More than you probably want to know about termites...

Eastern subterranean termites are the most common termite in southeast Texas. They live in colonies under ground because they have a low tolerance for air and light. Termites require moisture and their sole source of food is cellulose from wood. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, they cause over $1,000,000,000 in damage in the United States per year.

For years, the experts have told us that in southeast Texas, there about a dozen termite colonies to the acre, but in 2001, the US Forestry Service imparted some different information. And according to Dr. Gold's research at Texas A & M,  estimates are closer to seventy, that's right 70. Now before you run to the phone to call us, or some other exterminator, let's try to be reasonable. Most of those colonies are more than likely immature colonies (less than a year old), which means many of them are about the size of your fist, and have up to 500 termites in them.  Many of those small colonies will be killed by fire ants or other ant predators and are not a significant factor at all when you consider that a mature colony should have fifty to one hundred thousand termites in it. 

A mature colony of our native subterranean termites can eat about two lineal feet of two by four (that's what most homes are framed with) in a year, and they don't typically eat it all as they go, they'll tunnel through it till they find a spot they like (usually a damp area) and eat there first. The biggest problem with that is most of the time, you can't see them inside the wall, and for that matter, even with all of the other blessings in our lives, we can't either. But we have been doing this for a long time, and we know where to look to try to find where they might be getting in, and we'd be glad to check your home or business for you. To see some other termite pics, click here.

Over the last several years, non-repellent termiticides have been introduced which make fighting termites an interesting game. We are actually using their behavior against them, no matter which way we treat them. Termidor (fipronil) & Phantom (chlorfenapyr) are liquid termiticides which are placed in the soil, termites travel through that treated soil and contract a lethal dose, however they don't die quickly, they spread the active ingredient to the rest of the termites by contact.  They don't have to eat it, all they have to do is touch it.

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