What license and credentials does a pest control company need to have? What about their employees?
Tennessee and Georgia requires that companies must hold a license in each category of service they offer. A company offering service to control wood destroying organisms (termites, carpenter bees, carpenter ants, and other wood infesting pests or organisms) must have a license issued by the Department of Agriculture from each state served. To sit for the licensing exam, an individual (typically the owner) must have either industry experience or a college degree in a science-related field. This is true for other licensing categories including household pest control (including insects and rodents) or fumigation. Once the individual has successfully passed the exam, a license is issued after proof of liability insurance and a surety bond is provided to the Department of Agriculture. The license holder is required to obtain recertification hours through continuing education.

Technicians too have their own certification requirements and must pass a written exam within 90 days of employment. Employees also obtain recertification through on-going continuing education.  Industry trade associations including the Tennessee Pest Control Association, the Georgia Pest Control Association and the National Pest Management Association provide such educational opportunities and support for the pest control industry.

The National Pest Management Association has and additional program for qualifying member companies that certifies them as a Quality Pro company. It is often referred to as the “Mark of Excellence in Pest Management” and goes beyond the requirements discussed above. 

Quality Pro certified companies must demonstrate they provide advanced training for technicians, are good environmental stewards, and the company conducts business with high ethical standards and business practices. The program includes Quality Pro certification for Schools, Food Protection and Green pest control. To learn more about this program and to find out what companies are Quality Pro visit the National Pest Management Association website at http://npmapestworld.org/ and click on blue square Quality Pro logo for more information.

 

Termite Questions

My neighbors had swarming termites and had their home treated for termites. We have the monitoring stations and I'm concerned about their effectiveness as compared to the liquid treatment my friend had.  What are your thoughts?

Termites emerge in the spring and recent rain and warmer weather finds these winged termite pairs budding off to form new colonies.  Their presence does signal an infestation that must be treated.

There are two ways to control termites.  One is using the liquid treatment like your friend had.  This can involve drilling into the foundation and attached slabs of the home and injecting a liquid termiticide.  In addition, a small trench is dug around the perimeter of the home and treated with an unbroken line of the liquid termiticide (chemical mixed with water).  The termiticide is a contact poison that kills termites when they pass through it or come in contact with it.  The chemical has a "residual" and this barrier protects the home from further invasion if left undisturbed.

A second way to control termites is to use a non-repellant chemical that prevents termites from growing.  This chemical is applied in a bait matrix (bait and an attractive cellulose food) inside the monitoring stations. 

You may have noticed the hard "shell" of most insects.  This substance is made of chitin.  The chemicals used in the monitors around your home are chitin synthesis inhibitors.  Termite workers and soldier cast members come in contact with this chemical but it does not kill them immediately.  It is slow acting so as not to alarm the termites.  Termites transfer this chemical to their colony members through feeding and grooming, thus destroying the termites' ability to molt or grow, resulting in their death. 

Monitoring stations are plastic tubes with a large head on top and the tube is approximately 12" long.  These monitors are installed at prescribed intervals around the entire external perimeter of your home usually about 2 to 3 feet from the foundation and away from the drip line of your roof and gutters.  The plastic station contains a cellulose product.  This may be a pine wood stick, saw dust, or other cellulose materials that termites like to eat.  Your pest management professional inspects each monitor on a quarterly basis to look for presence of termite activity.  With a special tool, the monitor is opened.  If termites are found, the wood material is replaced with the bait and moisture (typically water) and the termites are carefully put back into the tube with the bait.  The bait is effective and reliable.

Compared to a liquid treatment, the monitors are a more environmentally sensible choice.  There is a low risk of environmental consequences including spills, leaks, or contamination that could be present with a liquid chemical.  There is no drilling in floors, foundations, or trenching around buildings since the monitors are on the exterior of your home.  A simple hand auger is used to install monitors into the ground and technicians take care to avoid plumbing, electrical, and utility lines as well as landscaping. The top of the monitor is usually at or just below the ground level and they do not interfere with mowing.

The chemical bait is only used in monitors where termite activity is discovered or expected whereas the liquid treatment is often applied throughout the entire home and even inside.  

Since human bodies are covered with skin and not the hard chitin exterior, the chemical in the bait stations are not harmful.  The monitors have been on the market and thoroughly tested by the manufacturers for over ten years.  Research has developed the preferred textured cellulose products that are most palatable to termites and studies have found the foraging termites prefer it to plywood, soft yellow pine, dry wall, oak flooring, and particle board or OSB.  The cellulose in the stations absorbs moisture and spaces in the material are an attractive habitat to termites.  The monitors do just that – monitor the movement of termites toward your home.  The termites' own biology is used to destroy them by stopping their ability to molt and thus offering colony elimination.

As to which approach is better, it is often a matter of preference.  The monitors are approved for both new construction and for existing homes and businesses.  They can be installed by deck posts, near wood mailbox posts, and around other wood structures on your property.  Your technician will number the stations and prepare a graph of their location.  Some companies use a handheld device and bar coding to assess the monitors.  With a quarterly recommended service, your home is screened for termites more often than the typically yearly-inspection recommended for homes having had a chemical termite treatment.  That being said, some homes using monitors may also need a "spot" or small area treatment with the liquid termiticide if termites bypass the monitoring stations and enter the house.  Because termites are blind and are just foraging for attractive cellulose products, they may miss the monitoring stations and find your home instead.

My home has a termite bait system around its perimeter and my dog recently dug up one of the stations and chewed it up. I called the company and was assured everything was okay. Can you give me additional information, should I be concerned?

Occasionally I hear of dogs digging up termite bait stations. You did not say what termite bait system you have around your home, but the most common ones are chitin synthesis inhibitors. Insects such as termites wear their skeletons on the outside, this exoskeleton is made up of chitin and these types of baits are designed to disrupt the molting process of termites resulting in death from consuming the material. It is important to note that the actual amount of bait is miniscule and that the bait material contains mainly cellulose (wood) and humans and animals do not have chitin therefore the actual pesticide would not harm your dog. The major concern would be whether the dog ingested pieces of the plastic bait station. When your pest control company technician returns to check the termite bait system ask that each of the stations be checked to insure that they are secured, flush with the ground and the lids are on tight.

Last year I had swarming termites and my pest control company used a liquid to treat my home.  Do I need to have my home inspected this year?

The presence of termite swarmers indicated you had termite colonies living in your home.  In fact, when the winged, reproductive swarmers emerge in the spring, it is an indication the colony inside your home was large enough that mated pairs of winged termites were emerging to establish new colonies.

The foundation of your home was probably drilled and liquid termiticide injected into these holes to create a barrier under concrete foundations to eliminate the termites.  Homes with basements and crawl spaces are also treated within and around support piers and inside wall voids.  In addition, the standard treatment is to dig a six inch trench around your home’s perimeter and inject this trench with additional termiticide and then replace the dirt in the trench.  This creates an unbroken barrier around your home to prevent new termites from entering. 

Termites are always present in our environment and they live in the ground.  Simply eliminating those termites in your home at one point in time will not necessarily prevent new termites from moving through the soil to establish new colonies in your home. If the chemical application did not reach all the termites locations, they could still be inside your home, continuing to eat structural wood used in construction and other cellulose material. 

Termite chemicals degrade over time due to age, heat, sunlight, and other environmental factors.  Also the chemical barrier within the trench around your home may be disturbed and broken due to landscaping, mowing, activities of small mammals and pets, and rain and wind.  Cracks often form in your home’s exterior due to shifting and settling of the foundation, particularly in new homes built on lots that have been filled or graded.  Termites move within the soil between cracks in concrete and over the foundation's footings to find the wood in your home. 

It is critical to have a yearly home inspection in our area.  An annual inspection of your home will ensure you are termite-free.  Skipping the yearly inspection could result in hidden termites continuing to eat undisturbed, causing costly structural damage.  Repair costs will far exceed the cost of your inspection and peace of mind.  

The latest trend in the industry, in addition to the yearly inspection of your home and its foundation, is to also install a termite baiting system around your home’s exterior perimeter.  A quarterly inspection is the industry-recommended service interval for this system.  When termites are found to be eating the wood inside the system monitors, it is then replaced with bait.  The “monitoring station" then becomes a “bait station.”  Termites eat the bait and transfer it to other termites when they return to their colony.  The termites distribute this bait through grooming.  The colony may be located inside your home or it may be somewhere in your yard or your neighbor’s yard. 

Unlike the liquid chemical used in your initial treatment, the bait used in a bait system does not work immediately.  This bait works by preventing the growth of the termite’s exoskeleton, which kills the termites as they try to grow larger through molting.  By checking the monitors every three months, you pest management professional can detect termite activity.  By noting which stations contain termite activity, your technician has clues as to the location of the colony as well as the size of the colony.  If termite activity is significant, your home may be treated with liquid chemicals in addition to the baits used in the monitors.  With this comprehensive approach, you can be assured of the protection of your home from these wood-destroying organisms.

Finally, a yearly inspection is recommended to detect conditions that could lead to termite infestations, including poor drainage, cracks or holes in your home’s foundation, rotting wood, and any structural wood in close contact to the ground.  Because termites are not the only insects that eat structural wood, your pest management professional will also check for other wood-destroying organisms including carpenter ants, carpenter bees, old house borers, wharf borers, and other species of wood-destroying beetles.

We had swarming termites at our home this spring.  How long had these termites been eating our home?

Male and female termite reproductives swarm and leave their old colony to establish a new one.  When we see swarming, winged termites, we know they are from a mature, established colony that has developed over a number of years.  Typically colonies of subterranean termites swarm when the colony is approximately five years old.  Large swarms occur when the colony is from eight to ten years old.  The number of swarmers provides key information to the size of the colony in your home.  Have a pest management make a thorough inspection of your home. It may be necessary to drill your home’s foundation and inject or foam a liquid termiticide in the foundation and wall voids.  In addition, a trench should be dug around your foundation and a continuous barrier treatment applied.  Installing exterior perimeter termite monitoring stations will prevent new termite entry but probably will not effectively eliminate the colony already established in your home.

What does termite damage look like?

First, the termite damage will be on anything made of, or containing cellulose or wood fibers.  While termites may tunnel through sheet rock or damage foam board insulation, they are actually searching for wood to eat.  They prefer softwoods like pine and fir but can damage anything wood.  Termites feed along the grain of the wood, so you'll see damage to the wood following the direction of the wood grain.  They prefer to eat the softer spring growth wood layers so the damage will appear as lines of eaten wood filled with mud and separated by a hard ring of wood above and below.  The damage continues throughout the wood and will resemble a honeycomb effect.  The mud in the eaten areas was brought in by the termites to keep the wood moist and make it easier for them to destroy and digest.  The damage you see is done by the worker termite caste.  If you have an old, decaying tree stump in your yard, you may be able to easily see termite activity.  In this case, their damage is really helping to destroy the rotting stump and convert is into basic elements for use by other plants. 

During renovations on the outside of my home the contractor found damaged wood caused by termites when the siding was removed. Live termites were seen in the damaged wood so I called my pest control company. When the inspector arrived to examine the damage he could not find any termites. He said that termites will leave the area if they are disturbed, is this true?

The termites may be gone from the damaged wood but they have not left the area. When the siding was removed exposing the termites to sunlight this was a double edged sword for the termites. Worker termites will quickly leave the work-site when disruption occurs. This is done out of concern for their safety from attack of natural predators like ants and exposure to sunlight, which will kill termites. They may or may not return to the site. This is typical termite behavior. When termites infest a house, the house becomes part of the termite colony and other parts of the house are probably infested or will be soon. It is essential that the entire house be re-inspected to determine if other areas are infested and that the newly found damaged area be closely inspected.

As I drove into my garage, I noticed several spots on the wood trim.  My first thought was the paint had come off, but when I touched it the wood crumbled and my fingers went into the wood.  I found more soft spots where the wood just crumbled.  Could this be from termites or moisture (My home was treated last year for termites)?

An inspection by a pest management professional (PMP) would determine is the damage is from termites or moisture. Since your home was treated last year, call the pest control company and ask that they send an inspector to look at this. Termite damage can be determined by the presence of galleries found in wood that have the appearance of grooves cut along the softer grain of the wood between the harder layers. These grooves or galleries may contain mud tubing from previous termite activity or you may even see live termites. An active termite infestation might exist because this part of your home was not adequately treated.   

I often find termites in the trim around garage doors and in the sheetrock or block walls inside garages.  The garage is typically protected from the weather and this provides shelter for termites to work uninterrupted year round. 

In addition, homes are often constructed in phases.  The home's main living area is typically built on a foundation over a crawl space or basement.  Once this is completed, builders fill in and pour the concrete slab for the garage directly adjacent to the foundation.  Lastly, the driveway is poured against the garage slab.  Each concrete section has an expansion joint cut into the concrete to allow for natural expansion and contraction with changing weather and temperature.  Cracks form in these expansion joints, by design.  These cracks allow easy entry points for termites to travel from the ground where they live to the wood in your home.

Termites form their mud tubes and travel up the walls, eating the wood trim and studs.  Because some tubes are hidden behind the wall, your first indication of their presence is the spots on the wood trim or holes in sheetrock. In many cases, termite damage is mistaken for peeling or bubbling paint.  When you chip away the paint or press on the wood, it may feel spongy.  The termites have eaten woody layers and instead of a solid piece of wood, your wood looks like corrugated cardboard (honeycombs). 

An inspection under your home, around the foundation, and inside your garage can reveal the presence of mud tubes.  These shelter tubes allow termites to work undisturbed while maintaining the constant humidity their bodies require.

If, on the other hand you have moisture damage, you may only notice spongy wood without the presence of eaten galleries.  The moist wood would be more splintery or be broken into cubical sections (called cubical rot).  Moist wood is a problem and must be corrected because moist wood is easier for termites and other wood-destroying organisms to infest (like carpenter ants or wood boring beetles) and is often a precursor for future damage. Most companies use a moisture meter to determine the amount of moisture in the wood. Wood typically contains around ten percent moisture and when a reading indicates twenty percent or higher decay will follow.   

 
I recently found small holes in the wood siding on my house.  Could termites do this?

Termites do not make exit holes in wood.  Instead, they consume the wood from within.  They travel from their underground nests to the wood inside your home through mud tunnels they construct.  There are a number of wood infesting beetles.  Their larvae damage the wood and when they develop into the adult stage, they make exit holes in wood.  Your pest management professional can determine if these holes have been made by a wood boring beetle and if infestations exists.  They will also determine appropriate treatment measures to control these damaging beetles.

Do I have termites in my motor home?

Recently I was contacted by an individual who thought termites or another insect was damaging the walls in her motor home.  She found holes on the shower walls and offered to drive the motor home to the office.  It is common to find ants, mice, and even termites in mobile homes, campers, and boats.  After working with my technicians to inspect her motor home, we found no pests but determined the holes in the shower walls were caused by staples used to install the water-proof wall.  Over time, the water-proof panels worked loose from the staples allowing water behind the walls. This condition, however, can lead to mold and rot which weakens the wood, making it vulnerable to wood-destroying insects.  Motor homes left for extended periods can be hosts to a variety of insect pests and mammals.  

Inspections
A mortgage lender told me that HUD no longer requires a termite inspection. Since termites are such a problem in our area can this be true?

No. The Department of Housing and Urban Development or HUD has never stopped requiring inspections in areas of the country where termite inspections are the norm – and Chattanooga and Hamilton County would certainly be in the norm. To determine areas with the greatest amount of termite pressure or activity, HUD uses the U.S. Forest Service Maps to make that determination and this has probably led to some field offices and lenders confusion. Even though HUD only guarantees less than five percent of housing loans, conventional lenders will typically follow the lead of HUD.

My house was treated for termites last year. The company who did the treatment has called to schedule an inspection this year.  I have not seen any termites.  Is it really necessary to have my home re-inspected annually?

Yes. Even if you have not seen termites since your home was treated last year, this does not mean the termites are completely gone. Termites have been on earth for over 250 million years and have adapted to all barriers and could eventually find their way back into your home. In the southeastern part of the United States, termites are quite formidable and should not be taken lightly. They can and do cause serious damage to homes and businesses. It is estimated that termites cause over $5 billion in annual damage to homes alone.

There are multiple reasons for you to have your home inspected each year even after it has been treated. First, an annual inspection by a licensed professional can insure that the termite infestation has been eliminated and no new infestations have occurred. Your pest management company can inspect crawl spaces and key areas where termites could be.   If termites are found, additional treatments can be applied. Your initial treatment came with a guarantee which can usually be extended by a contract for service. As part of the terms and conditions of the contract an annual inspection and re-treatment is provided. 

Finally, treatments do not last forever. I am often asked how long a termite treatment will last. In short no one knows for sure, because so many factors come into play including environmental factors (like excessive moisture), soil conditions, construction methods, and the amount and types of chemicals used.

The best protection for your home is to maintain your termite contract with your pest control company.  Homeowner’s insurance will not pay for damage caused by termites. Consider the annual inspection fee as an insurance premium designed to protect your home from termites. Homeowners think because they have not seen swarming termites there is no threat and therefore do not need additional or annual inspections.  As household budgets become strained, the temptation might be to drop the annual termite inspection to save money. But, like fire alarms, smoke detectors, security systems, and other forms of insurance, termite contracts are necessary. 
Often when a customer stops their annual inspection and wants to resume the service later, the pest control company may require you to pay for another termite treatment (which costs much more than the annual inspection fee).  Dropping a termite contract can hinder an owner’s ability to sell their home because potential buyers will think twice, if other homes they are considering have been continuously under warranty by a termite contract.  If you are a homeowner, have your home inspected and treated by a licensed company and keep up the annual inspection and contract. You will be glad you did. 

Clearance Letters
 When I bought my house I received a termite letter that did not show evidence of termites.  Now I believe there could be a problem with termites at my home. How long is this report in effect?

In Tennessee and Georgia the findings are warranted for 90 days from the date of inspection listed on the report. There are exceptions (active termites, old damage, concealed damage) to this time frame and if a problem exists I recommend you contact the pest control company issuing the report. It is important for homeowners and the general public to know some important facts about a “termite letter”. To call it a termite letter is a little misleading because the inspection includes more than just looking for termites. In Tennessee the report is actually called a “Wood Destroying Insect Inspection Report”. Those insects that destroy wood include termites, re-infesting wood boring beetles such as powder post beetles, and carpenter ants and carpenter bees. The Georgia report is called a “Wood Infestation Inspection Report”. This report covers termites, beetles, wood decay fungus, even dry wood termites and all conditions that may be conducive to an infestation.
The actual inspection of the property is just a snapshot of what was found through a visual inspection at a particular time and date. Termites are always present in our environment and could be in your home and may not be detected or may remain hidden in an inaccessible area. 

We’ve been in our home six months.  The house was built in 2000 and our real estate closing documents showed no termites were found during the inspection.  Can we feel safe with this “clean” report?

This report means that a careful professional inspection of the accessible, unobstructed areas found no visible evidence of termites and other wood-destroying organisms on the inspection date. Every home has wood frames and supports that can’t be seen without dismantling or destructive probing.  Other areas may be covered and inspection is not possible.  These include floors (covered by carpet on wood), walls (covered by paneling or wall paper), exterior (covered by insulation, brick, or siding), and even furniture, appliances, or other stored material prohibits access for inspection (garage, closet or attic).  Your inspection report will note these excluded, inaccessible areas.  For this reason, it is important to have your home under contract with a licensed pest control company for a yearly inspection of your home.  Enhanced protection would include the installation of a bait system to your home's foundation.  Quarterly monitoring of the bait system combined with a thorough yearly inspection is preferred to protect your home from termites.

Contracts
What should I know about termite contracts?  I'm a new homeowner.

There are two main types of termite control service contracts.  They typically state that the pest management company will either (1) treat a new or recurring infestation of termites or (2) treat a new or recurring infestation of termites and repair any new structural damage caused by termites.  They are commonly referred to as a retreatment contract or a repair contract.  The repair contract can cost significantly more than the retreatment version.  The terms and control conditions vary by company so read and review the contract. Most are five-year annual renewable contracts.  The initial treatment cost typically covers the contract for the first year.  The annual renewal fee is normally due at the beginning of the second year. Contracts are available for the inspection of termite baiting systems or monitors.  The monitors are inspected either monthly or quarterly. Some monitoring contracts also include a thorough yearly inspection as well.

 

Termite Inspection
What questions will the technician ask of me when I have a termite inspection?  I’m a first time homeowner.

Congratulations on your purchase and you are wise to protect it from wood-destroying organisms.  To better inspect your home, your pest management professional will ask you if you have seen any termites or termite swarms (near your windows, perhaps).  He will ask about any termite damage you know of.  If there was prior, old damage to you home, it will be noted on a graph with your real estate closing documents provided to you when you purchased your home.  You’ll be asked how long you’ve owned your home and when it was built.  If you’ve made any construction changes or foundation repairs, mention these along with any drainage problems or other sources of permanent water nearby.  Mention too any moisture problems you may have noticed.  You may be asked the location of plumbing and heating lines and whether your crawl space or basement is locked.  Your technician will need access to these areas.  Also mention if you have pets, infants and small children, or elderly persons living in your home.

How can I look for termites?

One of the easiest ways to spot termites is to look for their mud tubes.  They are often compared to the thickness or width of a pencil and you'll see them on your home's foundation walls.  These tubes are used by the termites to bypass the non-wood parts of your home as they forage for wood to eat.  During treatment for termites, your pest management professional will break and remove these tubes to limit the termite's access to your home.

Termites construct these mud shelter tubes for transportation and protection.  Each termite has a thin, soft, delicate body.  The tubes protect them from the drying effects of wind, air, and sunlight and also from their key enemy, the ant.  The termites travel in these tubes which are composed of soil and wood debris.  The tunnels maintain a constant humidity level and provide a source of moisture for the termites.  Visible termite shelter tubes are always an indication of termite activity, but their presence may not be from a current infestation.  Old, abandoned exploratory tubes will be dry and brittle and won't contain live termites.  Termites may be using another route, perhaps hidden, to their feeding site.

Treatment Options and Intervals
My neighbor mentioned a boric acid treatment was performed on her new home?  What was that for?

Many pest management professionals are using boric acid or borate to treat the wood nearest the ground to help prevent termites.  It is extremely effective as a treatment option for homes as they are being built.  The boric acid solution, often treated with a dye to aid in its proper application, will penetrate wood to protect it from termites.  Other new construction treatment options include liquid termiticides and perimeter foundation termite bait systems.  Borate treatments are sometimes applied to the subflooring of an existing home with active termites.

I am building my house next to a lake.  What are my treatment options to prevent termites?

The use of most chemical treatments, in this situation can be extremely risky because traditional termiticides contain label advisory statements that prevent the products use near aquatic life.  Some chemicals are toxic to fish, so extreme care must be taken to avoid runoff and to avoid any conditions where movement of the liquid treatment from the treated area is likely to occur.  For example, if your home is less than 100 feet from the lake, or the landscaping or any side of your new home slopes toward the lake, your pre-construction treatment to prevent subterranean termites would not be with traditional liquid termite chemicals.  In our area, the two most popular methods of protecting your home from termites near a lake are (1) to install a termite bait system around the perimeter of your home after construction and landscaping are completed or (2) to treat the wood framing with a borate-based insecticide/termiticide, like Bora-Care®, while the home is being constructed.  Borates are effective and safe.  Both methods are approved by the International Building Codes as suitable alternatives to soil treatments.

How long is the liquid termite treatment supposed to last before it should be retreated?

Modern termiticides are designed to control termites, on average, for five years this interval, though this may vary.  That's why a yearly inspection is also recommended to follow up on the effectiveness of liquid treatments.  Maintaining this ongoing termite service agreement with a pest control company is a good "insurance policy" to protect your home.

How much does a typical termite treatment cost?

Prices for a liquid termiticide barrier applied to the soil around your home and to certain locations indoors typically can range from $800 to $2,500.  The price depends on your home size and construction.  This price typically includes drilling the foundation and applying a liquid perimeter termite treatment.  The annual service plan is typically $100 to $200 to maintain your on-going termite service agreement.

The pest control company found termites swarming in my bedroom.  They gave me two treatment options -- either a spot treatment for the room which was much cheaper than the second option of treating my entire home and installing a bait system.  What's the difference?

Swarming termites are an indication of active infestations.  Termites swarm to leave their present colony and establish a new colony.  They move in mated pairs.  The winged swarmers move toward the light, seeking an exit.  After they swarm, they lose their wings.  A sign of an active infestation is their wings, shed in a pile, on or near window ledges.  The presence of termites within your room is indeed a cause for concern since their food source is the cellulose or wood material used in your home's construction.  A spot treatment is a chemical treatment with an EPA approved termiticide to the indicated room, in this case, your bedroom. If termites are only found in this area, it is an effective treatment option.  The risk, however, is termites have budded or split into several colonies elsewhere within your home.  As termites multiply and spread, it is unlikely they are only in one area.  Treating your entire home involves drilling equally spaced holes around your home's exterior, treating these holes with a liquid termiticide, and capping the drilled holes with a plug and cement.  A trench is also dug around your home's perimeter and this dirt is treated with the termiticide and then the soil replaced.  In this approach the chemical finds its way under your home's foundation and you have a continuous chemical barrier around your home to prevent the entry and establishment of future colonies.  Typically, complete chemical treatments are guaranteed and you'll have a warranty against future termite infestations.  Your pest management company should inspect your home yearly and treat your home if conditions indicate termite activity.  In addition to this option, a bait system could be installed around your home's perimeter to "monitor" termites' movement toward your home.  If your neighbor has had a recent termite treatment, it is logical for termites to move to another feeding site.  The wood or cellulose material in the monitor will provide a food supply for termites.  If termites are found eating this wood, then it will be replaced with bait that contains an insect growth regulator (IGR) to eliminate the termite colony. Quarterly inspection of termite monitors is recommended.  A termite treatment with a bait system offers a formidable defense against termites.

Prevention

A friend from North Carolina mentioned she had to change from a wood-burning fireplace to gas logs to prevent termites.  Why was that?

The problem was not related to the fireplace itself, but with the exterior and interior storage of wood logs used as fuel within the fireplace.  Wood piles are normally stored near the home to make it convenient to bring the wood inside for use in the fireplace.  Some wood is even stored inside the home, near the fireplace hearth.  The wood piles are attractive to a number of wood destroying insects including beetles and especially termites.  You'll remember the helpful role of termites is to consume fallen trees and dead wood and turn it into compost or humus that can be reused in the forest.  Termites naturally occur in the soil and take their role of removing or eating fallen trees (dead wood and cellulose material) very seriously.  In forests and natural settings we appreciate the work of termites to clean the forest floor.  However, near or in our homes, termites are particularly unwanted.  Termites, unfortunately, can't distinguish between the wood used in our home's construction or the wood pile we have neatly stacked by the door, from a fallen diseased tree in the forest.  I suspect your friend switched to gas logs for her fireplace to eliminate the risk of termites in her stored wood from moving to her home.  Another point that owners of brand new homes should also consider, because termites are only seeking wood material, they don't distinguish from new wood in a new home from older wood in an older home.  All are attractive food sources.  For this reason, all homes and buildings require, at a minimum, an annual inspection for the presence of wood-destroying organisms.

Termites and Ants
Do I have Termites or Carpenter Ants?

Termites and carpenter ants have similar skills and behaviors.  Both live in nests and are organized in castes of workers, soldiers, and queens.  Once a year, queens and males leave their nests to mate and set up new nests, extending their territory. Workers and soldiers collect food, defend the nest and queen, and lead violent attacks against other species.

Swarming termites and flying carpenter ants are often mistaken for each other, particularly in the spring and early summer when both have wings and have emerged in a swarm to mate and establish these new colonies.  Swarmer termites resemble flying black ants instead of their normal white appearance.  Both pests are destructive to wood.  Termites eat wood and carpenter ants excavate wood for their nests -- both must be controlled.  It is important to correctly identify the pest for the most effective treatment. 

Flying carpenter ants have elbowed antennae and two pairs of wings, the rear wings are smaller than front wings.  These wings have few, well-defined veins.  Carpenter ants have skinny, pinched waists and long legs.  Swarming termites have straight antennae and while they also have two pairs of wings the wings are the same size and shape.  Swarmer termites have finer veins in their wings, creating a lace-like appearance.  These flying termites have a broad waist and short legs. 
 

Carpenter ants begin their nests in moist, decayed wood and voids  (trees, rotting logs, and stumps) and later expand into solid, sound wood.  While carpenter ants are important in the balance of nature because they burrow and nest in dead trees and speed the decay of dead wood, when a colony invades and damages the integrity of the wood within your home, they too must be controlled.   Carpenter ants remove wood in the form of a coarse sawdust-like material, which they push from the nest and its galleries. This often results in a cone-shaped pile accumulating just below the nest entrance hole. This pile may include, in addition to the wood fragments, other debris from the nest, including bits of soil, dead ants, parts of insects and remnants of other food they consumed. You may even hear sounds produced as workers chew to remove wood to enlarge the nest.  They enter buildings around door and window frames, eaves, along plumbing and utility lines, and over branches touching the structure.  They forage at night feeding on plants, fruit juices, insects, food debris, meat, cakes, pet foods, and grease. 

If you identify the swarmer as a termite, you should call your pest management professional immediately to take action against this destructive pest.  Usually you do not see any evidence of the termite destruction until their damage is extensive. Termites enter your home through cracks in the foundation and by other wood-to-soil contact.  They work continuously eating your home's wood and other cellulose material.  Termites "honeycomb" inside wood beams slowly and methodically, typically without breaking through the surface. As a result, their attacks often go undetected for years. Should you spot what you think may be termites, have them checked soon before their damage gets out of control.  Consider the presence of swarmers an early warning sign.

For carpenter ants, your pest control professional will locate and flush nests and may inject insecticide dust into wall voids.  Perimeter treatments also may be applied along with spot treatments at any entry points.  Sprays are used around the base of trees that may harbor nests.  Gel baits may be used on trails where carpenter ants enter and leave buildings.  For termites, the treatment may include a perimeter pesticide application, baits, and monitoring stations.

What is the difference between a swarming termite and a flying ant?

Because both ants and termites swarm to form new colonies in the spring and summer, it is often easy to confuse the winged reproductive forms.  But it is important to differentiate the two.  Ants are typically foraging for sweets or protein while termites are making a meal of the wood in your home.  There are three key differences between ants and termites.  Ants have a pinches waist that connects their body regions; termites do not.  Termites have a broad, continuous waist.  Second, while both have two pairs of wings, the ant’s wings are different sizes.  The front wings are larger than the hind wings.  In termites, the two pairs of wings are equal size.  Finally, the ants have bent or elbowed antennae protruding from their heads, while the antennae of termites are straight.  You can easily see these distinctions by carefully collecting a specimen on a plain white index card and viewing the insect with a hand-held magnifying glass. 

What are Wood-Destroying Organisms

Termites are the most destructive wood-destroying organism in our area but there are other word-destroying organisms that often need attention. 

Surface molds or mildew fungi discolor the surface of wood.  While they don't weaken wood, their appearance indicates your home has excess moisture or high humidity.  At a moisture content of more than 20 percent, severe wood decay from fungi can occur.  Wood-inhabiting fungi are small plants that lack chlorophyll and use the starch and proteins in wood as their primary food source.  Fungi-infested wood is weakened and may appear either brown and crumbly or white and stringy.  Brown and white rots also attack moist wood. Your pest management professional will use a moisture meter to assess your wood's moisture content and often recommends improved ventilation and repairing leaks to prevent any further growth of fungi. 

Wood-inhabiting insects can also harm your home's wood.  Many insects use this wood as food material and include the larval stages of termites and wood-boring beetles.  Other insects use your home's wood structures for shelter, like adult carpenter ants and carpenter bees.

Termites are the most destructive pests of wood structures in the United States.  Termites can be detected by the presence of swarming termites in the early spring, wood damage, and/or mud tubes or passageways for the termite workers between the soil and wood.

Some insects can reinfest structural wood and these include a number of beetles.  Furniture beetles and deathwatch beetles are often found in basements, crawl spaces, barns, and other unheated structures with high moisture content.  They can remain active in lumber or logs for many years and usually don't destroy the wood unless there are fungi present.  The furniture beetle prefers furniture, picture frames, subflooring, hardwood flooring, and interior trim wood.  Lyctid beetles prefer hardwood and may be found in new constructions (oak flooring and mahogany trim).  Often the wood was infested in a lumberyard.   The damage is small circular holes in the surface of the wood and the presence of very fine sawdust under the holes. Painting and varnishing wood will seal the pores that beetles use to lay their eggs and can prevent infestations.  The larvae of old house borers and wharf borers also live in decaying wood. 

The oriental wood borer damages bamboo products and imported baskets.  They also like paneling, packing crates, boxes, plywood, and furniture.  With the continued growth of imported furniture, more beetle problems will occur.  China currently imports some fact check in lumber from Malaysia for their furniture manufacturing and much of this furniture is exported to the United States.

Other insects primarily use wood for shelter.  Ambrosia beetles attack wood and eat fungi they carry into the wood.  Their damage results in small holes and blue-black stains (from the fungi) on the wood.  Bark beetles feed on the inner bark of trees and are only a problem if they are brought inside on firewood. Chestnut lumber used in furniture and paneling and prized for its ornate appearance with small shot-holes, is the result of a weevil called the timberworm.  Still other pests of wood are the flat-headed wood borers, the round-headed borers, and the horntails. 

Carpenter ants and carpenter bees use structural wood in your home for their nesting sites.  While neither eats the wood, they can cause extensive damage.  Carpenter ants like structural hardwood that has become wet due to a water leak or poor drainage.  Carpenter bees bore into wood ceilings, railings, trim, porch furniture, window sills, or wood doors to make their nests.  The female lays her eggs in early spring and the newly formed adult bees emerge in late summer.  The bees live in the nests during the winter and repeat the cycle of damage.   

What are the round holes I discovered in some imported wood furniture?
It is possible that these holes were made by a wood-infesting insect. There are a number of these insects, particularly beetles that can damage wood furniture. Eggs laid in wood by adult insects develop into a larval stage that can live in the wood for a long period of time, when the mature adult emerges an oval or round exit hole is found in the wood.  Your pest management professional can treat the wood furniture to ensure no further insect damage to your furniture.

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