Since spring is knocking at the door, this article highlights one of the most common problems in almost every household during this season and one of the most common questions on how to get rid of flying termites naturally? Termites thrive in damp environments, like the cold corners of your house. It is your responsibility to keep your house clean of flying termite infestation.
Are flying termites nesting in your house? Apart from wooden furniture, books as well as clothes can be destroyed by flying termite infestation. You should know that no common insecticide can completely eradicate flying termites. Therefore, it is important to take some drastic measures persistently to prevent flying termite infestations at home. If your house has already been infected by flying termites, then do not worry! We have some excellent natural remedies to get rid of flying termites.
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How to Detect if You Have a Flying Termite Infestation at Your Home?
Here are a few early detections of a flying termite infestation in your home. The faster it is detectable, the easier it is curable.
1. Termite poop
As irrelevant as it sounds, this is a great way to detect flying termite infestations in a house. Flying termites eat up wood or cardboard and then they expel their waste products through tiny holes in the woods or cardboard they infect. The termite droppings are usually detectable as brown and grainy droppings.
2. Clamor inside walls or woods
Place your ears close to the walls of your house and listen carefully. If you can hear soft cluttering noises coming from the walls or wooden furniture, it means that it has been already infested with flying termites.
3. Cracks on the walls of your room
Look thoroughly at the walls. If you could see long columns of cracks, it means that your house may have been infested with termites. Termites eat the cellulose present in the timber inside the walls, which causes the walls to crack.
4. The hollow sound coming from walls or wooden furniture
Take your index finger and middle finger and knock at the walls of the rooms or the wooden furniture. Flying termites eat up wood and timber from the inside, sometimes just leaving the coat of paint or primer on the wall. If you tap or knock on the wall and receive a hollow sound it means that the flying termites have already eaten the walls inside out.
5. Discarded wings on the floor
This is a strange phenomenon that can occur if the house has been infested with termites. This is because flying termites can discard their wings. So, whenever you find discarded wings on the floor of your rooms, or even on the door or window sills, it is the work of the flying termites.
How To Get Rid of Flying Termites Naturally!
Now that you have a clear idea about so many things about flying termites, let us check out how to get rid of flying termites naturally below:
1. Natural Oils
Natural oils such as neem, orange, and clove act as excellent insect repellents. The acrid smell of neem oil serves as a great insecticide for flying termites. Not only that, neem oils can help prevent the formation of other infestations too! Neem oils are helpful in the removal of mosquitoes. In short, neem oils are a natural pesticide. On the brighter side, neem oils do not have any harmful side effects like those chemical insecticides or pesticides have. You can easily apply neem oils by spraying them on the dark, damp places of your house (as flying termites mostly reside there).
Orange oil contains a chemical known as d-limonene, which is found in most of the citrus fruits. d-limonene is a natural killing agent for flying termites. Also, orange oil can make your damp rooms smell fresh and fruity. It is very simple to use orange oil. All you must do is, take some drops of orange oil and add some water to it. Now, using a spraying bottle, spray this oil in your house to stop the infestation of flying termites most naturally.
Clove oil is as effective as neem and orange oils. Just add some drops of clove oil into a spraying bottle and mix it with water- you are all prepared to kill those flying termite infestations in your house.
2. Boric Acid
Boric acid, being a powerful toxin, can act as a great insecticide for flying termites. The working principle is very simple. Spread the boric acid powder on the infested ceilings or infested wooden furniture. When the flying termites sit on the wood to eat it, their tiny legs will get stuck to the boric acid powder. Little by little, the chemical will eat up the exoskeleton of the termites, and kill it. It is said that boric acid is nearly lethal to flying termites.
Also, instead of spreading the boric acid powder on your wooden furniture, you can make a spray out of it. All you must do is, add two or three tablespoonfuls of boric acid powder with some water and make a dilute solution. Put the solution in a spraying bottle and you are ready with your lethal weapon to kill flying termites.
3. White Vinegar
It is a very common household product that can be found in almost every Indian kitchen. Just mix white vinegar with some water. Now squeeze half a lemon and jinx it up with vinegar water. Spray it on the infested areas in your house. It is one of the most common natural methods to get rid of flying termites. It is not as effective as natural oils, but spraying it consistently will show results.
4. Rubber Mulch
It may be unknown to you, but flying termites can cause garden damage too. First, your wooden fences may get affected by the flying termites and turn brittle. Flying termites may also destroy your planted shrubs and trees. If you plant rubber mulch in your garden, the termites may think of them as wood and may try to eat them too! When they find out they are unsuccessful in chewing the wood, it will discourage them from eating other shrubs and trees.
5. Sunlight
High temperatures can kill flying termites almost instantly. All you need to do is take your infested furniture outside in the sun and let it stay there for five to six hours. The high heat will finish off the termites at once.
7. Diatomaceous Earth
It is said that the diatomaceous earth has the magical ability to finish off flying termites. Not only that, diatomaceous earth can also be fatal to ants, cockroaches, and caterpillars. It can be used naturally in your house because it is a non-toxic agent, therefore making it safe to use. It is very simple to use diatomaceous earth at home. Take some diatomaceous earth and sprinkle it in the areas affected by termite infestations. The diatomaceous earth will dehydrate the termites dehydrated and kill them.
Effects of Termite Infestations at Home
- If flying termites get hold of papers, books, and wooden things, then it is going to be a disaster! The termites are going to eat them and destroy them.
- It can cause serious consequential damage to your home’s furnishing and ceilings.
- If by mistake, you touch the place where the flying termites have been infested, it can cause skin irritations and itching. In extreme cases, it can cause rashes as well as allergic reactions! Acute dermatitis can be caused by encountering termite infestation.
- Termite infestation can also cause difficulty in breathing, developing into problems like asthma.
- If your house is highly infested with termites, it can cause problems like nausea and vomiting.
- Flying termites degrade the quality of your trees and shrubs by destroying their wood and branches.
- Termites are commonly found when cleaning hoarder homes if you hoard unused firewood or furniture
Thus, we can conclude that flying termites residing in your house is not good at all. It affects your health as well as your house. Similarly in some cultures, flying termites are labeled as a sign of bad luck! So, if you use a lot of wooden items of furniture or if your ceilings and floors are made up of wood, be careful and check the pieces of furniture regularly.
Conclusive Insights
I hope these natural methods are useful in getting rid of flying termites. If these methods are used regularly, in a few months your house will be free of flying termites. If you do not get the expected results, then you can contact the nearest pest control. Otherwise, these flying termites will continue to damage your home. This furniture or flooring must have cost you a fortune when it was made. Similarly, if you do not remove the termites from it, and let them destroy it, you ought to spend more bucks and time to renovate the damaged goods. Sometimes it is not even repairable.
We hope you liked our blog and found the information helpful. Finally don’t forget to chip in and let us know in the comment section below about the tips on how to get rid of flying termites naturally!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What do termites need to survive?
Termites need moisture to survive. They cannot survive in the atmosphere of extreme heat or cold.
What does a termite eat?
A termite can survive on wood or timber which contains cellulose
Is salt and water effective in removing termites?
It is partially effective, but if your home is infested with large swarms of flying termites, call the pest control.
