Where Do Termites Go in the Winter?

Where Do Termites Go in the Winter?

Discovering termites can be a shock in the best of times. Discovering them in winter can be even more surprising. Unfortunately, everyone’s least favorite wood-muncher doesn’t always subscribe to seasonal behaviors. So, are termites active in winter? And where do they go anyway?

You might expect termites to go dormant or die out in the winter. If only. Sadly, the truth is termites will remain active all winter long if they can. They survive primarily by finding a nice, warm climate to hole up in. If you’re not careful, it could be your nice, warm climate. Because termites don’t slow down, we don’t either. Here’s what you should know about winter termites and how to stop them.

Where Termites Go in the Winter

where termites go in winter

While it’s true that termites remain active during winter, that doesn’t mean they can survive the cold. As cold-blooded insects, termites depend on their environment to provide them with the heat they need to survive. When temperatures drop below freezing, termites will die out unless they find cover. It just so happens they’re very good at finding that cover.

Once termites have a place to survive, they can keep moving, eating, and expanding their colony like always. In the wild, subterranean termites survive by burrowing deeper into the ground. As temperatures decrease, so will their movements to the point that they may appear dead or motionless. In most cases they are still alive. Drywood termites on the other hand can burrow into wooden logs but once the temperatures drop below freezing, they will die off.

The most common termite in Michigan is the Eastern Subterranean Termite (Reticulitermes flavipes). When the ground freezes, these termites simply dig their tunnels deeper. Eventually, part of the colonies’ “territory” is located beneath the frost line. Most of the termites stay in these tunnels for their whole lives. Workers, however, move in and out to connect the colony to its food source: wood.

What Termites Do in Winter

what termites do in winter

The same thing they always do – propagate! Of all the castes in a termite colony, only workers actually bore through wood. Worker termites dig through soil to expand the colony while simultaneously searching for food. When they find food, they eat through it, leaving behind hollowed-out tunnels. Termite workers carry the wood they eat back to the colony, where they use it to feed soldier and reproductive castes.

Over time, termites can significantly damage the wooden structures they feed on. Their continual feeding wears down the wood, and the tunnels they leave behind compromise its structural integrity. Meanwhile, reproductive termites continuously produce new workers to expand the colony. These workers will seek new food, and (of course) keep eating. The severity and range of termite-related wood damage will get worse and worse the longer an infestation lasts.

How Termites Enter Your Home

how termites get into your home over winter

Termites infest homes by accessing wood from the outside, near their subterranean colonies. They locate vulnerable wood by building complex networks of branching tunnels underground until they run up against it. When they find wood, they become devoted to stripping it of its cellulose for the colonies’ food source.

Termites use this same principle for infesting homes all year, even during the winter. They overcome the cold weather challenge by creating “exploratory tubes” out of mud and fecal material. They use these tubes to essentially extend their shelter up from the ground toward food sources. Exploratory tubes allow termites to access wood that’s touching or near soil without ever having to expose themselves to freezing cold.

How to Stop Them

how to stop termites this winter

The only way termites could access your home is by reaching a wooden structure while staying warm. Termite tunnels enable them to reach out of their colonies, but they can’t reach far.

Remove or protect wooden structures that are near soil. Wherever possible, ensure that wood doesn’t come within 18 inches of soil. Remove any wooden debris near your home, like stacks of lumber, firewood, sticks, trellises, or wood chips. Replace damaged wooden materials with non-cellulose alternatives or pressure-tested lumber.

By depriving termites of a way to get food, you’ll go a long way toward keeping them out. Remember that termites need moisture to survive, too. They’re attracted to wood that’s wet, in a humid place, or near wet soil. Reduce humidity and moisture in vulnerable areas like basements by patching drafts, repairing leaks, and dehumidifying. Make sure your downspouts, gutters, and sump pump drain moisture away from the building properly. The less suitable you can make your home for termites, the less interested they’ll be in infesting it.

Early Warning Signs of Termites

Unfortunate as it is to admit, termites continue to be a threat even in the dead of winter. Keeping your home safe from them means remaining vigilant all year long. Fortunately, termites are not unstoppable. If you keep a close eye out and follow the steps outlined above, you can ensure that nothing snacks on your home this winter.

Watch for mud tubes, termite holes and other signs of termite damage. Discarded wings from flying termites looking to establish a new colony is another sign you may have an infestation.

It’s Always Termite Season in Michigan

Spring, summer, fall, winter–no matter when you need termite help, remember that you can always call on Griffin Pest Solutions. We know how to find termites, wipe them out, and keep them from coming back. Protecting your property will be our pleasure!

 

Do I Have Carpenter Ants?

Carpenter ant near the wall of a basement

Ants flying around inside your home may be the reproductive drones of a carpenter ant colony. Look for small, round excavation holes in wooden structures in your basement, crawl space, deck, or porch. Carpenter ants create these holes to discharge the sawdust-like wood shavings they produce while tunneling.

It can be frustratingly difficult to find conclusive signs that you have a carpenter ant problem. The ants tend to tunnel through deep or inaccessible sections of wood. Their tunnels tend to be impossible to spot until they start causing serious problems. By learning more about what ants are all about, however, you can be better at spotting them. This is what you should know about carpenter ants, including how to tell if you have them.

What are carpenter ants?

Carpenter ants (Camponotus spp.) are some of the largest and most common ants in Michigan. They’re also one of the most common home-invading pests in Michigan. Like other ants, carpenters live in large eusocial colonies where different castes perform different roles. Unlike most ants, colonies live inside wooden structures by hollowing them out from the inside. In the wild, they usually nest in decomposing trees, logs, or stumps. They can also tunnel through homes!   

Carpenter ant workers look like sugar ants, but they’re larger and have evenly-rounded thoraxes. Most workers are ¼ to ½” long. Carpenter ant drones are even larger, and they have flight-capable wings. Drones are often confused for termites, but you can tell them apart by looking at their antennae. Carpenter ants have distinctive “elbowed” (curving or “L-shaped”) antennae, whereas termites have straight, beaded antennae. You’ll probably see the ants crawling on or near wooden structures. 

Carpenter ants outside of an entrance to their colony

Why are carpenter ants a problem?

Contrary to popular belief, carpenter ants don’t actually eat wood. Carpenter ants tunnel through wooden structures to build large, complex “galleries” for their colony to live inside. As the colony grows, the ants continue to work their way deeper through the infested wood. In the meantime, the ants will continue to hollow out larger and larger segments of wood. Ant workers reduce the wood they tunnel through to a sawdust-like substance and transport it out of the colony. 

Obviously, hollowing out the inside of a wooden structure compromises its structural integrity. Over time, carpenter ants could seriously damage the wood they infest–and any structures that wood supports! If the ants hollow out enough wood, they could trigger the collapse of load-bearing structures such as support beams. Ant tunnels also tend to make wood more vulnerable to moisture accumulation and mold growth, which could lead to further problems.

Do I have carpenter ants?

The most obvious sign of a carpenter ant infestation is the presence of winged ants inside your home. If there are flying ants inside your home and it’s not mating season, then you probably have an infestation. Workers themselves may venture indoors during summer, but seeing them during winter is a bad sign. Look for workers around any exposed wooden structures, especially in naturally damp or humid parts of the home.

You should also look for small, circular openings on the surface of the wood. These holes are where worker ants expel the sawdust-like shavings they create when tunneling through the wood. If you find shavings or dust accumulating under these openings, your infestation is quite active. Remember: carpenter ants attack moist, humid, or damaged wood. If you’re worried you have an infestation, check wood that fits this description first.

Carpenter ants working on tunnels in wood

What can I do about carpenter ants?

Tunneling through wood dries out carpenter ants very quickly. Workers require a constant source of moisture to re-hydrate if they’re going to remain active. For this reason, the ants almost exclusively target wet or moist wood. If they can re-hydrate while they tunnel, they’ll never have to stop working on their colony. By making sure wood around your home is dry, treated, and protected, you’ll keep ants from preying on it.

First, look for and fix possible plumbing leaks inside and outside. Make sure your outdoor gutters, downspouts, and drains are direct water away from your home effectively. Find places where wood contacts the ground and cover that wood with plastic sheets or barriers. Trim down branches, shrubs, or other “bridges” carpenter ants could use to access your home. Inside, dehumidify your basement, crawl spaces, and other lower levels as well as possible. Replace any damaged or soiled wood ASAP.

 

The faster you find a carpenter ant infestation, the more potential damage you can prevent. Watch for these signs of infestation, but look out for the vulnerabilities that may lead to infestations, as well. Protect wooden structures in your home, keep them dry, and watch for cracks and gaps ants could exploit. 

If you’re worried you have carpenter ants in your home, don’t hesitate to give Griffin Pest Solutions a call. Our experts locate your ants, remove them, identify how they got in, and ensure they won’t get in again. If you see the telltale signs of carpenter ants, just call right away. We’ll make sure your home stays whole.

The Most (Potentially) Destructive Pest Infestations

The most (potentially) destructive pest infestations

If there’s one thing worse than finding out you have pest infestations, it’s what happens next. As you begin to investigate how long you’ve had the infestation and how extensive it might be, you start to worry. “How long have these pests been living in my home?” “What have they been doing since they got inside?” “What have they been doing since then?”

The scariest thing about pest infestations is how they can do some serious damage before you even find them. Pests like the four listed here could cause hundreds or even thousands of dollars worth of damage to your home or property. We’re not writing this just to scare you, however. We say “could” because if you find these infestations fast enough, you could prevent all this potential damage. Here are four pests you want to deal with as soon as you find them.

 

Termites

Termites can inflict major damage on wooden structures.You knew termites were going to occupy the #1 spot on this list. No other pest does nearly $5 billion dollars worth of property damage every year! Termites have the shocking damage potential they do because they (infamously) infest and eat wood. Termite colonies eat by breaking down the cellulose in wood and carrying it back to their colonies. As their colonies expand, they venture further into the wooden structures they inhabit, carving deeper tunnels. Eventually, these tunnels seriously compromise the structural integrity of the infested wood.

When load-bearing wood becomes compromised, it could fail to, well, bear its load. Termite-infested wood may crack, splinter, or even give way entirely. It’s not unheard of for entire buildings to collapse following a particularly bad termite infestation! As generations of termites grow, they’ll even create “satellite” colonies in new wood sources, spreading the damage they inflict. The longer termite infestations go unaddressed, the worse the damage they inflict could be.

Pantry moths

Pantry moths eat grain products right out of your pantry, which can get expensive surprisingly quickly!Pantry-infesting pests like the common Indian meal moth do a very different kind of damage compared to termites. Where termites could destroy an entire home, moths can’t do any property damage at all. Instead, they go after something even more basic: your food. It might seem silly to call humble, food-infesting pests like moths “destructive”. After all, you can always get more food. But that’s just it. Consider how much you spend on groceries!

If all that food was ruined before you had the chance to eat it, it would be like flushing money down the drain. And pests will ruin that food. If you found caterpillars writhing around in your cereal, you’d lose your appetite–and the cereal box–pretty fast. The damage inflicted by pantry pests adds up in a hurry, especially if you don’t address the root of the problem. Then there’s the psychological toll to consider. Imagine looking forward to some tasty cereal, only to find that some pest beat you to the punch. Not a pretty picture, is it?

Powderpost beetles

Powderpost beetles hollow out wooden furniture, and inflict serious damage on it over timePowderpost beetles tend to be far less well-known than other wood-destroyers, which accounts for some of their destructive potential. Beetle damage can be difficult enough to identify. Some homeowners may not realize they even have a problem until significant damage is done. Powderpost beetles are wood-boring insects that reproduce and lay eggs in the cracks of furniture and other wood sources. When the eggs hatch, larvae begin eating the wood they hatched on immediately.

The tunnels larvae carve through their food sources in the process of eating damages the wood’s structural integrity. Powderpost beetles can eat, mate, and reproduce on a single wood source for several generations, inflicting continuous damage. Identify powderpost damage by looking for small exit holes left behind when larvae emerge from the wood to molt. They also tend to infest moist and/or unfinished wood. Furniture is expensive and difficult to replace, so powderpost beetles can be a particularly infuriating infestation to contend with.

Rodents

Rodents can start fires if they chew through electrical chords.Yes, unfortunately, the extremely common mice and rat infestations also have the potential to be seriously expensive. Our furry foes can do just about any kind of damage you can imagine. They’ll go to ridiculous lengths to access your food. They’ll nibble and push their way through structures to get inside. They’ll make nests out of paper, insulation, and other materials. And worst of all, they never. Stop. Chewing.

Did you know that rodent teeth never stop growing? To keep their teeth sharp, mice and rats have to teethe continuously by gnawing on… anything and everything. Unfortunately, that can include things that are very bad to gnaw on, like electrical wiring. Rodents start a surprising number of serious home fires every year after biting through wires. It’s a frustrating absurd way to have your home burn down, but that doesn’t make it any less tragic. Don’t underestimate the destructive potential of a rodent infestation–and don’t let it go unchecked.

 

Remember:we call these infestations “potentially” destructive because they don’t have to be. No matter how severe the infestation, taking care of it quickly spares your home (and pocketbook!) from the worst of the damage.

Next time you need some help making sure a “potentially” destructive infestation stays that way, give Griffin a call. We’re always happy to help protect your home and well-being. Especially if it means we can send some termites packing.

Why Are Termites in Michigan Such a Problem?

Why are termites such a problem for Michigan?

Termites, specifically the Eastern Subterranean Termite (Reticulitermes flavipes), are the most destructive wood pest in Michigan. Every year, they inflict thousands of dollars of property damage to Michigan homes all over the southern peninsula. Though they’re more common in wooded, rural areas of Michigan’s LP, they’re prevalent in cities like Ann Arbor, Detroit, and Grand Rapids, too.

In other words, we’re saying if you live anywhere in Michigan’s LP, you shouldn’t assume you can’t get termites. In fact, they’re one of the more common pest infestations that plague unassuming Michigan residents all year round. It turns out termites love Michigan almost as much as we do, so it’s safe to say they’re here to stay. Here’s what you should know about your less-than-welcome neighbor, and how to keep them away from your home.

What are termites?

termite workers are translucent white and small than other castes. They do the work of transporting food back to the colony.Termites are classified in the same insect order as cockroaches, Blattodea. Unlike cockroaches, however, termites are eusocial, which means they live together in large colonies. The Eastern Subterranean Termite is the most widely distributed, common, and economically significant wood-destroying insect in the United States. A single Eastern Subterranean Termite colony may consist of up to five million termites. Their “subterranean” designation means they build their colonies in tunnels underground.

Within a termite colony, there are three castes: workers, soldiers, and reproductives. Each of these castes performs a different function and has different physical characteristics. Workers are small (3mm long), wingless, and translucent white. They’re the only caste that actually breaks down the wood and carries it back to the colony. Soldiers are larger than workers, with elongated yellow heads and large black jaws. They defend the colony in case of attack. Finally, the reproductives (including the queen) are ⅜-½ inches long, black or dark brown, and have translucent wings. They’re responsible for populating the colony and establishing new satellite colonies. Learn more about the types of termites and how to treat them here. 

Where Did Termites in Michigan Come From?

Experts believe termites migrated to the midwest after they were accidentally transported here with lumber and soil.We don’t know for sure why or when termites originally came to Michigan. The Eastern Subterranean Termite was once native to warmer, southern climates like Texas and Florida. The pest has been gradually moving further north since at least the 1960s. Termites naturally expand their colonies to seek new sources of food and living space. They may also be transported in soil or infested wood. Some regions, such as Wisconsin, Toronto, and Ontario likely had their original populations transplanted one of these ways.

The Eastern Subterranean Termite is allowed to spread as quickly as it does because they can be frustratingly difficult to find. The most numerous caste, the workers, never leave the tunnels they build. Contrary to popular belief, winter doesn’t kill termites. The Eastern Subterranean Termites’ colony exists largely under the frost line. Workers can simply build tunnels straight from the colony to food sources and remain unaffected by freezing temperatures. If termites can’t access food in winter, they can go dormant until spring.

What Do Termites in Michigan Want?

Termites break down wood and paper products to access the cellulose inside.Termites feed on the cellulose found in materials like wood, paper, and cotton. Worker termites bore through wood to break it down into cellulose and carry it back to the colony. In the process, they create hollowed-out tunnels through their food sources. Termite colonies use these tunnels to access more food and expand their living quarters. Contrary to popular belief, termites can’t permanently live inside their wood-bored tunnels. Colonies require moisture to survive, so they have to periodically return to a water source such as soil.

The colonies’ need for moisture drives their search for food, as well. Termites can bore through and consume most types of wood, but they’re particularly attracted to moist wood. Wooden structures that are wet or in humid locations are ideal food sources for termites. The harder or more structurally sound a wood product, the more energy termites need to expend to bore into it. For this reason they also seek out damaged wood before structurally-sound wood.

How to Prevent Termites in Michigan

Stop termites by depriving them of food sources and protecting wooden structures.Termites infest wood that’s moist, damaged, or readily accessible. Keeping them out means making sure the wood in your home is none of those things. Start by looking for plumbing leaks, condensation, puddling, or excess humidity. Pay special attention to your basement, because most infestations start there. Find and patch up drafts, ensure proper ventilation, and consider investing in a dehumidifier. At the same time, look for any cracks or gaps in your foundation or in wooden structures.

Termites can build “tubes” along sheer surfaces to get at elevated wood. Even with these tubes, however, they can’t access wood much higher than 18 inches off the ground. Wherever possible, make sure wooden structures aren’t contacting the ground directly. Consider wrapping deck or porch pillars in hard plastic wrap. Protect wooden foundation with a similar barrier or other form of deferral. Whenever possible, prevent excess moisture buildup in your yard from puddles or inadequate drainage.

Termites infestations won’t knock your house down overnight, but they can do more damage quicker than you’d think. Termite damage can get expensive or even dangerous, so learning to prevent them is essential.

 

If you think you have a termite infestation, don’t wait; contact Griffin for termite treatment in Michigan today. Our experts have the skill, know-how, and tools to solve any termite problem quickly and permanently.

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