Termites are dangerous. They live in large colonies and the average colony can consume 6 inches of 2×4 wood in just 5 months. That’s enough to cause structural issues at home. Of course, you can have several colonies of termites living in your home. In addition, termites come and go via the soil around your home, often making it difficult to spot them.

In short, the termites can be active for years before you discover them and they can cause a lot of damage during that time more than you do to your eyes by binge-watching shows on kickass torrent.

To prevent this from being an issue you need to learn how to identify and manage the termites.

The Appearance Of A Termite

When termites are ready to find a mate and start a new colony they leave the existing one and fly off in search of a mate. At this stage, they look very similar to flying ants and are often confused with them.

But, termites are generally a lighter color and have soft bodies, ants have harder and darker bodies. Termites also have broad waists between their abdomen and thorax, ants prefer tapered waists.

It’s also worth noting that termites with wings have 4 wings of equal sizes, ants only have two of the same size.

The good news is that although there are several different species of termites, they all look similar to each other.

Managing the Termites

There are several techniques you can use to manage termites but the best approach is to invest in a termite baiting box. You place it near where you think the termites are active and add bait that they will enjoy. The termites will find the bait and take the food. They will then mark the box as a safe eating place and be happy to collect food from it for the colony.

This is the point at which you change the bait and add the poisoned food. They take it back to the colony and the poisoned bait can kill the entire colony.

This is usually an effective method of eliminating the termites. However, it is also an effective way of telling if you have a termite problem.

Other Signs Of termites

When termites mate they lose their wings. Therefore, if you see a pile of wings in the corner of your house there is a good chance the termites are just setting up a colony.

You can also step outside and look at the mud around your home. Termites need to stay damp so they tunnel through the soil into your garden. If you see small openings in the soil around your home you may have active termites. Close the tunnels and see if they reopen or new ones appear. If they do then you have an active termite colony and you’re going to want to take action.

You may also see bubbling or cracking paint inside your home which suggests there is activity inside the wood. If you do suspect termite activity then the sooner you take action the better.