Termite Control

Termites are very common in the central Ohio area and are often confused with ants particularly when they swarm. Look at the difference in the picture above.

Termites can cause considerable damage to wood, cardboard, and books. Basically anything with cellulose. The termite species that is common in Ohio is the subterranean termite. They live and move through the soil and enter structures and feed on the wood in the structures. But, a termite colony is usually quite large and encompasses areas in and around a home in the soil.

In a forest or woodlands area, they play a beneficial part in our environmental ecosystem by consuming dead trees and stumps.  When homes are built in areas with higher termite pressures, the likelihood of a home being infested increases. And, because subterranean termites live and move through the soil, their colony can infest multiple homes.

Adult worker termites,
adult soldier termite and nymph

Because termites are subterranean, it is often difficult to detect a problem.  Tunneling through the soil, termites will go to the source of food, like your home and anything containing cellulose but their natural food source is dead roots and stumps of trees, fence posts, and wood piles.  Most often, a termite problem is not detected until some degree of damage has been done in your home.  Following are some of the signs you might see if you have termites.

Swarming
When the temperature and conditions are right, termites will exit their colony and swarm as they pair up and mate.  This activity occurs during the daytime and often after it rains usually between the months of March to May in central Ohio and one very important factor is warm temperature.  Only lasting a few minutes, swarming usually results in the shedding of wings that may be left around windows, doors, heating vents, sinks or bathtubs.  Often termite swarmings can be identified by inspection of the shed termite wings so save a wing sample for a Columbus Pest Control specialist to examine for proper identification.

Mud Tubes
Since termites live primarily underground, they build mud tunnels that lead to a food source.  These tunnels are approximately the diameter of a pencil and can be found inside or outside your home. Sometimes the tunnels are not easily seen like in the box-sill area of the basement or crawl space. Within these tunnels, termites travel from point to point including their various colony locations many of which are in the soil outside of the home. Termites must be within their tunnels to protect them and keep them from drying out.

Wood Damage
Because termites eat wood from the inside out, it is difficult to spot this pest problem until significant amounts of damage has been done.  Termites forage along the soft grain of the wood and often their paths are packed with soil/mud.

Live Termites
Occasionally, live termites might be uncovered when a home is being remodeled or infested wood is broken open like a baseboard being hit with a vacuum cleaner.  They are soft, light-colored insects about the size of a grain of rice that will move quickly away when they are exposed to light.

Termite Control Systems

For the past 24 years, Columbus Pest Control has relied on the Sentricon Termite Baiting System for effective control of subterranean termite infestations and protection of structures against termite attack. Sentricon System bait stations are installed in the soil around the structure and once termites begin to feed on the system bait the colony slowly begins to die off. total colony elimination usually takes place within 90 days of bait consumption by the colony.  Termites feed on the bait and then take it back to the colony where it is fed to other termites.

By using the Sentricon Termite Baiting System, Columbus Pest Control can assure homeowners of excellence in control of termite and their colony, protection of the structure against termite damage and also protection of the environment due to the lack of applying many gallons of liquid termiticide in and around the foundation of structures.

For the full story and informational video about the life span and habits of termites, click here

Columbus Pest Control uses Sentricon’s green environmental bait systems. For additional termite information, see this manufacturer link:  http://www.sentricon.com/