About five years ago, I had a tree service top off a couple Cypress trees next to my house. The cut tops of the trunks are about 5″ – 6″ in diameter and about 25 ft. up. Just recently I noticed that the huge clouds of flying termites I thought were from the place next door are actually coming out of the top of one of my trees. The trees are about 18″ from the building, so this is a real problem for the house.
So, I’m wondering what to do about it. Can I just play the salami game with the top of the tree, cutting it shorter until I run out of termite galleries, then cap it somehow so they can’t get in again? Or do I have to cut both of them down?
I’m going to ask Bob Smalser to have a look at this thread.
— J.S.
Replies
I am guessing as too what KIND of termites? Subterrainean? I'd try to dump some legal termitacide down the heart wood tunnel.
You may be best off dropping the trees, if that don't do it.
are you sure they are termites? ants go thru a winged stage aswell...just as bad. Any frass (chewed wood) nearby? termites consume the wood, ie no frass, ants just chew it..leaving frass.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.
John's in California - someplace near L.A.
He mentioned "clouds of flying ..." That means the drywood versions - not subter's or formosa's. As was told to me: A drywood colony will eat one pound of wood a year, the subterranan type, one pond per day. The formosa's are worse.
I'd hack the trees down and realize that's the result of improper tree trimming. As well as have your place inspected.
John, some of those south O.C. cities are getting nasty about topping of trees instead of proper pruning methods. I lost a nice California Sycamore due to an aborted topping attempt. It got a bark beetle that the arborist said was directly because of the topping.
Formosans do fly in clouds -- believe me, I've seen them swarming in New Orleans. It's very strange to get termites in cypress, don't you think? My guess is ants but John needs to find out fur sure.
Billy
Yes, these are definitely drywood termites in LA. They're in the top of the tree. I had the house inspected about 4 months ago, and it was still OK. It had been tented three years ago. Squishing eylites all day while you're framing is kinda depressing. ;-)
Thanks, Art, for the Aborist site, I'll give it a try.
-- J.S.
John, probably a typo, but ya got my curiosity up..whats this?
Your search - eylites - did not match any documents. No pages were found containing "eylites".Suggestions:
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Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.
Ah, I need to find the right spelling for the name of the flying drywood termites, the ones that go to mate and start new colonies.
-- J.S.
John,
The primary reproductives are the king and queen, the secondary reproductives are alates.
I think your termite is Paraneatermes simplicicornis.
There are some online keys if you have some termites in hand.
KK
Where do you live?
If they are flying termites (formosa) and are that close to the house, I'd recommend a good termite inspector ASAP -- the trees might be the least of your worries.
Sojourners: Christians for Justice and Peace
John, go take a look and post query at ArboristSite.com
#1 you will get an earfull about how bad topping is,
#2 you will likely get some good advice, surprising how much treelore some of the guys there know.
tree topping=tree death
some trees are worse than others but pretty much destroys forever.