tquinn

On Tue, 01 Jun 2004 21:02:45 GMT, Daniel Phillips transmitted this:


I would guess that unless a queen, or several, very lucky reproductive swarmers
through some bad luck (yours) managed to end up in that bag or dirt, then you'd
have a problem. I was told that subterranean termite workers can't stray too
far from the colony, this by the exterminator that treated my house after my
foot went through my floor. Since then I've sort of become an advocate for
perimeter treatment of houses.

Of course, I still have an old termite nest somewhere underground where our old
shed used to be. They ate the shed, they ate a weakened tree, and the
exterminator says he can't treat the tree stump. Lovely to see the workers
every now and then when I dig a hole to plant something. :P

The thing to always remember is not to let any dirt touch wooden framework, and
if you start finding piles of sawdust/dirt, even if it's near a concrete wall,
call an exterminator before whatever's causing the dirtpiles gets too far into
the house.

Gaping holes in the floor with termites running amok as soon as the tiles are
pulled up isn't even a good reason to end it all, believe me. It's actually fun
chasing them down and getting revenge. >

On the other hand, I have no idea how "drywood" termites travel, so...good luck
with the dirt.

lar

I would guess that unless a queen, or several, very lucky reproductive swarmers
through some bad luck (yours) managed to end up in that bag or dirt, then you'd
have a problem. I was told that subterranean termite workers can't stray too
far from the colony, this by the exterminator that treated my house after my
foot went through my floor. Since then I've sort of become an advocate for
perimeter treatment of houses.

If you were to turn up a piece of wood and it had a number of
termites, now exposed running about, a percentage of them would be
secondary reproductives, so if that piece of wood (bag of mulch) was
transplanted to a new location and there was sufficient moisture, some
of those secondary repros would mate and a new queen would be made to
now start a new colony. The only perimeter treatment to do would be
with a product called Termidor, otherwise you will probably just push
then to the interior of the home.

Lar. (to e-mail, get rid of the BUGS!!


It is said that the early bird gets the worm,
but it is the second mouse that gets the cheese.

tquinn

On Sat, 04 Sep 2004 04:20:24 GMT, Lar transmitted this:

....the workers can reproduce?

The piece of wood in my case is the beam that runs under my floor (which
couldn't be removed because it would've cost too much--long story), we didn't
see any new activity from the time the exterminator treated the house and we
pulled up the tiles to the time carpenter came to sister the beam and replace
the plywood floor, which was about two months.

I'll ask the exterminator if he used Termidor. I certainly hope so. -_-

lar

...the workers can reproduce?

The piece of wood in my case is the beam that runs under my floor (which
couldn't be removed because it would've cost too much--long story), we didn't
see any new activity from the time the exterminator treated the house and we
pulled up the tiles to the time carpenter came to sister the beam and replace
the plywood floor, which was about two months.

I'll ask the exterminator if he used Termidor. I certainly hope so. -_-

No they aren't workers, they are secondary reproductives. They will
develop into the "swarmers" in the Spring. When you expose a bunch of
termites a certain percentage will be workers/nymphs another
percentage being soldiers, guarding the tubes that have to be fed by
the workers and then a percentage of the secondary repros, expecting
to be fed by the workers. If a mass of termites become isolated from
the main nest, some of the secondaries can take over as being queen
for the new colony.

Lar. (to e-mail, get rid of the BUGS!!


It is said that the early bird gets the worm,
but it is the second mouse that gets the cheese.