How to get rid of termites?

Among the innumerable insects and rodents that create a lot of discomfort and harm to homeowners around the world, the most dangerous are termites. Named in the common people "white ants," termites without help can spoil and destroy all the load-bearing wooden structures of the house for a couple of years, so the answer to the question of how to get rid of termites is of interest to owners of wooden houses in all countries.

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Combating termites in a wooden house

Reliable protection of buildings and structures requires expensive and time-consuming activities. The secretive way of life and the special way of absorbing cellulose lead to the fact that termites can live in the house for a long time, remaining completely unnoticed. The first 5 years after the settlement of the "white ants", the consequences of their destructive "works" can not even be seen, but then it will be too late.

Therefore, first of all, it is necessary to take all possible steps to protect the house from herbivorous insects, and if they are already wound up, get rid of termites as soon as possible.

To effectively combat uninvited "lodgers", you need to know their features, strengths and weaknesses, and therefore - to know about them as much as possible.

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Termites and their types

Termites belong to the category of primitive social herbivorous insects. They are relatives of cockroaches. The name "white ants" was due to the coloring of the working individuals, and from these ants, these insects are distinguished by the absence of a narrow constriction separating the chest from the abdomen.

Regions of distribution

The largest termite colonies inhabit the tropical and subtropical regions, fewer occur in warm regions of temperate climate.

Important! According to various studies, termites cause economic damage of several billion dollars a year, and the consequences of invasion of these insects are sometimes catastrophic. For example, in South America, due to the constant presence of "white ants", in cities it is rare to find a book older than 50 years.

Power

Before you get rid of termites, it is not superfluous to know that it serves as food. The main food of termites is cellulose, which is found in wood, leaves of trees and grass. Therefore, getting into the house, termites can cause considerable economic damage, because they are not limited to wood, but eat everything, in which the share of cellulose is high.

In a natural environment, termites consume dead branches, as well as rotting parts of tree trunks. A number of their species feed on cereals, collecting their dry shoots into the chambers of their underground nests( termites).Some termites are served by dead leaves and humus of tropical soils.

Termites types

Like all social insects living in colonies, individuals of termites are divided into 3 main groups:

1. Workers.
2. Soldiers.
3. Individuals capable of sexual reproduction.

Activity

An adult in termites develops from the larva without first becoming a pupa( incomplete metamorphosis).There are wings only in reproductive individuals. At the base of the wing of such insects there is a seam along which the wings break off after settling for the purpose of reproduction.

Workers do not have genitals and it is the termites that work that have a whitish and light color, which gave the name "white ants" to insects.

The main task of soldiers is to protect the colony from predators-ants. To do this, they have different protection weapons:

• outgrowth with a poisonous secret;
• gnawing mandibles.

Important! Nests of insects can be found in different places: trunks of trees, stumps, logs, on the ground. Termites do not like light, so they spend almost their entire lives in the dark. Since these insects can not feed only on what is next to the colony, they need to build covered galleries, through which they communicate with food objects: trees, buildings, etc.

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How to detect termites?

In order to purposely get rid of termites, you need to find the places of their settlement. Insects eat not only wood, but everything that is made of it: wooden tools, window sills, railings, ceilings, decorative plants, books, etc.

Important! If you have not seen direct evidence of insect invasion, this does not mean that you need to remain indifferent to the problem, because the sagging floors and small holes in the wooden elements of the house, as well as the voids in the bearing structures, are already serious signs of termites.

You can identify termites as follows:

• View the wooden products of your home: in some places you can see small, round holes.
• Explore the basement and foundation supports. Use a screwdriver to check for voids, and the entire tree for strength. If a tree easily lends itself and splits into parts, then the problem with the presence of uninvited "lodgers" is present.
• Note the small piles of frayed wood under the wooden products.
• Check if tiny black, tawny or reddish-brown termite feces are not noticeable. The presence of litter in weakened wooden elements indicates the onset of termites.
• Examine the outside and inside the wall of the foundation for the presence of soil passages. Underground insects arrange a system of moves from the ground, and woody ones erect a termite within the wooden structures.
• Check if the wooden frame of the house is damaged at the height of the first floor, especially at the junction of the foundation and walls, and also under the entrance door.
• Carefully inspect everything with a flashlight: if the outside of the damage is not visible, then tap the tree with a large screwdriver handle( for a large awl) for voids.
• Determine which termites you have got: underground or wood. The first ones live in the ground and in the wooden structures of the house, while the second ones are inhabited only in wood. In addition to wooden structures, underground termites can live in logs and manure piles near the house. Underground termites cause much more significant harm than wood, so in the fight against them may need different means.

Important! Termites do not like light, so look for them in all darkened areas of the dwelling, which does not get daylight.

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How to get rid of termites at home?

If you find uninvited "guests" in your home, it's better to contact a special company that has experience in termite elimination. But if you are still confident in your abilities, then use the following methods to destroy termites.

Method number 1 - cardboard trap

1. Pour a couple of cardboard sheets with water.
2. Fold the sheets one on top of the other.
3. Place them in the area of ​​possible termites inhabiting. Since the food of insects is cellulose, for them it will be an excellent bait.
4. Once the termites have filled the cardboard sheets, take them out to a safe place and burn them.
5. Repeat the procedure as many times as necessary.

Important! The trap does not solve the problem as a whole, but it will help get rid of termites in the amount of hundreds or two individuals. And in order to inflict more serious damage, combine this method with other methods of struggle.

Method # 2 - nematode worms

Primary-strip small worms are natural parasites of garden pests, including termites. Nematodes are introduced into the host organism for their own development, for example, in termite larvae, and kill them within 48 hours. Nematodes use the body of insects for the breeding site.

Important! If you decide to take this step to get rid of termites, consider the following tips:

• Buy worms at your local garden store or online. To date, there are 5 varieties of these worms.
• If you use nematodes in soil with a temperature above 15 ° C, then do this immediately after purchase.
• If you do not use worms at once, store them in the refrigerator and place them in the ground in the early morning or after sunset, since ultraviolet is very harmful to these worms.

Method number 3 - sunlight

If the termites are not in the very design of the house, but in some furniture or interior, then take the product out into the sunlight, which will kill the insects. Furniture take out to an open place in sunny day for 2-3 days.

Important! This method works most effectively in combination with a cardboard trap to lure and then destroy insects.

Method # 4 - cold

If you live in a rainy region and the sun is rare, then use an alternative option - freezing furniture. If possible, dismantle the interior items and place in a large freezer for 2-3 days.

Important! Although this method is quite difficult to use, in relation to the large elements of furniture, but it guarantees the death of termites.

Method # 5 - insecticides

You can spray and treat the termite detection sites with poisons: "Imidacloprid", "Chlorfenapyr", "Chlorpyrifos", "Fipronil, etc.

Important! Insecticides are not toxic to humans, but they are carcinogens, and can cause serious health problems in other animals in their places of application.

The most commonly used and effective method of controlling termites in a wooden house at home is the use of boric acid, which kills the nervous system of insects, dehydrating it. Use boric acid as follows:

1. As a bait. Apply boric acid( or its solution) to a tree or other cellulose-containing material.
2. Ready baits can be placed directly in the termite habitat.

Important! Regularly check the bait and replenish it with boric acid.

Method No. 6 - Lubrication of termites for detection of termites

The location of dangerous insects can be smeared with the following means:

• A mixture of boron powder with honey and sugar. Add a drop of water to the mixture to make a paste. Termites will contact the mixture and carry it to the den, infecting the entire colony.
• A mixture of turpentine and kerosene in a 1: 3 ratio.
• A saturated solution of naphthalene in gasoline.
• 200 parts turpentine + 100 parts tar + 15 parts creosote + 30 parts naphthalene.
• 100 parts of alcohol + 3 parts of the mercury.
• Submerged water with an admixture of boric acid and borax( 2-4 percent).
• 100 parts of kerosene + 100 parts of drying oil + 25 parts of naphthalol + 15 parts of naphthalene.
• 100 parts turpentine + 10 parts naphthalene + 5 parts phenol + 3 parts lysol + 10 parts wood tar.

Important! In addition to the above formulas, you can find a lot of other shadings, which need to handle places of localization of insects. Many of them really help to quickly get rid of termites, but it all depends on how large the population is.

Method No. 7 - Gasification

For the control of termites and other woodworms, the way of gassing of wooden elements has been known for a long time:

• Carbon disulphide.
• Cyanide( cyanide) acid.
• Chloropicrin.

If you decide to use this method to get rid of termites, consider these requirements:

1. The rules for gassing, as well as building codes, recommend flameless smoke grenades, which are made of HCCH( hexachlorocyclohexane) or DDT( dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) with a combustible filler.
2. Before the process of gassing, all rooms should be freed from people, animals, food, and all cracks are embedded with alabaster solution and wax paper.
3. All openings, ventilation ducts, ovens of stoves, fires and the like are tightly closed and the room is sealed.
4. The duration of the gassing is 3-5 days.
5. After treatment, the premises are thoroughly ventilated, and the holes on the surface of the wooden structures are covered.

Important! In residential buildings, gasification has not become practical due to a number of shortcomings: some chemicals are the strongest poisons and affect human health. In addition, the penetration of gas into the thickness of wooden structures, immured in stone walls, wooden beams is limited, and hence - the exterminating effect is greatly reduced.

Method number 8 - help from professionals

If the invasion of termites is too large, and your home is too important for you to give insects a second chance, we recommend contacting companies that are engaged in disinsection. In this case, experts professionally and qualitatively, and most importantly - with a guarantee, will carry out the treatment of the insect-infected premises.

Some firms give a power of attorney, according to which the customer is entitled to free regular inspections of the already processed premises. The duration of such an agreement can last from 1 to 2 years. Before contacting a particular company, you should:

1. Study feedback on the work of the company.
2. Get at least three offers from competing firms.
3. Ask about methods and facilities for processing the room.
4. Ensure the safety of the tools used.
5. Ask about a written guarantee for the absence of termites in the house for 2 years after the disinsection.

Useful advices:

• Most professional insect protection products are available for free sale, so for a small amount you can conduct your own disinsection yourself without spending on the services of professionals.
• Destruction of woodworms, which have already developed in structural wood, must be carried out in a comprehensive manner, using structural chemical measures. Carry out the treatment is necessary before the beetles leave the wooden structures, and their larvae will approach the outer layers of wood. Usually this happens in the spring.
• Simultaneously with the struggle against the termites, it is necessary to carry out an anti-fouling repair of buildings and all structures.

Important! You can not limit the extermination of insects in a building, they should be destroyed in nests. For example, in Central Asia termitaries have been flooded with fuel oil or oil for a long time, and Escherich suggests pumping a termite with a mixture of sulfur and arsenic vapors.

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Termite prophylaxis

To avoid seeking termite remedies, it is better to take preventive measures:

1. When constructing a house, the following nuances should be considered:
   • The dwelling must be on a high foundation. All wooden structures should be located above the ground level and not contact with it.
   • A good drain should be built around the house so that the land around the dwelling is not too wet, because termites attract a moist and humid environment, and for their survival, water is required.
   • Be sure to ask the builders what kind of wood the termites do not like. It can be cedar or mahogany.
   • When building, use special films that are laid on brick and other walls. They serve as a barrier to termites and other uninvited insects.
2. If the house is already built, then to lower the humidity and for a reliable barrier preventing the insects from getting inside the house, dig the trench deep and at least 1 m wide along the entire perimeter of the house. Fill it with sand( termites move on the ground and do not dig through the sand).For greater reliability and efficiency, treat the sand with some insecticides or other improvised agents against hardwood insects.
3. Make sure that all pipes and sewerage in your home and near it do not leak. As accumulation, remove all unwanted moisture.
4. Regularly clean the gutters, because this is an ideal haven for termites.
5. In the room itself, ensure reliable ventilation so that the house does not retain excessive moisture.
6. The wooden fence around the house is reset to a height from the cement so that the tree does not come into contact with the ground.
7. All the places of wood contact with the external environment, especially the bottom of the wooden walls of the house, the wooden thresholds at the entrance to the house and the joints of the corners of the wooden walls, treat with the coatings, the recipes of which were set out above.
8. All cracks and cracks in the walls of the house should be sealed with sealant so that the termites do not penetrate into the room.
9. Add 0.1% permethrin( 1 tablespoon per 10 liters of water) to the paint or varnish when building or painting the house. This will repel the termites from any desire to approach the dwelling.

Important! Permmetrin is added to the cement when leveling the floor or in the glue if you put a wooden covering. The product is absolutely safe for the person .

1. Do not store stocks of firewood and other wood materials in close proximity to housing, because such a warehouse actually invites termites into the house. If the firewood at the house or bath is necessary for you, then completely cover them. This will ensure their complete drying and make them less attractive to insects. Firewood can also be treated with permethrin.
2. Mosquito nets on doors, balconies and windows will also not be redundant.
3. Growing near the house of bushes is better to transplant as far away as possible, so that moisture in their roots does not attract termites to the house. If there is no possibility to transplant the plant, then try not to wet the walls of the house when watering.

Important! You can get rid of termites in the bath in the same ways and means as in the house, but remember that removing them from the site, and even more so from the wood, is quite difficult. So do not ignore preventive measures, treat all wood with antiseptics that scare away not only termites, but wood-bugs and fungi.

Deriving termites, unlike other insects, is very difficult on its own. Therefore, if there is a problem, still use the services of professionals who have experience, effective tools, equipment and well-developed methods of work.