Rafiki Pest Control LTD
20%- that's the percentage by which a termite infestation will reduce the value of your home! But that's if and when the infestation is discovered early and treated effectively. Read that right. Termites have been described as the most destructive insect pests worldwide!
Because these destructive little critters remain hidden deep within the wooden structures in your house, it can take weeks, months, or even years of chewing on wood before termite damages appear.
Drywood Termite Infestation
Unlike all other termite species, dry-wood termites are the worst type to invade your home! They do not require soil contact or moisture content to survive. Meaning that once they infest your wood, they will build a nest, feed, and thrive without you ever suspecting their presence.
Drywood termite infestations in Kenya are associated with severe structural damage, especially on wooden objects like furniture. For most homeowners, a dry wood termite infestation goes undetected for years!
That's because these cryptic creatures leave no apparent signs of infestation. And while they damage and feed on the insides of your tables, chairs, flooring, walls, etc., the outer surfaces usually remain intact!
Drywood Termite Signs and Identification
Mysterious, cryptic, confusing__Ifthese words were ever so apt to describe pests; they would have to be dry wood termites. They are extremely difficult to detect or even suspect their presence in your wooden structures.
Once they infest, dry wood termites live deep within the wood, and their only common sighting is swarming adults. Note that most termite colonies swarm once a year, so they are seldom seen!
Unlike a subterranean termite colony consisting of 500,000 termites, a drywood termite colony generally comprises about 10,000 termites. But don't let their small numbers fool you. Drywood termites are widely dispersed and severely destructive, often causing extensive and irreversible damage.
Drywood Termites Fecal pellets
Homeowners first detect a dry wood termite infestation when seeing swarmers or fecal pellets (frass). Visible frass is the most distinguishing trait of dry wood termites. Unlike other insect droppings, termite frass has no odor and poses no health risks to you or your loved ones.
Drywood termite frass is usually complex with rounded ends, but it tends to have six distinct concave surfaces on its sides.
While it's easy to confuse dry-wood termite frass with that ejected from wood by beetles or damp wood termites, note that bettle pellets are rounded with convex surfaces. On the flip side, damp wood termite pellets are pretty elongated and rounded on both ends, and they lack the distinctive concave surfaces of dry-wood termite pellets.
Drywood Termite Swarmers
The most significant sign of a dry wood termite infestation is termites with wings/flying termites. Winged termites are referred to as swarmers or alates. Thousands of swarmers are produced when a termite colony grows to a specific capacity and needs further expansion. The primary purpose of swarmers is to find a new place to nest, mate, and reproduce.
Ideally, alates are sexually mature termites (males and females). Drywood termites prefer to swarm a few days after a rainy shower (usually April through July) when the soil is damp, and it is easy to build nests.
The swarmers are usually dark brown and measure up to 1/2 inch in length. Note that workers, nymphs, and the queen do not swarm. They remain in the wood and cannot be seen unless the wood is broken open.
Once they take flight and a male swarmer spots a desirable female, the two termites break their wings, signifying that they are a couple. The newly paired couple then finds a suitable place to make a nest where they become the king and queen of the newly established colony.
As noted earlier, dry wood termites are challenging to detect. The signs discussed above often appear when the colony is full-blown, or the damage has already been done.
Drywood termite inspection, detection, and identification require experience and are better done by a pest professional. Accurate inspection involves thoroughly searching inside walls and paneling and using ladders.
Drywood Termite Treatment
The dry wood termite treatment method depends on the infestation's level and nature. When the infestation is still small, the best treatment method is spot or localized treatment. However, if the infestation is severe and widespread, structural fumigation is the only effective way to eliminate a dry wood termite infestation.
Note that do-it-yourself treatments are strongly discouraged because it's challenging to investigate and determine the level of a dry wood termite infestation. Additionally, over time, termites have developed a resistance to the commonly used treatments and require highly effective products often unavailable for homeowner use.
If you are still determined to do the treatment yourself, check out our list of the most effective termite treatments.
Drywood Termite Spot Treatment
Sometimes, when the infestation has just begun, dry-wood termites are rarely widespread. If you detect the infestation early enough, you'll deal with a small, localized structural problem. This level of infestation is easy to treat with a localized/spot wood treatment, including dust, liquid, foams, and aerosol formulation.
For the best dry wood termite control results, you'd need to drill holes in the infested wood to inject the treatment directly into the termite galleries and holes.
When spot-treating a localized termite infestation in wood, powerful termiticides formulated for destroying, killing, and mitigating termites, such as Termidor 96 SC and Undertaker 480EC, are recommended.
It's easy to use these products as all you have to do is drill small holes into the infested structures and ensure the hole reaches the termite galleries. Apply the treatment to these areas and seal them with wooden dowels for the best results.
Drywood Termite Structural Fumigation
This treatment method must only be applied by a pest expert and is especially ideal when the infestation is severe. Fumigation uses highly potent gases like sulfuryl fluoride or methyl bromide gas.
The entire building must be secured tightly using fumigation covers before introducing the gas. The idea is that the gas penetrates all wooden structures (infested and uninfested). Once the deadly gas consumes and replaces all the oxygen in the structures, termites absorb it, resulting in near-instant death.
While structural fumigation guarantees 100% termite extermination, it also eliminates other invasive pests and mammals. Considering the potency and risks involved, a trained and certified fumigator should strictly do dry-wood termite structural fumigation in Kenya.
