It is termite season, which means they are swarming all around you looking for love. But besides making termites an annoyance, are they harmful to you?
They might chew through wood and furniture around your house. But termites are not so bad after all. Termites themselves do not bite you! Many termite species eat only dead plant material like fallen leaves or tree bark. Not the kind of food that harms you or pets.
Termites can cause problems when they enter homes through windows, doors, cracks in foundation walls (which may allow moisture into the wall), and eaves (the coverings on roof edges). They can also come up inside the water supply pipe itself.
Humans are Not a Food Source
The termites that are harmful to you are species that eat only wood. These evolved ways to digest cellulose, which is the main part of plants. While they might not cause you any harm directly, their homes might.
Inside termite mounds or nests are larvae and other organ systems necessary for digestion. They are soft for water stream from a typical home’s faucet to destroy. Termites’ jaws can get through plaster walls inside your house when the termites have been there long for their nest to grow large.
Termites may also chew into electrical wiring and building contents like insulation and furniture. This further encourages moisture build-up that leads to mold growth – another serious termite food source.
Termites Construct Their Defenses
It is termite season, but preventing these pests from entering your home is key. Sticky barriers around the foundation of your house and window sills will keep them out. You can place screens on your doors to prevent them from coming up.
Termite control may include using chemicals to poison colonies or creating bait stations for them to eat until they die. Talk with Biotech Termite and Pest Control about what works for you and your termite situation.
Termites are not aggressive toward you and try to bite or sting as a means of defense. Instead, they construct defenses for them to protect themselves from what appears as threats.
Wood is in Danger from Termites
Wood termites are species that eat only wood. Know them to infest rotting wood, termite-damaged wood, and undisturbed woods where they can establish colonies without disturbance. Termites cut galleries with their jaws for tunnels inside the wood. That is not unlike your concept of a maze or an ant colony network.
Termites do not need to eat very much wood to survive, but control constitutes getting rid of food sources. They cannot digest plastic or metal and sometimes, control will remove these food sources. Termites starve and leave your home alone.
Like other pests, termites pose a threat only when they move into your area and their numbers grow so large that it becomes unavoidable to face you!
Termites Can Indirectly Harm Humans
Termites do not directly cause you harm, but their destruction in your home may lead to water damage. Once they invade your property, invasive termite control is the only way to keep them away.
While termites themselves are not harmful to you, their damage can. They chew into electrical wiring and building materials like insulation and furniture. The termite activity further encourages moisture build-up. This leads to mold growth which can cause serious health problems for people with asthma or allergies.
Termites also infest wood around your property like fences or decks or trees which make it easier for their swarms to attack you in your own home!
Health Issues Caused by Termites
Having termites in your home is unhealthy for you and can cause serious health problems. Because they eat wood, their presence encourages the growth of mold which causes serious respiratory diseases like asthma and allergies to worsen. When present in large numbers, termite swarms may also become a threat to your safety as they try to enter living quarters for food!
Termite control includes removing the food sources from your property. They will not have a reason to stay or return at all.
When termites cause major water damage by chewing through supporting elements of walls and ceilings, you must repair these areas before reinstalling flooring or any building materials that led to termite activity.
Other Effects
Termites are so small, you will not feel their bites or stings. They leave no visible bite marks or any effects on your skin at all! These pests do not pose a threat to you unless they swarm which is very rare.
Termite control will prevent infestation by finding activity and then eliminating the colony that is causing the damage. This prevents them from further destroying your property and it is vital for keeping termites away!
Unlike carpenter ants, termites will not eat furniture made of wood; termite control may remove this food source to prevent their return.
Water leaks from termites damage drywall and insulation, encouraging mold growth which is bad for your health.
Pesticides
Pesticides cannot kill termites on contact. You must locate their colony and then saturate the termite-infested area with the chemical. This is hard because termites are subterranean creatures who live underground! That means you cannot use sprays on them.
Once termite activity is under control, they are unlikely to return. But you can do termite control on an annual basis. They can infest your property from nearby colonies through underground tunnels!
Termite control will keep termites away and protect your property from further damage which is vital when drywood termite activity is present in your home!
The Health Risk of Pesticide
When termites move into your property, the only way to keep them away is through control. Since they eat wood and can become hard to locate underground, control may include the use of pesticides.
Pesticide chemicals do not kill termites on contact. Instead, they poison these pests as they ingest or absorb them through their bodies over time. This keeps them away from your property. But makes it vital for you to protect yourself by using protective gear like a respirator mask and gloves.
You must read the pesticide label carefully before use and apply all safety precautions listed there. Do not underestimate how dangerous pesticides are. They are toxic for you which means that incorrect application can cause severe health issues.
Homeowners with the signs of termites or who saw them in their homes should call Biotech Termite and Pest Control right away! The company will pinpoint where these pests are coming from so you can take care of eliminating them quickly!