Termites can do thousands of dollars' worth of damage if left unchecked for months or years. As a homeowner living in Australia, where termites are abundant, you need to be ever vigilant. With regular termite inspections, you can keep termites from invading and damaging your property.

Yearly termite inspections are a good investment. The best time of year to arrange to have a termite inspection carried out is summertime. This is true for several reasons.

1. Termites are easier to spot during summer

During the cold months of winter, termites often become much less active than usual. Most termites will retreat into their underground nests where there is warmth. They then wait until the warmer months of spring and summer before they leave the nest to feed again.

This is why summer is the ideal time for a termite inspection. The heat and humidity of summertime create the ideal conditions for termites to forage for food. This means they'll build more mud tunnels and travel further than they would in winter. If termites are near your home then, summertime will provide the most clues to their whereabouts.

2. Termites do more damage during summer

Termites do much more damage during the summer months. Termites spend almost all their time eating and transporting wood back to their nest during summer. And if they have already established a satellite colony inside a structure, summer is the time when they will expand that colony. They will then transport food from the satellite colony to the young in their nest.

And once those young termites grow into adults during the summer, they then add to the workforce and leave the nest to do their part. The larger a colony grows, the more termites it will send to wood sources in the vicinity. A timely termite inspection can identify a satellite colony before it grows any further.  

3. Termites can use vegetation as cover during summer

Summer is a great time for termites in terms of cover because the vegetation above ground grows more in summer than in any other season. The increase in vegetation gives termites more cover, which then allows them to move around above ground undetected. Worse, if vegetation such as bushes and trees touches your home, termites will use this to enter your home undercover.

A termite inspector will be able to identify hotspots around the perimeter of your home. They can then advise you on what to do with your vegetation, and exterminate any termites in the area before they become a serious threat.

Summer is the ideal time for a termite inspection. But if you spot a termite infestation in any season, then that is the ideal time to arrange for a termite inspection.

Share