Drywood Termite Control |Verified

20%- that's the percentage by which a termite infestation will reduce the value of your home! But that's only if and when the infestation is discovered early and treated effectively read that right. In fact, 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 chomping on wood before termite damages show up. 

Drywood Termite Infestation

Compared to all other termite species, dry wood termites are the worst type that can invade your home! They do not require any soil contact or lots of 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, more so 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__if ever these words were so apt to describe pests, it 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 that consists of 500,000 termites, a drywood termite colony is generally made up of 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 they see swarmers or fecal pellets (frass). Visible frass is perhaps the most distinguishing trait of dry wood termites. Unlike other insect droppings, termite frass has no odor, and it does not pose you or your loved ones with any health risks. 

Drywood termite frass is usually hard with rounded ends, but it tends to have 6 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 quite elongated and rounded on both ends, and they lack the distinctive concave surfaces of dry-wood termite pellets. 

• Drywood Termite Swarmers 

The biggest 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 certain capacity and needs to expand further.  The main 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 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 extremely hard to detect. The signs discussed above often appear when the colony is already 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 activities such as thoroughly searching inside walls, paneling, and using ladders. 

Drywood Termite Treatment 

The method of dry wood termite treatment used depends on the level and nature of the infestation. 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 get rid of a dry wood termite infestation. 

Note that because it's challenging to investigate and determine the level of a dry wood termite infestation, do-it-yourself treatments are strongly discouraged.  Additionally, over time termites have developed a resistance to the commonly used treatments and require highly effective products that are often not available for homeowner use. 

If, however, 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. This means that if you detect the infestation early enough, you'll be dealing with a small and localized structural problem. This level of infestation is pretty 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, Undertaker 480EC, and Gladiator 4TC are recommended. 

It's pretty 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 is done using highly potent gases like sulfuryl fluoride or methyl bromide gas.

The entire building must be secured tightly using fumigation covers before the gas can be introduced. 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, dry-wood termite structural fumigation in Kenya should be strictly done by a trained and certified fumigator.