Termites have a caste system.
It is not PC but that’s the way it has been forever.
At the heart of every termite colony are a mass-egg-producing queen and her king.
These eggs hatch into nymphs that moult in order to become larger on their way to eventually become a reproductive, a worker or a soldier.
This subterranean society can thrive for decades.
Who Does What?
Workers do almost everything.
They construct, they maintain, they harvest food and they feed all the others. It’s no wonder they only live for a few years. Soldiers live longer but no wonder — they are there just in case.
Most will never see active service in the defence of the colony but they open their mouths to be fed and the workers have to step around them all the time.
When a colony approaches maturity, meaning it is established with several food sources on the go and sufficient workers and soldiers to maintain their sovereignty, a contingent of nymphs begins to develop into reproductives that grow wings at the last moult.
These will fly out from a high part of their extensive galleries in late spring or early summer to try to set up a new colony somewhere nearby.
The original queen will eventually tire of sex and egg-laying after maybe 20 years and a new queen can be ‘crowned’ to replace her.
Get to the Queen and You Control the Termite Colony
Because termite queens spend their days churning out young termites, it makes sense for us homeowners to find a way to eliminate the queen. Direct destruction is not always possible because the nest can be 50 metres or more away, unseen and underground.
Worker Termites Provide a Path to the Nest
Worker termites know exactly where their nest is and they are the best candidates to get word to the queen that she is unwelcome in your home. Setting multiple TermiteTraps filled with a tasty wood around your home is highly likely to intercept the foraging termites looking for that additional food source. Once workers begin to harvest at the traps, the household safe bait is taken back to the queen and her nymphs — they digest and die.
mary Bailey says
Thank you for your excellent information !