termites flying in my house, right after tenting

[TomK]

Unkownjulie - you said you were going to call Veteran. I and perhaps some others would be very interested in their response. Thanks!

[unknownjulie]

They were closed saturday, but it's on the list for today! I'll let everyone know. In the meantime, I bought a buglight, that will zap them if they fly to it. It is in the living room and I plan on running it after sundown from now on.

[unknownjulie]

Veteran came out and said I do not have termites. They say that ants in my walls have pushed out old termite droppings. I do not know how to really tell if there are living termites and this is somewhat plausible. An offer to treat for ants, or something in writing would have been nice, but I have neither. Too busy now to deal with it further.

[steve1]

Ants are narrow wasted because they suck juices for nutrition. Their mouth parts are perpendicular to their body because they suck down.

Termites are thick wasted because they are eating wood pulp and it takes up a lot of space to digest. Their mouth parts are in line with their bodies because they eat tunnels to crawl through.

If you want a definitive answer you might want to take a sample to the Ag Extension lab on Komohana in Hilo. You can probably find directions on the internet.

[unknownjulie]

Hi Steve, what I was saying is that I do indeed have ants and the ants could be in the walls. The ants eat the dead insects after tenting. I am working on erradicating the ants, but that is seperate from termites. The ants are crawling through the tunnels in my walls left by the termites and that is the explanation as to why the "droppings" are appearing still. This house I bought is a major fixxer. It was badly infested by bugs and needed a lot of repairs. That is why it was cheap. It is not the type of thing to cure overnight, but I am making progress, slowly but surely.

[steve1]

If it were me, I would rather get expert advice from some neutral third party than take the word of someone who may be looking to get out of a warranty or drum up some extra business.

[ourdoc]

I have been dealing with Veteran for years and their reputation in the community is far too good for them to be "looking to get out of a warranty or drum up some extra business." In fact to me your post could be considered defamation. Veteran is a licensed company and they ARE experts in identification of termites. It would make zero sense and be criminally stupid for them to even attempt to lie about something so easily verifiable.

[csgray]

ourdoc,
I think the phrase "may be" eliminates any defamation from the conversation.

I have personally experienced companies who have been in business here on the Big Island for years who do things that make zero sense and are criminally stupid when asked to abide by their warranty, so getting a second opinion from someone who has no dog in the fight always makes sense. Good for you if your experience with this particular company has been good, but it is not unheard of for malihini on this island to get less than stellar customer service, and as a woman I know I have had "reputable" companies both here and on the mainland try to scam me because they mistakenly think I don't know any better when it comes to car repairs and construction.

Carol

[ericlp]

Yep, I agree. It's the luck of the draw to have a person (whoever they hired) to come out and actually do their job and provide good service with out an attitude.

Sadly it's becoming harder and harder to find. It's such a hit and miss these days that sometimes it's surprising to find that the best deal is with the cheaper bid. Feeling Lucky?

[steve1]

I think you may be jumping to conclusions, Ourdoc. I was just following a line of reasoning and some things didn't make sense, like ants have piercing-sucking mouth parts so why would they have any interest in dead termites full of wood fiber? I have no idea who unknown J consulted with but I was simply suggesting that asking a neutral third party expert might be more meaningful that asking a salesman.
If you have a pain in your back and ask a chiropractor what might help they will probably recommend a chiropractic adjustment. If you ask a surgeon there is a greater chance they will think surgery might help.
As far as agricultural questions go I would highly recommend going to the Ag. Extension agency because they are educated people backed by university research, and they have no vested interest in telling you anything besides factual information.