Termites in Connecticut

In Connecticut we mostly deal with subterranean termites. Unlike our southern states who deal with aerial, dry wood and other termites, the subterranean termite love to live in dirt. This is great for us in a few ways. First they will always start from the soil and work up toward the wood. Once the exit the soil the workers always build a mud tube. Mud tubes are very unique and easily recognized as they look like veins crawling up a surface made of , you guessed it, mud! One or two times a year termites will swarm. A swarm is made up of winged females and males that come out in the hundreds and sometimes in the thousands. Once they mate the males die and both sexes will shed their wings.

The ruling class of both termites and ants are the most commonly misidentified insects as they can often look alike. A couple of ways to tell them apart are as followed. Termites have wings that fold completely together. The antennae are straight with segmented beads and the waist equals its body width.

There are two ways to take care of a termite problem. The traditional way is to treat with by injecting a liquid material into the ground around a structure. This way is dependent on the ground being accepting of liquid and the hopes there are not obstructions to divert the liquid from making a 100% barrier like large rocks and other debris that can be buried around a building.

Here at Bee Smart Pest Control we use a two system method. We start with injecting a dry foam into the damaged wood so when the termites come back the will get infected with the material and take it back to the colony. From there they transfer the material to any termite they touch. Then we install bait stations around the building. Once the termites begin to eat, the station are filled with a growth inhibitor which then is harvested and taken back to the colony. Once fed the termites can no longer molt there exoskeleton and therefore will parish within its own shell. With both materials working in synergy the colony will collapsed in no time.

The added benefit of bait stations is that we can continue to monitor the termite activity around the building. Over the years research has discovered that if there is one termite colony around the building then there is likely a dozen more within a 100 yards. We also know termite workers forge in the top 18 inches of soil. With stations in the ground and monitored on a regular schedule we can stop termites before they can damage the building.

~ Thanks for reading!

Chris Mojo A.C.E