Inside a termite nest at Chapel Hill

September 20, 2017

During a recent termite inspection at Chapel Hill Andy and Taylor found a nest full of (Coptotermes sp.) termites at the rear of the property. The initial reason Conquer Termites’ were called out was that extensive damage was found in the pool deck. The customer requested a full termite inspection so we could search and locate where the activity was coming from. During the search Andy and Taylor located a large gum tree with a nest at its base.

Termite damage under deck

Once they drilled into the termite mound they used the borescope to inspect the internal structure and found it crawling with live termites. The termites, scared, immediately began knocking their heads to create what is known as the alert signal, warning their fellow nest dwellers that there was an intruder and that they need to fight or flee. The techs used their camera to film what the borescope was picking up, see the video below:

It is quite common for our technicians to find activity in the back yard of the houses we inspect, but often the nest isn’t quite as accessible as it was today. At times they are simply situated too high to get access to use both a camera and a borescope (for safety reasons).

Termite lead under deck