By Brenda Masse
Special Contributor
How’s that for clickbait? But for real, bugs could be eating your house.
It is swarming season for wood-destroying insects (WDIs), and despite how awful that sounds, it’s kind of a good thing. Termites and other WDIs can quietly munch on your home for years before you know they’re there. If you see them swarming, that means the colony has gotten large enough to send out colonizers.
“That doesn’t sound good at all,” you might be thinking, and you’d be right, but we’re all about silver linings. The swarm may be the thing that lets you know you’ve got an infestation, so you can take care of it.
So in honor of swarming season, here’s some interesting stuff about wood-destroying insects.
They like it under your house.
It’s moist and cool there, and there’s lots to eat. Here you can see some termites have been feasting on the beams under the house for quite a while. This homeowner is going to need an exterminator and a foundation repair person.
They like it when you leave them treats.
When a concrete pier is poured they use a cardboard mold to hold the shape. They’re supposed to remove the cardboard after the concrete dries, but this step gets skipped more often than you’d like to think. It’s sort of like offering termites a snack and a direct path to the main feast — your house.
The same goes for these form boards. These are meant to hold the place when sidewalks and driveways are being poured, then should be removed once they’re dry. Another tempting snack and path for termites to your house.
They don’t always come from outside.
Powderpost beetles actually arrive in your house within the wood. Once they were peacefully living in a tree somewhere that got milled and turned into cabinets, and now you have these little buggers leaving little powdery trails through your woodwork.
What is swarming season and what does it mean?
In this video, Michael Bosco of Safehaven Pest Control and Clayton Bailey of Green Scene Home Inspections discuss ways to make your home less attractive to wood-destroying insects, as well as the different types of wood-destroying insects and how to recognize them.
Unsure if you have wood-destroying insects? Opt for a WDI inspection to make sure your home isn’t becoming a meal for the bugs.
