Little Known Facts About Termites

Termites are a small, pale soft-bodied insect that lives in large colonies with several different castes, typically within a mound of cemented earth. Termites feed on wood and can be highly destructive to trees and timber, which cause major damage to both domestic and commercial properties.

The termite has evolved more than 250 million years ago.  Termites live in underground nests and travel in their mud tubes to protect them from their enemies. Termites are the descended from the cockroach family.

Termites are social insects that live in colonies where populations can reach more than one million which consist of a queen, king, young immature nymphs, workers, soldiers and winged reproductive also known as alates. Each has a different role to perform and all interdependent upon each other for survival of their colony.

Queen termite is an egg laying machine for termites, she can live more than 25 years and produce more that 2,000 eggs a day. King termite stays near the Queen all his life, protected away in the central nursery chamber and tend to by worker termites.

Types of Termite Spices:

COPTOTERMESACINACIFORMIS: 

They build its nest at the base of a tree trunk or underground, and may form a mountain. The build Subsidiary nests in such places as the cavities in the walls of buildings where there is some moisture source like gutter pipe, rusted down pipe or leaking pipe. Coptotermes acinaciformis are highly destructive to buildings and other timber structures, and mostly found in Australia.

SCHEDORHINOTERMES INTERMEDIUS:
They build its nest in tree stumps or in a root crown of the living dead and debilitated trees or under houses or other areas where timber is buried or stored in contact with the ground. They generally found in eastern Victoria in Australia, these termites usually gouge the timber around the nails used in construction.

COPTOTERMES FRENCHI:  They build the nest in a root crown or lower trunk area of living tree, mostly in eucalypts. They build their nest as a mound in the dryer areas. These termite species is most shy, they change the place immediately after being disturbed.

NASUTITERMES WALKERI:  They build the nest in a main trunk of the tree or in the fork of a large branch. Nasutitermes walkeri become most destructive to damp wood when the sub-flooring of building is damp or ventilation is poor which cause wood decay or fungal growth.

HETEROTERMES FEROX:  They build the nest near to logs, stumps or a timber contact with the ground where some wood decay. The Heterotermes ferox mainly found where eucalypt gum trees are more and in urban areas. They mostly prefer fences, damp timber and poles with wood decay.

DAMPWOOD TERMITES: They build a small independent nest and mostly found on dead trees, decaying stumps or fence posts and utility poles, they rarely found in dry timbers. Dampwood Termite do not usually infest structures because of their need for excessive moisture. However, care must be taken to avoid attracting damp wood termites to a structure as they can cause serious property damage.

DRYWOOD TERMITES:  They build their colonies in fences, furniture, structural wood, doors and windows frames. Drywood termites do not require any contact with the soil. They live in undecayed wood with low moisture comfortable. Drywood termites can gnaw through your home support beams, floors and walls which cause major damages to property.

Termites are very sensitive instincts. If they are shaken up or disturbed, the termites will leave out the area and move to other areas in the building and damage the other part also. So if you find termites in or around your property, it is essential that you do NOT disturb them and promptly contact professional experts to handle it. Call Fumapest Termites and Pest Control expert for a professional inspection and advices to protect your home or business property.

Don't Invite Rodents in Your Home

We can find Rats in every part of the world. Do you know that the rats can burn down your home? Rats are often caused fires at home, buildings and Warehouse by gnawing through plastic electrical junction boxes. Rodents also pose severe health risks as they live in unsanitary places and are known to carriers of serious diseases to humans from their droppings and incontinence. 

So here are the few steps you can take to reduce a rodent problem:

• Seal all the cracks of your home as Rodents can easily squeeze through from small spaces, so look around door windows and any place anything enters the building like plumbing, electrical wires, phone, cable or gas pipes.

• Cut down the tree branches near the roof to prevent rodents to enter at home.

• Rodents like clutter as it is an undisturbed place to live and an ideal hiding place for them. So Seal the clutter places in your home like Basement, closets, Storage room and garage door.

• Keep all your food in air tight containers that rodents cannot easily access.

• Make your Home Rodent proof by not providing them a food source like:

•  Use a trashcan with a lid and throughout the thrash frequently rather than letting it for a long time.

•  Don't store boxes of food on the floor and kept everything on shelves or in a cabinet.

•  The crumbs on your floors, countertop and will be wiped out daily as it attracts rodents.

•  Clean all spills of juice and oatmeal on your floors don’t let them for long a time. Clean your kitchen regularly to remove traces of food.

•  Don’t leave your pet food on the floor after they eat, keep the pet food in glass or plastic container with tight lid.

•  Remove all Nuts and berries that have dropped from the trees in your yard. Gather these up and compost or discard them

• The firewood piles can be a safe place for rodents and other pests, so store firewood at least 20 feet away from your home.

• Some Substance is known to keep away Rodent like Mint plants, Sprinkle peppermint, Bay leaves and Mothballs.

The best way to prevent Rodents is to refuse them access to food, water and shelter in your home.

These tips will help you in keeping Rodents out of your home. Still, if a rodent does find its way into your home, do not panic! Call professional experts to handle it. Fumapest Termite & Pest Control services we will take care of your place and ensure that your home is Rodent free.

Tips to Protect Your Home from Termite

Australia is historically known for termite infestations. So there is a huge problem of termites. Termites can literally eat through a home. From Every 1 out of 3 homes in some stage will be under termite attack. 

For get Rid of Termite Problem Follow These Tips:

1)   First try to decrease the moisture at your home as termites both love and need moisture to increase their Population. So do everything to control excess moisture in and around your home.

2)   Looks for the crack and holes in your home, because pest can easily fit through tiny tracks. So seal the cracks and holes.

3)   There should be good cross ventilation in wall vents to keep the wood as dry as possible. Uncovered wood should be sealed with weather sealer, especially the window seals and wall edges.

4)   Try to cut the tree and bushes growing against the house as they only encourage moisture and mould in the wood.

5)   Termites like to make nests in fire woods, so store your fire woods at least 20 feet away from your Home.

6)   In case you are building a new house, the best termite control measure is to pre-treat the soil before building your home. It’s even better to build a barrier under your foundation so that the soil and wood don’t come in contact.

7)   The food sources for termite such as dead stumps, wood debris, paper, firewood, loose discarded timbers should be removed from around and under the house.

8)   Always check out for the warning signs for termite infestation like mud tunnels, bubbled or cracked paint and discarded swarmer termite wings in your home.

9)   Try to carry out regular termite inspections on the wood decks and fences in your home for any activity and damage caused by termites.

10)   If you are in doubt, it never hurts to have a termite inspection carried out as prevention is always better than cure. 

Last, but not least Contact Fumapest Termite and Pest control Specialist for annually carry out for a termite inspection of your home to detect and get treated for any Infestation accordingly. The Money that you have spent on termite treatment will help save you money in the long run as you don’t have to spend thousands of money on repairing all the damages caused by termites to your home.