Termites

[Bsktball55]

Last Friday was sitting at my kitchen table and saw a bunch of bugs swarming around my deck and on my screen door. Took a close look at them and pretty sure they were termites. There were hundreds of dead ones on my deck outside my door. The swarm was gone around a half hour later. I've never seen any evidence of termites around my house, what's the chances that swarm was setting up shop and starting a new colony in my house? Still don't see any evidence around the house, but not sure how long it takes to start seeing it.

[Roosterman]

More than likely they were already there. Look closely at all seems in concrete and in corners inside under carpet if it's a slab. Outside corners of garage down low by the concrete seems. If it's a crawl space get a flashlight. Easy to see all the mud tunnels. Hopefully it was a near by stump or something else. Have it inspected by professional if you can't find anything and still worried. Termites swarm after rains usually and you'll see them crawling around in pairs. Fire ants have been acting like termites lately and building nests that resemble termites...........Termites are like fire ants, they really are everywhere.

[Bsktball55]

I have a professional coming out tomorrow to do an inspection, just wondering how likely they were moving in or if they were just passing through. We have woods about 50 yards out our back door, but no rotting stumps nearby.

[high 2]

I'm afraid you've been had.

[Toypuller]

Swarming doesn’t mean infestation. The house is sitting in treated soil, that hopefully keeps the workers out. The workers are the damaging part of the colony.

Swarms occur when mating pairs are taken to the surface, stacked up, then released. They fly short distances, lose their wings, try and pair up, then try and start a new colony. Very, very, few are successful.

A swarm can come out of a rotted branch, stump, log, or even the mud. Swarms inside the structure are a certainty an infestation is present. Swarms outside may have nothing to do with the structure at all, just proximity.

[TampaJim]

Lots of flying ants this year, look just like swarmers.
Capture one. Two segments, termite. Three, ant.

[Toypuller]

The above pertains to subterranean termites. Other areas have other types, but swarms are mostly the subterranean type.

[Bsktball55]

Swarming doesn’t mean infestation. The house is sitting in treated soil, that hopefully keeps the workers out. The workers are the damaging part of the colony.

Swarms occur when mating pairs are taken to the surface, stacked up, then released. They fly short distances, lose their wings, try and pair up, then try and start a new colony. Very, very, few are successful.

A swarm can come out of a rotted branch, stump, log, or even the mud. Swarms inside the structure are a certainty an infestation is present. Swarms outside may have nothing to do with the structure at all, just proximity.

Thanks, it was all outside, but I don't think the house was treated when it was built. I don't remember for sure, but I believe when we bought the house, I think I remember seeing that it had not been treated. I just went and looked around and didn't see any mud tunnels anywhere around our foundation. I'll have the guy inspect it tomorrow for peace of mind. $50 is cheap insurance and then just keep an eye out to make sure nothing pops up.

[Bsktball55]

Lots of flying ants this year, look just like swarmers.
Capture one. Two segments, termite. Three, ant.

I looked up the differences online and am pretty sure it's a termite and not an ant. I have one in a baggy to show the guy tomorrow just to be sure.

[donpilot]

Without treatment you will have termites. Just a matter of when.

[Buccaneer]

One thing is certain one of your neighbors has termites.

[TampaJim]

I’m in Florida ... my vehicle and dog have termites.
Don’t wish the destructive bastages on anyone.
The good news, they are easy enough to destroy.

[5keepers2]

I have termite bond, I saw a swarm near house. Called company holding bond. They
couldn't find anything and thought they were in ground near house. Fast forward a year....new swarm
some of them in a window frame. Got them to pull a sheet of garage paneling....long story short......all kinds of damage.
Took weeks and many dollars to fix. I bet you got'em!

[haha]

If they are swarming you more than likely already have a colony. The swarmers "swarm" to go off and start new colonies.
You should have tons of wings laying around on the deck as the swarmers lose their wings when swarming. The wings will be twice the size in length of the termite and be transparent.
Check around for any mud tubes on the foundation or go in your basement or crawlspace (if you have one) and get a flat head screw driver and poke around the sill plate and rim joist in the area where the deck is to the house.
Termites will feed on the cellulose content of the wood and run parallel to the grain of the woods where as carpenter ants are a nesting insect and due little in the way of damage compared to a termite.
If you have carpenter ants then you won't have termites as the ant will force the termite out.

[Yama225]

Get your house inspected. I finally did about 4 years ago and got signed up for some mess where they come check every year for termites, check and fill the bait stations as needed, and spray inside and outside my house for critters every 3 or 4 months. It is a piece of mind I’m glad I finally invested in.

[huntertn]

If they are swarming they are somewhere close - maybe not your house but somewhere close by. You were right to call someone to take a look - that is what I would have done. I am not sure how termites are in MO but from my experience here in TN if it were me and the house has not been treated since it was built (assuming it was not treated with Chlordane many years ago) I would get three estimates on having it treated with Termidor. And then strongly consider having it treated.

My neighbor had termites and had his house treated. About six months later they showed up at my house. About three years after that they were in his wood fence. Then a couple of years later they were in a nearby garage. I am no bug expert but I don't think you ever completely get rid of them in the area - especially if you have woods near by with a constant supply of dead wood. To me, it is not worth the worry when it is pretty easy to treat. The prices for treatments are all over the place so be sure to check around.

[Bamaman]

I had two termite infestations while living in the Atlanta 'burbs. A gentleman in my Sunday School class owned a termite company, and he told me all about termites and how to treat my house--saving $1000.

The largest online retailer of pest control products in the U.S. is BugSpray.com, and they have online tutorials on how to get rid of over 150 bugs, critters, etc. I went into their retail store on Hwy 78 in Stone Mountain, GA. to buy a gallon of termicide.

I dug a 6 inch by 6 inch trench around the perimeter of my house. I picked up a few bags of pea gravel at Lowes and filled up the trench--marking off 10 foot sections. I used a graduated lawn sprayer hooked to a water hose and mixed enough termicide (per the directions) for 10 feet. I then walked back and forth spraying the termicide in the trench until the sprayer was empty. I then went to the next 10 feet sections. . . . .until the house.was treated. I drilled holes under the front edge of my garage slab with a hammer drill and saturated the area underneath with termicide.

I have used BugSpray.com for years learning how to handle pests, and they sell chemicals and other items you would have difficulty finding elsewhere. Most national pest control companies don't even use the chemicals these guys sell. They are more of insurance companies than pest control companies--and are just trying to get you into contracts where they charge $50 a month to look at traps around your house. No thanks!

[Bsktball55]

As of now, there is no sign of any termites in our house. He said the fact that they were swarming around the deck which is a good 9 feet off the ground, was a good sign that they probably just came up out of the woods behind our house. All the termites in this area are subterranean and would be much more likely to be under the front porch or in the garage. Guess I will keep an eye on it and make sure I don't see any mud tunnels developing.