IIn 1994, the owners of two 1920’s timber frame bungalows in Saunton, Devon discovered what appeared to be white ants crawling around their properties. It turned out they were termites — millions of them that thrived in the temperate Southwest climate and well-drained soil. Four years later, when the Building Research Establishment (BRE), a government-funded laboratory dedicated to eradicating the pests, began its work, termites were seen wriggling in flower beds. For fear of spreading the infestation, neither earth nor wood was allowed to leave the site. The owners had feared that their houses would have to be demolished; now they risked being stuck with them indefinitely.
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One of the benefits of an island is that it helps keep pests away. But as globalization moves people and goods around the world, the likelihood of an unwelcome arrival increases. The BRE traced termites from Devon to southwest France. Cases of wine were the likely courier, says BRE’s Ed Suttie, who has led the eradication program since 2003.
Sometimes the only acceptable thing about non-native pests is that they become endemic. But termites are extremely destructive, causing major damage in North America, Australia and the warmer parts of continental Europe. Advice of desperation was unacceptable. And so the BRE worked with government departments to design an eradication program. The first attempt in 1998 failed because the bait was not tempting enough. Another the following year, using old, untreated Scots pine to lure the termites out of their nest, was more successful. After nibbling on the wood laced with a chemical that stopped termites from maturing, they carried home both the wood and the chemical.
But in 2009, just as the BRE was about to announce that it had eradicated termites, it spotted signs that they were back on the woods. It wasn’t until 2021, when ten years had passed with no evidence of her presence, that she was able to announce victory. Restrictions on bungalow renovations were lifted late last year.
The exterminators were lucky in more ways than one. Cooler weather than termites were used to meant they hibernated longer and reproduced more slowly. (Mr. Suttie believes they arrived decades before they were discovered.) European termite species are certainly less destructive than those found in North America or Australia. And the Devonian colony never got to the point where they attempted to start a new one – a developmental stage when many insects grow wings and take flight. If that had happened, the infestation would have been impossible to contain.
Britain is likely to be visited by termites again. Most of the country is too cold and humid for them to thrive – but as the colony of Devon shows, not all. And so BRE is teaching surveyors, architects and timber workers how to spot the signs before termites can take hold. It’s better to get rid of uninvited guests right away than having to spend decades cleaning them out again. ■
