Are Termites Active in the Winter?

What termites do in the winter

The termites that cause nearly all the damage in North Jersey are eastern subterranean termites. They live in large underground colonies and travel to wood through soil and mud tubes. Unlike some insects, they don't have a dormant stage for the cold months.

When the ground cools down, the colony responds in a few ways:

• They go deeper. Workers move down below the frost line, where the soil stays above freezing, and the colony keeps going there.
• They slow down. In cold soil, termites eat less and the colony grows more slowly. Feeding on outdoor wood like stumps, fence posts and firewood drops off.
• They stay where it's warm. Any part of the colony that's already feeding on wood next to a heated foundation, slab or basement can keep working at close to its normal pace.

So the honest answer is: termites are less active outside in January, but "less active" isn't "inactive," and the colony is still there in spring.

Termite activity season by season in New Jersey

Timing shifts a little every year with the weather. The point is that there's no month when you can count on termites stopping on their own.

Can termites swarm in the winter?

Outdoors, no. Termite swarms in New Jersey happen mostly in spring on warm days, often after rain. But indoors, a colony that's inside a heated house can swarm in late winter, sometimes as early as February, because the colony is warm enough to think it's spring.

If you see small dark winged insects in the house in winter, or find little piles of wings on window sills or near a basement light, treat it as a serious sign. A winter swarm almost always means the colony has been in your structure for a while.

Winged ants can swarm indoors in winter too, and they're easy to confuse with termites. Compare them on flying ants vs. termite swarmers, or read flying ants coming out of the vents.

Can termites be treated in the winter?

In most cases, yes. Termite inspections can be done any time of year, and in our experience winter is a good time to get one: it's easier to schedule, and you're not waiting until the spring rush when swarms are everywhere.

Whether treatment happens right away depends on the house and the weather. A licensed technician looks at where the termites are, the type of foundation, and whether the soil around the house can be worked. Some treatment work, like treating soil along the foundation, depends on the ground not being frozen. Other work can be done inside. We'll tell you honestly what makes sense now and what's better done when the ground thaws.

Here's how a visit from Silver Bullet Pest Control works:

• Inspection of the foundation, basement or crawl space, sill plates, slab joints and any wood in contact with soil.
• A treatment plan that fits your house, with the method explained in plain language. Comparing options? See Sentricon vs. liquid treatment.
• Repair. After treatment, we repair termite-damaged sill plates, joists, beams and framing ourselves. Details on our termite damage repair page.

We're based in Garfield and serve Bergen, Passaic, Essex and Hudson counties. Quotes are free. Start with a termite inspection.