Summer has come late for termites in sydney

Temperatures in Sydney have stayed reasonably warm for this time of year and it appears that termites are enjoying what little summer they can. Termites are much more active in warmer months and this year is no exception. Whilst Sydney had a cooler than normal summer, Autumn has been quite warm so far and termites are being found by homeowners in almost alarming numbers. The best way to ensure that you do not suffer from termite attack is to have an annual termite inspection carried out. This will ensure that if termites do attack your home that you will suffer only small amounts of damage. A termite inspection carried out by an appropriately qualified person will cover all areas of our home, the exterior, the sub floor area, the interior , and the roof void. It is only after all of this that an expert will know whether your home has been attacked by termites or not. When you find that your home has not been attacked, do not rest easy, think about future preventative measures

Termite control is a serious subject

Way to often I am hearing from the public that they believe that treating termites is simple, easy and that a back yarder can do it. Well all these claims are true, the unfortunate part is that killingthe termites is the easy part. Keeping termites away is the real problem.

Termites live in a complex colony often some distance from the building they are attacking. Ideally the colony can be located and destroyed, however in urban situations this is rarely possible.

I am often argued with by an inexperienced handymen armed with a can of termite killer from the local hardware store who is about to save the day by "spraying" the buggers. This can be catspastrophic, a product will not be registered to kill termites unless it works, however that product may well have an instruction list as long as your arm on the termiticide label. Unless the label is followed to the letter the application will probably not work.

The best thing in an urban situation is to be able to feed the termites a bait product that they freely take back to the colony and eliminate the entire colony.

Killing the termites at the feeding site is easy, hot water, wd 40, fly spray will all kill them, don't do it. Resist the urge to tamper with the termites and do your research into the best methods of control. Be prepared that proper termite control can cost $3-5K or occasionally more. Dont scrimp here, use an experienced team to get the job done right the first time. It will save you grief.

Termite or White Ant?

Are they termites or white ants?

White ants are actually termites, white ant is just the common name. Many people when quickly identifiying a mass of insects that have been disturbed, will often come up with White ants as the culprit. In the many years that I have been dealing with insect pests I have learnt that a quick id by an unqualified person, will often mistake common ants for termites.

Common Ants have nesting habits that ensure that above all the next generations are looked after first. When a nest of black ants are disturbed the ants will hurriedly pick up any eggs to protect them and find a new place to tend them. These eggs are very white and often around the same size as the ant that is carrying it. When the person who has disturbed the ants first sees a writhing mass of thousands of insects, often they have such a shock at seeing this unexpected insect life that the first reaction is to run and grab some spray to dispatch the invaders! At this point there is most often very little time spent in the identification of the pest however invariably the most common movement seen will be the ants that are rapidly moving the very white eggs to safety.

For a look at what termites really look like follow this link to a close up view of some termites

Termites still going strong in Autumn in Sydney

We are into Autumn now in Sydney and the termite attacks that often start to wane at this time of year do not appear to be doing so this year. Pestec still is taking multiple reports of termites attacking homes each day! There are still several different species of termites doing the damage, mainly though the termites are Coptotermes spp, Schedorhinotermes spp and Nasutitermes spp termites. No matter which termite decides to attack your home significant damage can occur. The best security against termite attack is a monitoring system like the Nemesis Termite Monitoring System, further information and videos showing how this works can be found here.

What does a common termite in Sydney look like?

Not much that needs to be said about this video. Coptotermes species termites, a very damaging termite in Sydney and in fact all of the East coast of Australia. Sydney is home to quite a few different species of termite that are very voracious. The easiest way to tell the difference between an ant and a termite is to check how many body segments the insect has. Termites have two segments, a head and an abdomen, ants have three, a head, an abdomen, and a thorax. If you do have termites you will need some form of termite control. this may take one of several forms however the important thing is to do your research and ensure that you are employing a reputable company who has trained and qualified technicians

Flying termites going strong in Sydney

Termites fly from their colony every year with the aim of continuing the species by forming new nests. The flights are a sight to behold with up to one hundred thousand termites gushing from the nest when the time is right. They need an afternoon with low winds and high humidity. This small piece of video shows hundreds of termites swarming around a light in the early evening, then some termites trying to crawl into the wall space of my house.

A week of termite flights in Sydney "flying ants"

Wow!!What a week as far as termite activity in Sydney, the annual colonising flights of lots of species of termites started this week in earnest. Reports were heard that flights had taken place in almost all suburbs.We had only four reported flights that were coming from nesting sites inside peoples homes, however many people were very concerned that individual and in some cases masses of "flying ants" were entering their homes.There is very little immediate danger when a termite flies into your home. The colonising flight is for just that purpose, for termites to leave the original nest and find a mate and set up a new colony. To do this they have to fulfill several basic requirements,
1. Shelter, like most creatures termites need somewhere to set up their home base. This will often be nearby to their feeding site for ease of access. Remember at this point their are often only two members of the colony until they can start to produce young. Once the queen establishes herself she can lay up to 2000 eggs per day.
2. Food, a cellulose based one preferably, this gives a wide variety of items that are a target. cardboard boxes, books any stored or waste timbers, mulch, houses, posts, fences, telegraph poles, retaining walls, trees, stumps and pretty much anything that can provide them with sustenance.
3. Moisture, a very important and often overlooked point. Termites need a lot of moisture to sustain them. Prime points around a home for termites to gain access to a continual moisture source are, hot water system overflow pipes (they drip) leaking taps, leaking gutters or pipes, poorly drained areas, areas that have little chance of being accessed because of size restrictions or stored goods being present.
If you see termite alates around there is a chance that they will set up a new colony! Be smart and have a termite inspection carried out by a competent inspector. Choose a member of the AEPMA, the peak industry association and employ a Pestcert accredited company.
Pestec 1800 111 616 www.pestec.com.au