We have received many calls this morning (Monday 6 Dec 2010) informing us that people have woken to discover masses of crawling termites in their homes. This is a natural annual occurrence that happens in South East Qld between November and December. Every mature termite colony will emit thousands upon thousand of “Alates” - winged reproductive termites. When the atmospheric conditions are right - humid, calm and good moonlight, the Altaes take to flight on that one night.

They are not good flyer’s and basically flutter in the breeze. They could be taken kilometers or only a few meters. There are no set rules. Once they land, they immediately shed their wings and start their search for a male or female Alate from another colony. It’s very haphazard and most will died with in hours of landing. But if a male and female meet up they will start to build their nest somewhere near your home. This is why it is important not to have continual moisture in the ground near your house and to have a current chemical treatment.