we entered our house but there was no odor of gas at all.  A while later, we saw insects, spiders, roaches etc. moving around. The fumigation company claims that they mix a substance with the gas so that it will not have an odor. My question: Shouldn't there be a gas odor and dead insects? We can't see the termites inside the wall, but we feel that if all the insects are still alive, probably the termites are not dead either. Please, let us hear you opinion. Thank you very much!"

Doing a little online checking, the chemical used during termite fumigation is targeting only termites. It will not kill spiders, ants, bed bugs or cockroaches. So Aaron, you may still see other insects moving around.

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Termite Treatment: Baiting/Elimination Systems

Following is a listing of some of the companies that are currently marketing total termite colony elimination baiting systems. Dow AgroSciences introduced the first colony elimination system in 1995. The other players will enjoy success if their systems are effective at killing the worker termites.

Your biggest problem may be finding an authorized pest control company that can use the system on your house. Only one company at this time allows you to install the system yourself - that being Spectracide. Their product was introduced in the spring of 1998. The other systems must be professionally installed and monitored. Contact the companies below. At the time of this offering, several were offering free videos and other nifty information! When you call, you will be given the name(s) of local pest control companies.

FirstLine

FirstLine is the only system in the industry that includes termite baits, liquid termiticides and software for complete control. There are three major components of the FirstLine Termite Defense System:

• FirstLine GT Plus Termite Bait Station with SMARTDISC locator and Monitoring Station
• Talstar Termiticide/Insecticide
• SMARTRAK Series of Software Solutions

Termite infestation? Pick the best exterminator using my Termite and Carpenter Ant Checklist. I offer a 100% Money Back Guarantee.

Sentricon
Dow AgroSciences

Sentricon was the first termite baiting system. This system employs a chemical called hexaflumuron - a growth regulator. This chemical prohibits the termite from molting or growing a new outer skin. Without a new skin, the termite basically "bursts" as it tries to grow. Death can occur within one to two months after ingestion.

The Sentricon System provides property protection through a three-step process: detection of termites, elimination of termite colonies and preventive protection against reinfestation by regular monitoring for new termite activity.

Exterra Termite Interception & Baiting System
Ensystex

Spectracide Terminate
Spectrum Brands

Spectracide Terminate is the only system that is sold directly to homeowners! It is a temporary treatment to prevent infestation and is not intended as a substitute for soil or other treatment to control termites underground.

Author's Note: We've received other emails with similar problems or questions. Here's one from Aaron S. of Los Angeles, CA, regarding termite fumigation.

"My house was fumigated for termites covered with a tent etc. After removing the tent two days later, we entered our house but there was no odor of gas at all.  A while later, we saw insects, spiders, roaches etc. moving around. The fumigation company claims that they mix a substance with the gas so that it will not have an odor. My question: Shouldn't there be a gas odor and dead insects? We can't see the termites inside the wall, but we feel that if all the insects are still alive, probably the termites are not dead either. Please, let us hear you opinion. Thank you very much!"

Doing a little online checking, the chemical used during termite fumigation is targeting only termites. It will not kill spiders, ants, bed bugs or cockroaches. So Aaron, you may still see other insects moving around.

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