Keep a termite-free house

Termites are not ants, in spite of the widespread belief. They belong to a different group of insects, which are close relatives to cockroaches.

Termites live in colonies with high level of organisation, much alike a bee hive (or an ant nest).

This is important because in order to end the infestation you need to eliminate the whole colony. If you don't do this in the proper way, you will get them back even if you killed a significant number of individuals.

Briefly, a typical termite colony is organised in castes like these:

Queens - There can be one or more. They are in charge of laying eggs.

King - It is the male termite that mates with the queen in order to start a colony.

Soldiers - Soldier termites are in charge of defending the nest from invaders.

Workers - They do all the hard work. Building the nest (basically carving the wood), taking care of the eggs and larvae and gathering food.

Reproductives or Swarmers - They are the ones you may often see, flying around. They go outside the nest and look for a place to found a new colony, in which case they can become a queen.

Where do they live (aside from your house)?

Some species of termites live in wood. Of these, some use dry wood (like the ones we got in houses) and others make nests in damp fallen logs. Other kinds make big nests out of hardened dirt. Others are subterranean. They can also harm a house if they live underneath by using it as a source of food.

It is very advisable to have your home inspected by a professional. An annual inspection is usually the advise, but you should do it at least when you move in and after a few years.

However, you can help by being aware of a few signs of termite activity that may help you catch them before they do too much of a damage.

1) Mud-looking little pieces on wooden surfaces. As termites eat away the wood and open a hole to the outside, they will try to patch it up by using pieces of dirt mixed with feces to make a glue substance to close these holes. They look like little balls of mud.

2) Wings - Finding wings may be a sign of termite activity in your house or close around. When reproductive individuals leave the colony they use wings to fly, and then they shed their wings. Not a direct indication of infestation but a warning.

3) Termites. You may also see actual termites. You could spot a termite when they poke a hole in the wood from inside. Also, you can see the flying swarmers going around. In any case, it is time to call for an inspection.

4) Termite tubes. Subterranean termites don't live inside the wood, but rather build their colonies under the ground. They use the wood of a house as food source and travel up and down to bring the wood to the colony. To do this, they build tunnels out of dirt that connect the grouns with the bottom part of the house.

5) Sawdust is also a very common indication of termites. Check for that, especially in recently cleaned areas when it is easier to spot little piles of sawdust.

7) When termites reach the surface of painted wood it is possible to see little bubbles in the paint from the termites eating the wood from inside.

9) Use a hammer to look for hollow sounds in the wood, especially in parts that are not supposed to be hollow.