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Wooden cabinets! Keep them safe from Termites

Some people confuse termites with ants and even call them white ants which are not true. Basically termites eat wood and can completely destroy a home if left for a long time. There are two different types of termites. One lives entirely in wood and the others are ones that can tunnel into the ground. The ones that give problems to people live in wood.

Wood termites will live in dead branches and logs. However, once all the dead wood has been eaten, the colony will die. This means that a colony is not very big and consists of a few thousand termites. There are three different types of termites within a colony. These are:
  • Soldiers
  • Old Nymphs
  • Young Nymphs
The soldiers are there to protect the colony against ants and they grow orange heads so they are instantly recognizable. The old nymphs are there to look after the younger ones and the young nymphs generally grow wings and fly off when they are old enough to start another colony. This is how the termites survive and unfortunately, sometimes they can end up in our homes. Termite control can be tricky if you do not know which type you are dealing with.

The main differences between ants and termites are:
  • Termites' legs are shorter than ants legs
  • Flying termites have darker bodies than ones which don't whereas flying ants generally look the same as ordinary ants.
  • Termites don't have eyes but ants do
  • The body of the ant is harder and stronger the termite.

The Different Types of Termites

Termites that live entirely in wood come in different types. There are:
  • Damp Wood Termites
  • Dry Wood Termites
  • Rotten Wood Termites
Overall the dry wood termites are the most destructive and they can be a huge problem in the house. You will no doubt see sand pellets near before you actually see any termites. All termites create pellets and that is usually the way that people notice an infestation. Unlike subterranean termites, dry wood termites do not need soil to live.

Damp Wood Termites are found in wood which has plenty of moisture in it. To eliminate the problem it is clear that you should remove the moisture.

Most termites have the ability to dig tunnels and this allows them to find many pieces of wood, especially within the home. These termites are mainly called subterranean termites and they do not live entirely in wood. This means that their colonies are a lot bigger and they can potentially have millions of termites. These generally have queen termites in them and they are constantly breeding. Instead of wood, these termites eat things such as grass, plant litter and dung. These termites build mounds in the ground. Unfortunately eliminating subterranean termites is hard as they do not produce pellets like the termites that live entirely in wood. Their nests usually consist of mud shelters within the walls.

What do termites feed upon?

All termites feed on wood of some sort. When invading your home, any wooden furniture is a potential target as wooden flooring, beams or fixtures in the walls. Outside the home, termites can be beneficial as they eat dead wood including old tree roots, stumps and branches off the ground.

Sometimes termites can also attack plants and they have been known to become pests outside as well as inside. Overall, they eat any wood and cellulose material that they can find.

Various Methods in the Prevention, Control and Elimination of Termites

If you do have a termite infestation either indoors or outdoors, there are a number of termite control products that you can purchase to eliminate the problem. It all depends on which type of termite you have and which product you should choose. For different types of termites there are alternative termite treatments.

Subterranean Termite Control

There are three main ways in which you can get rid of subterranean termite. These include:
  • Bait Systems
  • Soil Treatments
  • Wood Treatments
Bait systems generally work really well as they eliminate the whole termite colonies both in and around your home. Although they do work extremely well, they do take a little longer to work than other treatments. This is because the bait needs to be found by the termites and it has to be shared with other termites to effectively work.

Soil treatments are used on soil around and under your home. This kind of treatment provides continuous termite prevention as soon as they come into contact.

Wood treatments can also be used for control of the dry wood termite. The treatment is applied directly onto the infected wood and the termites usually either avoid it or feed on it and die.

As subterranean termites have sometimes millions of termites in one colony, it really is important to treat the whole house as they could always avoid the areas that you have controlled and start to feed on new wood.

For many dry wood termite problems, a specialized company may need to be called in to treat the area themselves as the problem may be too late for a little treatment.

All of the above methods are extremely effective though you really need to know which kind of termite you have before you can start to fix the problem.

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