subject: Prevent Termites From Entering Your Home [print this page] Termite is the eusocial insect that lives in colonies and eats wood. At maturity they become thousands or millions in number. They mostly fed on dead plants, material generally in the form of wood. Colonies use decentralized, self organized systems of activity guided by swarm intelligence to exploit food sources and environments that could not be available to single insect alone.
Termites live in the same environment that they feed on like they live on the piece of the wood they feed or underground. Basically there are three types of termites; they are Drywood termite, Subterranean termite and Dampwood termite.
Drywood termites are so named because they live on dry and rotted surface which has a proper nutrient balance which is essential for their survival. You can detect signs of their nesting by holes, cracks or leaks in any form of wood on your property including tree trunks and posts. Subterranean termites live on top of soil that makes the species easier to spot. These termites use to connect food sources through mud tubes. This provides ideal transportation since termites are blind and have to rely on other sources. Dampwood termites on the other hand live in moisture. The wood which becomes moist and humid due to weather condition or leaky areas catch the attention of dampwood termites.
Termites prefer warm areas to survive. They cant tolerate extreme weathers like snowfall or extreme hot places. Also they are photosensitive and wary of predators. They are blind but they can smell the decay of the wood. So, it is better to paint your wood or house with anti termite polish. Block all holes, cracks or leaks anywhere in the house. Remove the decayed wood or dead leaves from the house. Look out ant gnawing wood or rot. You can also call your nearest pest control, if the problem is big.
Pay extra attention to the exterior doors or the place where foundation meets the wall. The plant near your house should be pruned back; this will help prevent moisture and mold that is build up on wood walls. If you have a garden then sprinkles water away from home. Using a weather sealer, lock the moisture of the wood. Remove or elevate the wood structure that directly contacts the soil. Termite baits placed around your home will gradually help in killing all the termites.
The two most common ways to kill termites are by using termite baiting technique or a liquid termiticide. The termite bait systems are kind of neat and a little less intrusive. Almost all of baiting system, if you buy comes with monitoring stations. The monitoring system is basically a piece of wood inside a hunk of hard plastic with holes or slits in it and this piece of wood has direct contact with the soil, so that you can easily check on the hunk of wood to see if it has termites on it. Termite protection can also be done by keeping things as dry as possible. Clean gutters are also important thing to consider as leaky or overflow gutters increases the termite population.
