The American dream is a thought that evokes many images in most peoples heads. A husband and a wife, two  to three kids and a house surrounded by a white picket fence. This dream is real for many Americans but also has enemies. Pests and insects such as termites are out there looking to make a meal out of our largest investment, our home. It’s important that we’re vigilant in protecting our home from termites and other pest invaders. This article is going to be about how to protect your home from termites and other wood consuming insects. 

TERMITE LIFECYCLE

Termites are a colony based insect. Scientist called us these types of insects eusocial insects. They have many different casts and functions in their colony. The queen is the egg laying individual in the colony. It’s pretty much the most important termite in the termite colony. Next you have the workers who are all female. These are sterile and do the function of finding food, feeding the other termites and taking out the trash, doing the menial jobs of day-to-day colony life. Lastly you have a soldiers who protect the colony from invaders. Soldiers are usually larger in size and have large heads with large mandibles. In  some cases they have the acid producing glands and other defensive organs that can help them to protect the termite colony. Your Tulsa pest control company has more details.  

TERMITE FOOD SOURCES

The termites main food is wood. In that wood specifically, the termites main food is cellulose. Termites have special enzymes in their digestive system that are used to break down the cellulose in wood and create energy with it. Workers will forage until they find sources of food, using mud tunnels to get there. Termites are very susceptible to drying out. They require a high level of humidity that’s found underground. The termites found in Oklahoma are subterranean in nature. Because of this they will build mud tubes in order to go above the surface and forage for wood based food. All of these tubes are created using mud and waste from the termites. They will climb up the side of buildings or trees until they find a source of wood from which they can feed off of. This is a common sign in homes when termites have attacked and invaded. If you’re seeing any form of mud tubes up the side of your house it is important to have a pest control technician certified in termites and other wood destroying insects come and inspect your home. They can recommend different ways of taking care of these pests. 

PROTECTION TECHNIQUES

Termites are found in nature and do an important function. They are tasked with eliminating dead and dying tree matter and other plants. But when they attack our homes they are out of place and need to be eliminated. There are two main ways that pest control technicians can take care of termite invasions. The first way is known as a liquid treatment. A liquid treatment is when a termite technician will dig a trench around the outside of your home and fill it with pesticide and pesticide treated soil. Termites forage in the top six inches of the dirt. As they travel through the top six inches, they will unknowingly find the trench that has been treated with pesticide and it will kill them. Often they will take the pesticide back to their colony before they succumb to its affects killing other individuals within the colony. Many times this kind of treatment can actually destroy the entire colony even if it’s located quite a ways offsite. This method of pest control also includes drilling. When a termite infestation happens near or around a cement wall or underneath a block of cement, it’s necessary to drill through the cement in order to apply pesticide to the appropriate places. This is accomplished by drilling into the concrete and putting a tube down through the concrete and forcing the pesticide down underneath the building. In this way we can put pesticide in places that normally are not seeing and could never be gotten to any other way. Contact your Tulsa exterminator for a free estimate.  

The second method of controlling termites is to use a termite bait station system. Termite bait stations are plastic stations that are about a foot and a half to two feet long. They bury them far under the ground with just the top of the station flush to the surface of the soil. Inside the bait station a termite bait canister is found. This canister has cellulose that has been treated with a pesticide that they will take and bring back to the colony. They will feed the treated cellulose to other termites in the colony wiping the colony out. These bait stations are placed all the way around the house at selected intervals. They must be maintained on a yearly basis but are very effective at protecting and controlling termite infestation. Often when purchasing a termite bait station there is an initial fee followed by a yearly fee and yearly inspection. Unlike liquid treatments, bait station treatments often are have warranties that can extend for the life of the home. Each successive year brings a new inspection that extends the warranty another year which can be done on for the life of the home. The liquid treatment has a warranty as well usually between one and five years. But this warranty is limited and only extends for the length of the warranty and cannot be extended like the bait station one can. Contact your local Broken Arrow pest control company for more details on these control methods. 

DEALING WITH TERMITES

If you find yourself in a situation where you have a pest control issue like termites it’s important that you contact a good Broken Arrow exterminator. TermMax Pest Control is the best exterminator in Oklahoma. We service the greater Tulsa area including Jenks, Bixby, Coweta, Claremore, Catoosa, Broken Arrow, Prattville, Sand Springs, Sapulpa, Owasso, Turley and much more. Call today for a free estimate. We’re here to help!

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