TERMITES ARE SWARMING IN KANSAS CITY
Termites in Kansas City swarm in early spring and continue until May. Sometimes longer, but mainly, the swarms stop around May. People have been calling our company wondering what these long-winged insects are. They also want to know what to do about them. So when your home starts to have termites swarming from the front stoop area, around the back door, or wherever else you may see them swarm from your home, the best thing you can do is contact a professional pest management company.
Board Certified Entomologist
As a Board-Certified Entomologist, I recommend hiring a professional trained specifically in Termites. They will be able to assess your home situation, determine if there is damage, and advise accordingly. There may be damage that is not present in a routine inspection but may still exist behind the walls.
Questions about Termites and Treatments
Q. What type of treatments are there for Termites in Kansas City?
A. You can put Sentricon Always Active bait around your home. This station is generally placed every 10 feet apart. It has the bait in every station and is a greener approach to traditional liquid treatment.
You also have the option to apply a liquid treatment around the perimeter of your home. A trench is dug around your home, and termiticide is injected into the trench at a depth of between one and four feet, depending on where the home’s footer is and what type of termiticide is used. Some labels vary. Any concrete around the home must be drilled and treated with the liquid.
Q. How can I help keep termites away from my home?
- Don’t stack wood around the foundation of your home, up against the house or in the garage.
- Fix any and all leaks or moisture conditions around your home.
- Have a a termite inspection performed by a professional pest management professional each year.
- Replace wood landscaping timbers to non cellulose materials around your home.
- Be on a Termite program that takes care of the problem before it starts.
- Have a treatment performed on your home.
Q. Do termites go dormant in Kansas City during the winter?
A. No. Termites are nice and toasty under the foundation of your home or on the front stoop, keeping protected from the elements that the winter brings. It may be cold outside, but we had done inspections in the dead of winter and found active termite mud tunnels coming from the ground and going into the home outside, even when snow was on the ground.
Q. Can I pour some pesticide on the termites I see to kill them, and will that solve my problem?
A. You can try whatever you want, but that will not solve the problem. Termites are subterranean, which means they live underground. In some cases, hundreds of feet in the ground. You would not be able to get enough product in the soil to kill all the termites. You would only kill the ones you see. What about the other 250,000 that you don’t see? Termites are better left to the professionals.
Damage cost from Termites in Kansas City
Termites cause 5 billion dollars in damage to homes in the US each year. They cause more harm than all the combined floods, fires, earthquakes, and tornados. They are very destructive insects to your home. Termites are still beneficial as they break down wood and turn it back into the soil.
Author: J. Preece
Jeffery Preece BCE,PHE
Jeffery Preece is the owner and technical director of ZipZap Termite & Pest Control.
