Termites in the Yard - Ask Extension
Hello! We've got a fence about 50 feet from our house (not on our property) which is full of termites (subterranean, although I don't know which speci...
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Termites in the Yard #123252
Asked April 23, 2013, 10:24 PM EDT
Hello! We've got a fence about 50 feet from our house (not on our property) which is full of termites (subterranean, although I don't know which species). Our house has a concrete foundation, and so far there's no evidence of infestation; the one wooden door frame (which happens to face the fence) looks fine, thank G-d. But my son just found termites in two tree stumps between the fence and our house, one of which is only fifteen feet away from the house. I'm attaching a screenshot from Google Maps. The fence is just above the faint grey power lines at the back of the property, and the tree stumps are near the fence on the right-hand side, in the empty area.
We've got a few questions:
~ Should we pull/grind/remove the stumps immediately, or wait until the exterminator has killed the termites?
~ Do we need to treat the house, or is that just paranoia (or a money grab from the pest control company)?
~ We share our back yard with salamanders, snakes, and toads. Will it harm them if the exterminator injects poison into the soil? Would the poison in poison bait render termites toxic to salamanders and other predators?
~ Our driveway wraps around a little patch of soil (obscured by the house's shadow), on which we've got a planter, some shrubs, and a vegetable garden. My wife is concerned that any wood/mulch in that area might attract/harbor termites, too. Can or would termites burrow under eight feet of concrete in their search for food?
Thank you SO much!
Hamilton County Ohio
Expert Response
The URL below is to a University of Kentucky FactSheet that
discusses subterranean termite biology and management. Dr. Mike Potter is an excellent entomologist
and has written an excellent factsheet that thoroughly covers the management
options and pros and cons of each.
http://www.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/ef639.asp
Our own Dr. Susan Jones is quite the expert on termites as
well. Here are some of her publications
for Ohio:
http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2092C.html
http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2092.html
http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2091.html
http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2092A.html
http://ohioline.osu.edu/b1209/
To answer some of your other questions:
The most common and widely distributed termite in the northeastern
part of the U.S. (including Ohio) is the EASTERN SUBTERRANEAN TERMITE, Reticulitermes flavipes. As its name implies, the colonies of this
termite live underground and that can be several feet underground. The parts of the colony that are observed in
houses, stumps, logs, fences, etc. are satellite colonies collecting food for
the rest of the colony. Eliminating the
satellite colony (i.e. the termites in the stumps and fence) will do little to
eliminate the main colony.
Should you pull/grind/remove the stumps immediately, or wait
until the exterminator has killed the termites?
The parts of the colony that are observed in houses, stumps,
logs, fences, etc. are satellite colonies collecting food for the rest of the
colony. Eliminating the satellite colony
(i.e. the termites in the stumps and fence) will do little to eliminate the
main colony. Termites can be touchy when
it comes to disturbance. They will avoid
areas that have been heavily disturbed and send them to areas of less
disturbance. The problem with that is you
and the exterminator know where they are now and if using one of the baiting system,
placing the stations near the stumps and fence will increase the probability of
them discovering the bait. If you
disturb the stumps or fence, they will move to a different area. My recommendation is to leave them alone
until the termites are taken care of.
Do we need to treat the house, or is that just paranoia (or
a money grab from the pest control company)? This is a tough question. You know the termites are close by. The bait stations may answer this
question. If stations are placed around
the house and termites are discovered in them, it may suggest one would want to
treat around the foundation (insurance - how much are you willing to
pay?). One of the things that encourages
termites to come to a structure is moist/wet wood (that's why they found their
way into the roots of the stump, the fence posts buried in the soil, etc.). Thus, you must evaluate how much wood
materials are in contact with the soil and/or are close to the soil that may
have a higher moisture content that would be attractive to the termites. Termites will also construct mud tubes from
the soil up foundations to wood of a structure.
Do you need to treat? You have to
make this decision for yourself. I don't
think I would immediately opt for a preventative treatment if there are no
signs of termites being active in the house.
If you are "risk averse,"
you might want to do so. A compromise is
to learn to recognize the signs of termite infestation, so you can spot a
problem early and react when needed. If
you aren't comfortable with inspecting for termites yourself, hire a
professional to inspect for you on a regular basis (once every 1-3 years). The
termites in your stumps may not find your home for many years. Also, do everything that you can do to reduce
unnecessary risk, i.e. eliminate wood products that are in contact with the
soil around the house. Eventually, you
will want to remove the stumps.
We share our back yard with salamanders, snakes, and toads.
Will it harm them if the exterminator injects poison into the soil? The insecticides are going to be directed to
specific targets not broadcast all over the yard.
Would the poison in poison bait render termites toxic to
salamanders and other predators?
The insecticides in the bait stations are insect growth
regulators and would have no impact on most other animals (animals that do not
have an exoskeleton).
Our driveway wraps around a little patch of soil (obscured
by the house's shadow), on which we've got a planter, some shrubs, and a
vegetable garden. My wife is concerned that any wood/mulch in that area might
attract/harbor termites, too. Can or would termites burrow under eight feet of
concrete in their search for food?
The driveway is not an obstacle. Landscaping timbers, planks, thick mulch,
paper mulch, etc. could be food for termites.
Pressure treated lumber does discourage termites, but the more weathered
it is, the less protection it will have.
Remember that the termites in these wood materials are strictly satellite
feeding colonies, not the main colony.
If you have more specific questions that have not been
answered here, you may want to get in contact with Dr. Jones in Columbus.
