Termites?

Hello Pinkcoconut,

When it rains a lot in the evening (and the temperature and light is right) winged reproductive termites often come out to court and locate new nest. They are attracted to light and will get into the house (best bet turn off all un-necessary lights and spray a little bug spray around windows if there are any little spaces they could come through) and in the morning they are gone but the little wings are everywhere (on the car, the windows, the ground).

--Islander

Hi,

I am curious about termites too. Is termite damage to furniture inside the home a widespread problem here? I have not as of yet encountered anyone who has had their furniture destroyed by termites -- despite what I have read about this being a real problem here.

pink: I was going to get to get to it but Islander got there ahead of me!

Termites build their nests around softwood trees and their nests are big dark brown globular appendages. Although they "feed" off the tree they rarely kill the tree by doing so. One of those symbiotic relationship deals where the two live together in some sort of natural harmony despite their differences...would that mankind be so adeptly kind...

Mell - yes, they will infiltrate inside to chew up furniture made of certain woods and also untreated lumber.

Hardwoods such as mahogany and lignum vitae were always the choice of woods in the old days. Nowadays much of the construction wood sold here is pre-treated but some is not and it behooves everyone who's building ensure that the contractor uses chemically pre-treated wood. Obviously the untreated wood is cheaper...

If you're building a deck around your swimming pool or are building deck space, untreated cheaper wood is just fine because you're planning on staining it and the commercially available stains will do the job.

If you see a little dark trickling stain coming through any window in your house, look at it more closely. Termites are coming and those little brown stains, if you look at them closely, are actually little tunnels through which they travel. I hate to get gross but as they eat they defecate and thus the tunnels continue.

But, we have "Term-Out" here which is sold at Plaza Xtra, CULess, often at KMart and many other outlets on STT and I'm sure also on STX.

Hope this helps just a bit.

When I was moving out of my home on STT, I discovered that I had termites (never saw them) in my kitchen cabinets. I pulled out my cookbooks from the cabinet. The covers looked fine and then I opened them. They were chewed up and full of holes. I had crystal that I had stored in the same cabinet in their original boxes with dividers and the cardboard boxes disintegrated in my hands. I pulled out the bottom box which was the furthest they had gone and found the little ghostly white live termites. I had lived in that house one year and had checked that cabinet only a few months previous. I used to check my bookshelves every couple of weeks for signs, but not my kitchen. Little devils ate my Emeril cookbooks!!! Anyway, the brown lines or spots are big signs that there are termites close by. My landlord killed them with Diesel??? I did spray them with some Raid and they died on contact, but if you can't reach them inside of a wall or something, the lime green can of killer spray is supposed to work. They seem to die easy enough, but prevention would have been the best as I really wanted to keep those cookbooks. Sigh. Also, those stinkin' termites will bite you if you get them on you and it really stings. Good luck. Many people live on the island and don't have a problem with them. You just have to notice the signs.

Teresa

Hello everyone!!

Islander.... Thanks for posting this. It was very informative!

Everyone who responded.......... Thank you so much for the advice! I will make sure to spray and also look for brown trails! LOL!!

Pink

Thank you STT Resident and Teresa for the additional info,

Teresa, LOL -- I have read some of your other posts re:bugs in the past and I must say that whenever you get started on this subject, it is always highly entertaining!!!!!

Hope all is going well for you in the states :)!

Best,
Mell

Hello there. Just as an FYI: Many people, at least on St. Croix, call them 'beetles'. Regardless of the name, they are termites. If you see very tiny balls of wood (the size of a pin head) near a chair, that is a pretty sure sign that they are present.

The good news is that as long as the food doesn't run out, they (these very small ones) will not jump from one thing to another (according to a home inspector). If you have an antique or beloved peice of furniture that gets them, I know Terminix will take the furnitured in, seal it and gas it over a weekend.

I was also told by an an antiques dealer that putting a 'lawn and leaf bag' over it and (her words) spraying the sh*t out of it, then leaving it overnight does about the same thing. She also said that Raid ant/termite spray was the best to use.

Just passing along what I have heard.

I recently did see a lovely older wooden chair 'dropping balls', so off to Terminex it goes!

Dan

Hi,

I am curious about termites and white ants in sydney too. Is termite damage to furniture inside the home a widespread problem here? I have not as of yet encountered anyone who has had their furniture destroyed by termites -- despite what I have read about this being a real problem here.

Termites is one of the biggest problem you can have here for your furniture. I just have my house cleaned by termites with help of local pest control service.

the flying termite is not just in the islands. We have them here in AZ as well.

The termites that swarm do not cause damage. Their job is simply to find new places to form nests. The workers, who cause damage, are the little buggers who make the tunnels - or trails - that you see going up foundations, walls, trees... They are extremely sensative to light. Hence the tunnels.

When it rains a lot in the evening (and the temperature and light is right) winged reproductive termites often come out to court and locate new nest.

Seems like it only happens once or twice a year though.. I figured it was a seasonal thing.

When it rains a lot in the evening (and the temperature and light is right) winged reproductive termites often come out to court and locate new nest.

Seems like it only happens once or twice a year though.. I figured it was a seasonal thing.

Usually you'll only see it after a really heavy rain, or after a day of steady rain. Their nests disintegrate under those conditions, and in their immediate search for a warm, dry place to live, they swarm towards any light source they can find. I have seen them come in around the seams of a closed sliding glass door.

Usually you'll only see it after a really heavy rain, or after a day of steady rain. Their nests disintegrate under those conditions, and in their immediate search for a warm, dry place to live, they swarm towards any light source they can find. I have seen them come in around the seams of a closed sliding glass door.

Well that makes sense, as those types of rains are typically seasonal as well 😉