Never seen so many flying termites

[Ian Robinson]

This evening I notices the back wall had hundreds of termites all over it (attracted by the light going out through the window).

Checked around the house with a bright torch and could not see any mud tracks (my house is about 3 ft of the ground at the front and 4-5 ft off the ground at the back and is very airy inderneigh - I regularly check for this give away since the guy down the back has a tin sheds with recycled wooden frames all the way along the back face (what an eyesour) and his north and south timber boundary fences riddled with termites (I can clearly see the mud tracks from my back patio) , and since both my neighbours whose houses are closer to ground than mine , have had termites in their houses.

The combination or near new moon , and wet weather on way in summer much have gotten them on the move again.

Turned the kitchen light off and wondered down the back to see if I could spot where these wee beastys where coming from, and promptly found myself covered with termites attracted from the general direction of the back neighbour's property. Saw termites on the fly in every direction I shined it.

The street light out the front was covered with them too.

That time of the year folks , keep a close eye on the timber framed buildings .... get termites in the house and it's bad news.

[Ian Robinson]

PS the guy down the back is a very long term Housing Commission Tennant (been there since before I bought my house which had originally been built by the Housing Commission) , and it's pointless telling the Housing Commission of the termite infestation on that property , been there and done that , and nothing happened .

I guess eventually they'll move him out to a new rental and they'll simply board up the house and demolish it , several houses in the neighbouring streets that have been borded up and are now vacant.

[Dog Star (Phil)]

We get that happening out here too Ian.
A bit of wet weather in Summer months seems to be a signal to the little buggers to swarm. They'll do it for a couple of nights in a row and the following morning the ground is covered in their discarded wings.
People here learn very quickly not to construct anything with a timber frame.
Treated timber doesn't seem to slow them down much either. I've seen them eat the guts out of a Chep pallet leaving behind little more than a thin blue shell.

[styleman333]

Hey Ian
I own my own termite inspection buisness ,theres got to be a stump around or tree where the nest is located and from what u say , its pretty close . If you are in a bushland area its expected theres going to be nests around. You are right to check under the house often and u know what to look for , termite leads coming up the piers and over the ant capping . As long as they arent pouring out of a slight gap in the house then u should be fine .Be good if u can locate where the buggers are swarming from though and get it drilled and treated.
Its definetly the time of year you are going to see them swarming, which isnt much to worry about except that theres a nest close by .

[Ian Robinson]

Originally Posted by styleman333

Hey Ian
I own my own termite inspection buisness ,theres got to be a stump around or tree where the nest is located and from what u say , its pretty close . If you are in a bushland area its expected theres going to be nests around. You are right to check under the house often and u know what to look for , termite leads coming up the piers and over the ant capping . As long as they arent pouring out of a slight gap in the house then u should be fine .Be good if u can locate where the buggers are swarming from though and get it drilled and treated.
Its definetly the time of year you are going to see them swarming, which isnt much to worry about except that theres a nest close by .

When I shined my very bright torch around under the house , I couldn't see any of the flyers (was dark otherwize so nothing to attract them), I suspect they are coming from sheds or timber boundary fences on the back neighbour's place from what I saw last night , they were pretty thick in the air no matter what direction I shined the torch in the air.
People next door , not the crazy guy , had their house and garage treated and they have in ground baits , new folks have had that house inspected in the last few weeks and no sign of termite activity there.

The power poles are being slowly replaced here , could also be an infested power poll.

My big gum tree out the front shows no sign of termite infestation.

[mozzie (Peter)]

bloody termites i live in the middle of the bush soon as the humidity is right out of the base of trees they come we are use to them now but they do make a mess trying to pack up scopes in the morning and these bloody things all over it my dog goes crazy there all over her

[Craig.a.c (Craig)]

We had a news report on swarming termites heading our way, along with locusts.