What Happens To Termites During The Winter?
Nature has a way, doesn't it? No matter how cold it gets, and no matter how much ice and snow we have, those bugs all come back in the spring. Somehow, some way, they find a place to hide from the cold. But where do they go? Where do they hide? In nature, they will tunnel deeper into the ground to get below the frost line, burrow deeper into an old log, hide under leaf debris, shelter beneath bark, squeeze between rocks, or something similar. The same is true for termites. Let's take a look.
Termites In Nature
Termites are the sanitation engineers of nature. They turn wood into the fertilized soil. And they are able to do their job 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, under the right conditions. These are simple organisms that do not require sleep. But, the conditions they require to feed all year long are not usually present in nature. Though they usually establish their nests below the frost line and do not generally die during the winter months, the cold does slow them down. And, if it gets cold enough, they are not able to travel to the surface to feed on wood. They are restricted to feeding on root systems during the winter months, or they go into a low energy state until they are able to resume feeding.
Termites In Residential Neighborhoods
When termites establish themselves in a residential neighborhood, they can feed on multiple homes from one location in the ground. Termite workers can travel as far as the length of a football field to get food. If termites are traveling a good distance to feed on your home, they could slow down or completely stop their destructive behavior for the winter, just like termites in nature. The cold temperatures will make them grow dormant.
Termites Under A Home
In our New York service areas, we are fortunate to not have Formosan subterranean termites, which can create nests inside man-made structures without any need for contact with the soil. But, homes that have crawl spaces, or areas of soil underneath, can give the subterranean termites, that we battle, a foothold to feed all year long. The soil doesn't have to be heated. It just has to be kept warm enough to not freeze. If these conditions exist on your property, you could have continued damage from subterranean termites throughout the winter months.
Termites Inside Walls
Under extreme circumstances, subterranean termites in New York are able to create above ground subsidiary nests in the walls of a home. But, to do this, a wall must have excessive moisture or wet cavities. Subterranean termites cannot survive without moisture, and they do not have the ability to moisten their nests like Formosan subterranean termites do.
Subterranean Termite Protection
These termites are a billion dollar problem for U.S. property owners. No home should ever be without ongoing, always-active termite protection. Even if termites pause their destructive behavior during the winter months, you should never wait to start service for your home. Subterranean termites do damage to the inside of wood. This can weaken support structures and lead to warping and bending.
At Thomas Pest Services, we trust the Scientifically Proven Sentricon® System with Always Active™ to stop termite infestations even as they begin. It works 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, to arrest termite infestations. It contains EPA-registered products that directly target termites and nothing else. And it is the only termite product that has earned the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award. This is a bait system that uses the natural behavior pattern of termite workers to target termite colonies and destroy them.
If you'd like to learn more about this effective, green, termite control solution or set up termite protection for your New York home, reach out to Thomas Pest Services. We've been protecting homes and business in New York City and the surrounding area since 1932. We have learned a lot in nearly a century of pest control. And, we're so confident that we'll solve your pest problem, we back our service with a 100% satisfaction guarantee. That is termite protection you can trust.
