If you have any issues with termites or any other pests, then it’s time to call the Broken Arrow exterminator that you can trust. Your home is the largest investment that you’re going to make in your entire life. Because of this, it is very important that we keep this investment safe from pests and other problems. Termites and other stinging insects are some of the biggest problems that we have with buildings in Oklahoma. These insects will get in your home, eat the wood in your home and destroy the structural integrity. In this article, let’s take a good hard look at termites, their lifecycle, and how you and your Broken Arrow exterminator can eliminate these insects from your home.
TERMITE SIGNS AND YOUR BROKEN ARROW EXTERMINATOR
There are a few telltale signs that will let you know if termites are a problem in your home. To understand these insects, you have to understand that these insects are subterranean. In Oklahoma, the most common termite that we have is the eastern subterranean termite. These termites live in colonies underground. They do this because they are very susceptible to drying out in the open air. Underground, the air is humid and much more palatable for these insects. So when these insects need to forge for food, they stay underground in the top 6 inches of the soil. They fan out from the colony searching for food. Once they find an object that goes above ground that they want to climb in order to search for this food, they will build mud tubes to climb those objects.
Mud tubes are the first and most prevalent sign that you have a problem with termites. Many people believe that all you have to do is to knock the mud tubes down, but this is ineffective at best. Once a termite colony finds a source of food, it will continue to go out to this food source until it is completely depleted. That means they’re going to rebuild those termite mud tubes again and again until they get back to the source. In many cases, they will find other ways into a place if their mud tubes are broken down often. This means you’re gonna have more mud tubes possibly in places that you can’t find.
WALL TERMITES AND BROKEN ARROW EXTERMINATOR
Often termites will come up inside a building through the cracks in the foundation. They can make their way up the inside of a wall. While wood is it their favorite food to eat, they will also feed on the paper on the outside of gypsum board. Gypsum board is the substance that we make our drywall out of. The paper on the outside of this drywall is edible to them. After they eat down to the paper, they will continue through the gypsum itself. When this damage finally comes to the point where it can be detected, often you will find soft spots in the drywall. They’ll be just a paper or maybe a little bit of chips behind it that could be easily pushed through.
Subterranean termites also have to have a way to reproduce their colony. The way that they do this is by using Swarmers. Swarmers are a special version of these termites that’s much hardier than their average termite. These termites can survive in the open air. They’re a winged termite that flies. Every May and April, these aelates fly from the colony from a special set a tubes that open up into the open air. These swarming tubes are the release point for swarmers to leave the colony, searching for another mate to create a new colony. The flying termites will swarm together in large masses, and find each other and then mate in mid air. Once they do this, they will find a place to create a new colony, their wings will fall off, and they will dig the beginnings of their new colony.
SWARMING TERMITES AND BROKEN ARROW EXTERMINATOR
Because of this, another telltale sign are the Swarmers. Sometimes the colony’s swarm tubes will come up inside someone’s home. Often these are hidden in a place that can’t be seen, but if the swarmers are seen, then this can be a sign of termite infestation in your home. In most cases, though during these two months of April and May swarmers can be seen inside your home. If they come up inside your home, they’re going to go towards the sunlight, which means they will find themselves up against the glass windows. Because they can’t get outside, they will usually die here and you can find large numbers of these Swarmers at the base of your window sill.
If you’re finding any of these issues, whether it’s weak drywall, mud, tubes, or swimmers in your home, then it’s time to call a Broken Arrow exterminator. They have two different ways that they can deal with these insects. The most prominent way that we deal with termites in an active infestation is a liquid treatment. Because these insects forage through the top 6 inches of the soil, we can use a liquid pesticide by digging a trench all the way around the outside of your home.
TERMITE TRENCHING AND BROKEN ARROW EXTERMINATOR
This trench will be about 6 inches wide and 6 inches deep and then filled with pesticide. The pesticide will drain down through the dirt creating a curtain of pesticide. then the trench will be refilled with soil that’s been treated with the same pesticide creating an effectively a barrier all the way around your house. If you have any cement that comes up against your house, the technician will drill holes in the cement, pump the pesticide underneath the slab of cement creating the same barrier underneath the slab.
The second method is by using termite bait stations. These bait stations are fitted with a bait that the termites take back to the colony, and feed the young with it, wiping out the colony. If you’re having an issue with termites or any other pests, it’s time to call a Broken Arrow exterminator that you can trust. Here at TermMax Pest Control, we are the best in the business when it comes to dealing with termites or any other pests. We service agree to Tulsa area, including Jenks, Bixby, Broken Arrow, Sand Springs, Coweta, Sapulpa, Prattville, Claremore, Catoosa, Owasso, Turley, and much more. Call today for a free estimate. We’re here to help!
