Termite season in Louisiana

Lake Charles, LA (KPLC) - You may have seen swarms of pesky little bugs flying around the area in the past few weeks.

Well, those are termite swarms and sadly, they’re here to stay at least for a few more weeks.

It’s officially termite season in Louisiana.

“Normally it’s around Mothers Day, a little before a little after. This year it’s kinda late, I think it has to do with the weather conditions we’re having,” said Robert Soileau with J&J Exterminating.

These pesky bugs may not be a threat to you- but they can be a threat to your home.

“The termites are on earth to take care of trees and limbs and nature but we’re building houses in their neighborhood so now we’re gonna have to have some sort of food source, and that’s what they need to survive. So they’re looking for wood and moisture, that’s the two things they have to have,” said Soileau.

So- what do homeowners have to look out for to try to keep these termites away from their homes? Soileau said to be aware of moisture problems around your structure.

“You wanna make sure you don’t have wood to ground contact. You wanna make sure you don’t have overflowing gutters, windows not caulked, doors not caulked things like that. So you wanna make sure everything is sealed nice and tight,” said Soileau.

These swarms show up around this time each year, so prepare in advance to keep your home safe.

“But everybody should get their home inspected periodically and most people should have some type of termite protection to keep them away,” said Soileau.

He said they mostly swarm around dusk.

“At least for the next few weeks, the best thing to do is just keep your lights off until right before you go to bed, then turn them back on, that way the swarm will have died down before you go to bed and you’re not attracting them, that’s the biggest thing,” said Soileau.

If you do have termites, Soileau said to call a professional because there could be a swarm inside your walls.

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