Randomly Relinquishing the “Queen”!

We do not welcome termites to come into our house. One reason is that they possess a bad habit (wood-eating) and the second reason is there are too many of them (in colonies) when they come.  Feeding them is an outright big problem!  Humans do not entertain guests who do not behave properly inside our house, so to speak.  In this case, we speak of termites as unwanted ‘royal guests’ that need pest control.

The termites are ‘royal’ in a sense that they have’ a reigning queen. The mature termite queen (with a life span of 25 to 45 years) can produce 20,000 to 30,000 eggs a day.  Can you imagine their population in just a span of one year?  As the queen increases her size and cannot move freely, attendant workers provide assistance. The queen aside from being a ‘reproductive’ is also responsible for colony integration while the termite ‘king’ (unlike male ants that die after mating) can mate with the termite queen for life. If the queen dies, the winged also a reproductive caste, can replace the queen. Undertaking the labors of foraging, food storage, brood and nest maintenance are worker termites, the main caste in the colony for the digestion of cellulose in food found in infested wood while the Soldier caste, the elite class, is principally a defense against predation by ants. As a result of their wood-eating habits, the termites can severely damage unprotected buildings and other wooden structures inside the house, such as the cabinet, tables, wooden chairs and the like. Since “wood” is their main menu, they also go for other ‘side-dishes’ as  carpets, cloth, paper and other cellulosic materials.  Just imagine the ‘wastes’ incurred in welcoming termites into our very own properties as follows:

§  Money -  the large amount of money spent in building the house

§  Time    - the precious long period of time spent in erecting the house

§  Effort   -   the number of people engaged in the building work

§  Property  -  the damaged house, inside and out, and the yard

We should never underestimate the “teeth” of these ‘royal guests’ as they can ruin the whole house in no time once neglected by the homeowner. Likewise, we should never underestimate too, the pest control companies which offer effective methods in dealing with them because as experts in the trade, they are in the best position to eradicate unwanted guests in our whole property.  They survey the whole area first then stage a ‘coup’ to ‘overthrow’ the queen termite from her throne before the appropriate termite treatment is applied to all corners of the infested area.  Thus, knowing the termite treatment cost from them will enable you to provide the much needed protection for your property.  Act quickly to save the wooden structures in your house.   Houses should be treated with dignity because our abode provides our family the shelter we need so we have all the reasons to love, care, and protect it.