Termite, the Natural Creature for Destroying Wood.

Termite is the natural wood destroyer machine. Termites eat wood and decompose it to become the earth element. The insect is the nature's creation to destroy the wood to let the recycling process of the wood happen. Although there are several types of termites, they actually have very similar characters. Termites live in a colony that is controlled by a queen. There are three types of termites in the colony: the moth, workers, and soldiers. Queen termite is tasked with producing termite eggs that will produce new termites. When the eggs hatch, she becomes the moth (the baby termite). They can grow up to be 3 types of beings: workers, soldiers, and alates. The workers termites are assigned to gather food and build nests for the entire colony. The soldiers are tasked with controlling the workers and maintaining the safety and security of the entire colony. The alates is the termite that come from the fertilized eggs. The alates have wings to fly and go out to find new places, reproduce, and build new colony. Most of the alates are dead in their journey, but the alates that could find the suitable place will build the new colony and become the queen or king of the new colony.

Termites eat wood from the rest of the log, dead tree, fence, and every piece of wood piled on the ground. Actually, the termite activity to eat and destroy the wood is a natural thing to let the process of recycling and regeneration of the wood keep going. The termite decomposes the wood to let it fuse with the soil and be absorbed by the new plant.

Termites become a problem for human life because they damage the wood and wood products that are still used in human life. Wood and wood products in the outdoors that are sitting on the ground, such as logs, planks, fences, and outdoor furniture, are susceptible to termites attacking. Termites are also found in the house, attacking the doors, house frames, timber walls, or floors. Termites are also found attacking wood products such as indoor furniture, paper, plywood, and MDF. The termite is part of nature; then to exterminate them is impossible. What we are supposed to do is control and avoid them to destroying our stuff. 

termite problem in the wood

Here are some things we can do to prevent termite infestations.

•   Choose wood that is resistant to termites for furnishing and framing the house.

In fact, there are some types of wood that are naturally not favored by this insect. For example, the teak wood that is harvested at the right time has oil inside that makes it is not liked by this insect. Some other hardwoods, such as Bengkirai, Kruing, and ulin are also having a high resistance to termites.

• Keep the wood and wood product away from direct contact with the ground.

Termites live in the ground; the colony develops and spreads through the earth. Termites that are out of the ground will build the soil nest by decomposing the wood; otherwise, they will die. Even the most resistant wood is susceptible to termite attack when it is placed outdoors in contact with the ground. Use the base of a stone or cement that cannot be penetrated by termites for the wood poles, fences, doors, frames, or house.

• Keep the termite susceptible wood far away from the house.

Termites will spread from one colony to establish a colony nearby when he find the suitable conditions. The wood that is susceptible to the termite attack would be an ideal place for the growth of the new colony. Get close with the termite colony will increase for the termite attacked. The colony will send moths or alates that have the potential to form a new colony nearby.

• Seal the wood with finishing materials.

Layering the wood with chemicals can be used to prevent termite infestation in wood. Some chemicals, such as oil and teer are not liked by the termites. Modern finishing materials, such as coatings and paint, will also inhibit the termites to penetrating the wood.

• Chemical preservation to the wood.

The wood treatment with the anti-insect chemical is quite expensive and effective to prevent termite infestation. Treatment with anti-insect chemicals will make wood be toxic and not liked by the termites. An integrated chemical treatment in the woodworking process is one of the best ways to produce the wood product resistant to the insect attacked.

• Treatment with the termite killer chemical.

If we find any termites in our home, then the only way is to kill them before they damage and destroy the entire building. We could use termite killer chemicals. There are many companies that offer pest control treatment and termite extermination in the home or building. The combat termite infestation is the only way to stop the termite attack that appears in the house or wood products that we have. However, the process is relatively expensive. The treatment process should be carried out continuously with a repetition every after a certain period (once a year or every 6 months).