How Do I Know If My Stump Is Attracting Termites?
If you live in Wesley Chapel and you’ve got a stump sitting in your yard, there’s a good chance something is already living in it. Florida has one of the worst termite problems in the entire country and Pasco County is no exception. Termite swarm season runs from roughly March through May, which means right now is the time of year when termite colonies are at their most active, splitting off and sending swarmers out to find new places to set up. A tree stump in your yard is one of the most attractive targets in your entire neighborhood.
Here is how to tell if your stump is already hosting a termite problem and what to do about it.
What Termites Are Looking For
Termites eat cellulose, which is the organic material that makes up wood. A tree stump is essentially a giant block of cellulose sitting in the ground with direct soil contact on every side. Subterranean termites, which are the most destructive species in Wesley Chapel and the rest of Florida, live in the soil and travel up into wood to feed. A stump gives them exactly what they need. It is wood, it is in contact with the soil, and it is not going anywhere.
During swarm season reproductive termites called swarmers leave existing colonies and fly out to find new locations to start new colonies. They are attracted to moisture and wood. A stump that has been sitting in your Wesley Chapel yard for a year or more has absorbed moisture, started to soften, and become even more attractive to swarmers looking for a place to land.
Signs Your Stump Has Termites
The problem with termites is that they work from the inside out. By the time you see obvious damage the colony is already well established. That said there are things to look for.
Mud tubes are the clearest sign. Subterranean termites build pencil-width tubes out of soil and wood particles to travel between the ground and their food source. If you see these tubes running up the side of your stump or along any surface roots connected to it, termites are actively feeding on it.
Hollow sounding wood is another sign. Knock on the stump with your knuckle. If it sounds hollow rather than solid, termites or other wood-destroying insects have been eating it from the inside.
Swarmers themselves are a sign. If you see small winged insects emerging from around the base of your stump in the spring, those are almost certainly termite swarmers leaving a colony that has been established in or near the stump. Finding swarmer wings on the ground around the stump is just as telling as seeing the swarmers themselves.
Frass is another indicator. Some termite species push their droppings out of their tunnels and you will find small piles of what looks like sawdust or coffee grounds around the base of an infested stump.
Why a Stump With Termites Is a Problem for Your House
A termite colony in your stump is not contained to your stump. Subterranean termites build extensive tunnel networks through the soil and they will travel twenty to thirty feet from their colony to find food. If your stump is within that range of your house, and in most Wesley Chapel yards it is, the colony in the stump will eventually find its way to your home’s wood framing, subfloor, or any other wood it can access.
This is not a hypothetical. It happens regularly throughout Pasco County. A stump gets left behind after a tree removal, termites move in within a season or two, and a few years later the homeowner is dealing with termite damage inside the house that traces back to that stump. Termite treatment and repair is expensive. Stump grinding is not.
What About Carpenter Ants and Other Wood Destroying Insects
Termites are not the only problem. Carpenter ants are extremely common in Wesley Chapel and they also nest in stumps. Unlike termites, carpenter ants do not eat the wood, they tunnel through it to build their nests. The damage they cause is similar though and they will move from a stump into the wood framing of your house given the opportunity.
Carpenter bees bore into stumps and any exposed wood nearby. Roaches nest in the dark moist space under and around a decaying stump. Grub worms pack into the soil around the base. A stump that has been sitting in your yard for more than a season is not just a stump anymore. It is a habitat.
The Only Real Fix
Spraying a stump for termites treats the symptom, not the problem. As long as the stump is in the ground there is food and shelter for whatever moves in next. The only way to eliminate the problem completely is to remove the food source, which means grinding the stump.
When we grind a stump in Wesley Chapel we grind it down below the soil line and grind the surface roots as well. The wood that was feeding the colony is gone. The mulch that gets left behind is not attractive to termites the way a solid stump is because it dries out quickly and does not provide the dark moist environment termites need. The colony loses its food source and has to move on.
If you have got a stump in your Wesley Chapel yard and you are seeing any of the signs above, do not wait on it. Swarm season is when termite problems go from bad to worse fast. Getting the stump ground now eliminates the problem before it becomes a termite treatment bill on top of a stump grinding bill.
For more on what that stump is doing to your property while it sits there, read why stumps don’t rot away on their own and what stump grinding costs in Wesley Chapel.
Stump Grinding Wesley Chapel serves all of Pasco County. Call us for a free estimate and we will come out, assess the stump, and get it out of the ground before it does any more damage.