Subterranean termites may be small, but they are capable of a terrible amount of home damage. You may have subterranean termites if they come from underground, track dirt, eat in the direction of the wood grains, and favor soft, rotting wood. They are found most often in the south, especially along the California coast and throughout the southeast. Physically, these termites are easily mistaken for drywood termites, but many of the treatment practices are the same. Subterranean Termites swarm every March/April. If you are seeing flying black bugs that look like fat ants, chances are you have subterranean termites. Subterranean Termite Treatment Options:

Subterranean Termite Mud Tubes coming out of a wall

1. Poisonous Bait
A trap uniquely designed for subterranean termites, this baiting system is designed for harvesting termites to bring home poisonous bait instead of wood from the structure of the house. A colony of termites can essentially be trained to use the poisonous bait as their primary source of food and ignore the wood above. Traps are buried around the foundation of the home and bait inserted whenever termites appear. The advantage of these traps is they mean less exposure to chemicals for the residents of your house. The downside is these traps must be investigated once a month and maintained constantly in order for their effect to work.

2. Fumigation
When things get bad, many people turn to tenting their house. This means moving out of the house for three days, taking the pets and the plants along. Though fumigation is highly effective, it is not a permanent solution. It does a thorough job of killing the termites present in the house, but does nothing to prevent a future colony from moving in. Clearly this is not the final solution. This particular treatment is only good for Drywood Termites and not for subterranean termites and doesn’t apply.

3. Treebark Final
Of course, it’s only natural to save the best for last. This all-in-one termite treatment kills the both types of termites and keeps them away. There is no need to take the pets, children, and plants out of the house for the treatment, either. An annual inspection is enough to make sure everything is working like it should, and this inspection is part of the package. Treebark Final is simply good at what it does.

Everyone has their favorite forms of pest control, but there is only one in this list that is efficient, environmentally friendly, and effective. Sometimes it just makes sense to pick favorites.