Whenever we get invaded by tiny creatures in the home, we are often at a loss to know which ways are best used to be rid of them. Termites, for example, can do inordinate amounts of damage to all our wood, so getting termite treatments is paramount if we do not want the place being weakened by their infestation. Indeed, since they do not care whether the wood is valuable or not, they often lay waste to our most treasured antiques too.

These little guys are just interested in eating, and it is the cellulose in the wood that they want more than anything else. The ones that do all the foraging are just taking food back to those that live in the colony. Each of the teams has its own job in the colony. Some will be looking after the eggs that the queen is laying, and this means that they never leave the nest. The workers then have to go out hunting to find food for everyone. They build long tunnels deep in the ground and their sole aim is to find any wood to eat through. Once they have found a good source of wood, and, unfortunately, this is often our homes, they lay down scent trails for the rest to follow. This means that they do not expend energy building more tunnels so that the colony will thrive. How clever is that?

In fact, where they meet an immovable object, which cannot be chomped through, they build above ground tunnels so that they can still keep their tender bodies under wraps. This is what usually alerts people to the fact that there are creatures in the home. In this way, they can move from skirting boards and up through door frames and then cross over walls to get to the ceilings and beyond without their tender skins drying out. Once it gets to this stage though, things are really serious and something has to be done very quickly.

The usual method to stop these creatures is the barrier method. Exterminators act by digging deep trenches, some as deep as ten feet or so, around the building in one complete circle. Into this, they pour gallons of toxic chemicals to set up a barrier so that no more can cross it. The ones inside will eventually die off since their only aim is to feed the queen. This treatment can last for quite some time. However, it will undoubtedly have to be done again sometime in the future when the chemicals break down.

There are newer forms of treatments, which include sinking permanent feeding tubes into the ground at regular intervals around the home, again, to create that circle, which are then baited to encourage the creatures to eat from here. The workers will eventually carry the poison back to the queen and, once she dies, the colony will die off too.

The wonderful thing about this method is that there is little disruption to the garden or areas around the building, and they are permanent. Operatives check on them now and then to see if there is activity and lay new bait.

Author Bio: Penny Lane is interested in finding a treatment fortermites that is available for commercial locations. She is in need of termites treatment for her downtown hotel.

Category: Home Management
Keywords: termites,termite treatments