Termite Nest in Compost Pile

[gumbo2176]

Went out today to turn the compost piles and the new one is loaded with huge earthworms----that is a good thing. However, upon further turning, I found a nest of termites--------not a good thing. The pile does have wood shavings in it from the local horse stables, a bit of woody stalks from some of the plants I've removed from the garden and a few small oak tree twigs from the many bags of leaves I've added.

Later today I'll head back out and remove as many worms and place them in the other piles and set up my seafood boiling pot (80 qt.) to see if that get rid of them. I'm not happy with termites anywhere near my house.

If anyone has a better solution that will not kill off all the beneficial critters, kindly respond. I do have some pesticide for termite treatment, but really don't want to use that in my pile.

[toxcrusadr]

Wow, that's a problem we don't have as bad up here in the Midwest, but I understand there are more termite nests than people in New Orleans. I wish I had some ideas for you, but drowning them or boiling them seems a good idea. You can just pour boiling water on them (not the entire pile if you can avoid it). Seems like if you can knock down the population and get the queen(s), even if you miss a few they will have a hard time repopulating. It will temporarily knock down the other critters but they will come back.

[applestar]

I don't know if this will help completely, but I think frequent turning should help.

Also, I have chickadees, titmice, and downy woodpeckers that nest on or near my property (Yesterday, I saw a tufted titmouse couple inspecting one of the birdhouses). I see them going over the compost piles after I turn them. House wrens are always hopping around the piles but I'm not sure if they are getting any more than the spiders that hang around the piles.

I don't think there are termites, but red bellied woodpeckers and yellow shafted flickers also come around and peck on stumps, logs, and the in-ground ant hills.

Maybe you could attract these birds with year round "dough cake" -- make sure to use squirrel proof caged feeder -- and putting up wren houses.

[gumbo2176]

Wow, that's a problem we don't have as bad up here in the Midwest, but I understand there are more termite nests than people in New Orleans. I wish I had some ideas for you, but drowning them or boiling them seems a good idea. You can just pour boiling water on them (not the entire pile if you can avoid it). Seems like if you can knock down the population and get the queen(s), even if you miss a few they will have a hard time repopulating. It will temporarily knock down the other critters but they will come back.

New Orleans has a HUGE termite problem. Not only do we have sub-terranian termites, we have the dreaded Formosan Termites. In a couple weeks time we will experience our annual "Termite Swarm" and you better not leave many lights on in your house or they will be attracted. It is not unusual to look outside at night and see thousands swarming around the street lights. One of the areas with the biggest problem is the French Quarter and the centuries old buildings. Many of them share common walls and it is not unusual for many buildings on the same block to have an infestation.

[gumbo2176]

I don't know if this will help completely, but I think frequent turning should help.

Also, I have chickadees, titmice, and downy woodpeckers that nest on or near my property (Yesterday, I saw a tufted titmouse couple inspecting one of the birdhouses). I see them going over the compost piles after I turn them. House wrens are always hopping around the piles but I'm not sure if they are getting any more than the spiders that hang around the piles.

I don't think there are termites, but red bellied woodpeckers and yellow shafted flickers also come around and peck on stumps, logs, and the in-ground ant hills.

Maybe you could attract these birds with year round "dough cake" -- make sure to use squirrel proof caged feeder -- and putting up wren houses.

AS, I'm living in a city that is swarming with Pigeons and Sparrows being the main birds. I've only seen one woodpecker at my house in 20 yrs. and have no idea what a yellow shafted flicker even looks like. I will get the occasional Blue Jay, Cardinal and Mocking Bird take to the garden for some nesting material but I've never seen them picking in the compost piles for food.

I did have a red ant problem several weeks ago and frequent turning took care of that issue. I'll give that a try for a week or so to see if that helps before trying the boiling water thing. These are subterranian termites from what I can tell from sites I've checked for ID, so I'm not sure turning the pile will do much good.

[applestar]

Paul Stamets is working on fungal predators for insects. He has experimented with Formosan termites (research at Texas A&M) and already has some patents filed. He calls them mycopesticides and entomopathogenic fungi.

[rot]

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Ants are the natural enemies of termites. They are ancient enemies.

I think the boiling is the best approach. Once it cools off, the bacteria will move back in swiftly enough then the others will return in time and you haven't contaminated anything. I sometimes use boiling water in a teapot to kill weeds. The ground absorbs the heat so quickly that if you're careful you can avoid damaging near by plants and the tap root is dead with a sufficient hole dug around it.

You might consider keeping the ants around next time.
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[cynthia_h]

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Ants are the natural enemies of termites. They are ancient enemies.

...

You might consider keeping the ants around next time.
..

Good to know about ants vs. termites!

But if gumbo was invaded by fire ants, as opposed to the "normal" ants we have in California, I'm impressed that turning the compost got rid of them.

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

[toxcrusadr]

Yep, with fire ants you'd just piss them off.

[Hitched_Gibson]

I just got some free horse manure today(along with wood and broken tools) I think there are terminates in mime too. Ants with wings?

[Hitched_Gibson]

Termites too. Dang autocorrect on my phone.

[toxcrusadr]

Termites are white, and there are flying ants with wings, different critter.

[gumbo2176]

..
Ants are the natural enemies of termites. They are ancient enemies.

...

You might consider keeping the ants around next time.
..

Good to know about ants vs. termites!

But if gumbo was invaded by fire ants, as opposed to the "normal" ants we have in California, I'm impressed that turning the compost got rid of them.

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

I recently had a problem in another pile with fire ants and frequent turning sent them packing. Where they went is anybody's guess. I kind of wish they were still there so I could transfer some of them over to the pile with the termites and let the battle begin.

I did the boiling water thing and many of the termites are gone, but they are still there in much reduced numbers. I'll break out the pot again this weekend.

[applestar]

When I make pasta, I don't add salt to the cooking water and use a strainer scoop to take out the pasta. The boiling hot water gets dumped on the patio to kill the weeds, and if I don't have weeds to kill, the cooled liquid goes in the compost pile.

[toxcrusadr]

Great idea applestar. I have a patio with no concrete between the flagstones and it is a constant battle with the weeds. We get ants under there digging in the sand too, maybe the boiling water would slow them down.

[rot]

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The ants descended from wasps and termites from cockroaches. Who would you rather hang with?

Unfair question. Each have their role.

to sense
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[toxcrusadr]

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The ants descended from wasps and termites from cockroaches. Who would you rather hang with?

Selena Gomez.

Oops, that wasn't one of the choices. Drat.

[swickstrum]

Later today I'll head back out and remove as many worms and place them in the other piles and set up my seafood boiling pot (80 qt.) to see if that get rid of them. I'm not happy with termites anywhere near my house.

Good grief, that's a 20 gallon pot! One gallon is 8lbs., your looking at what? 160 lbs. of boiling water... yowsa! Be careful you don't burn yourself.

[Troppofoodgardener]

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Ants are the natural enemies of termites. They are ancient enemies.

You might consider keeping the ants around next time.
..

Although that may be true, ants bring their own problems too.

I have black ants which farm mealybugs all over my plants, whether they are in garden beds or containers. The mealybugs have destroyed more than their fare share of plants.

And as far as I know, ants have no native predators here in the warmer climates of Australia. Might be different for the U.S. though.

[rot]

And as far as I know, ants have no native predators here in the warmer climates of Australia. Might be different for the U.S. though.

..
Maybe some uncles?
..

[applestar]

Padum-pum!

One year, I saw a Yellow-shafted Flicker for the first time in my garden. It has a sleek appearance, with a distinctive black bib and other markings. It was in the middle of the summer, and it was pecking at the dry ground. I can tell you I rushed to get my binocs and birding book for ID. I was mighty curious because to me, it looked like some kind of a woodpecker and I had no idea what it was doing on the ground.

It turns out that ants are one of flickers favorite foods and this one was digging up and disturbing ant nests. Another summer, I saw one tossing aside leaves and debris from a crevice between rocks bordering the edge of a garden bed, and then gobble up a cutworm.

[swickstrum]

One year, I saw a Yellow-shafted Flicker for the first time in my garden. It has a sleek appearance, with a distinctive black bib and other markings. It was in the middle of the summer, and it was pecking at the dry ground. I can tell you I rushed to get my binocs and birding book for ID. I was mighty curious because to me, it looked like some kind of a woodpecker and I had no idea what it was doing on the ground.

It turns out that ants are one of flickers favorite foods and this one was digging up and disturbing ant nests.

I wish we had those down here in Texas, it looks like they are more of a northern bird. We need some help with these stinking fire ants!

[Troppofoodgardener]

And as far as I know, ants have no native predators here in the warmer climates of Australia. Might be different for the U.S. though.

..
Maybe some uncles?
..

OHohohohhoohoh!

Took me a while to 'translate', as the word "aunt" is actually pronounced more like "aren't" in my part of the world...

But going on applestar's last post, I wish could import some Yellow-shafted Flickers!

[rot]

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Sorry 'bout that. I was afraid the pronunciation was going to bungle things but I couldn't resist. Something perverse compelled me. I know some folks say 'awnt' and I could never get used to that. He's got ants in his pants you know.

I'm looking for one of those flicker things to come eat my aphids.
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[applestar]

Well, I don't know about flickers, but chickadees, titmice, finches, and kinglets eat the aphids on my fruit trees and honey locust tree -- aphids will be on them soon (or already -- there's been some increased chickadee/titmouse activity in those trees).

[gumbo2176]

For a bit of an update. No more evidence of termites in the compost pile. I did the 80 qt. boiling water treatment AFTER I removed as many earthworms as I could dig up. It must have been close to 150 of them because each shovel full turned over a handful.

I dipped the water out of the pot after turning over the pile and poured it a gallon at a time over the offending critters. After that, I kept turning over the pile a couple times a day for a week or so. I doubt I killed the queen since she was likely pretty far underground but it looks like the colony moved. Now, just where they moved to is left to speculation. I can only hope not closer to the house. I HATE termites.

[dirtyfingers]

I use a few drops of liquid dish detergent in spray bottle of water. This mixture actually kills ants almost on contact by coating their bodies and they can't breathe. It actually also kills yellow jacket bees! It may work on termites also if you don't want to use something toxic.