THE ATTACK OF THE FLYING TERMITES

One thing you have to get used to in Kenya is bugs.  I have always been able to handle geckos and cockroaches, growing up in Darwin; this is part of our environment.  Kenya has its own set of bugs to get used to and I think I have adapted pretty wee, especially now that I have my garden out the back, I am have to eradicate snails, slugs, worms (not with my hands) when I see them, spiders (I HATE spiders), other bugs I don’t even know what the hell they are, and the most predominate bug that is ‘Kenyan’, is the flying termite.  Being an Aussie, you say the word termite and our bank accounts scream blue murder and they are a big problem in Australia, with our housing as they eat the wooden struts (well anything wooden) and are a big, expensive pest to get rid of.  They don’t seem to be such a big issue here as most of the buildings are made from besser blocks with no struts, just the door frames are wood, so even if you were unlucky to get the type of termites that eat wood, it will not be a great expense to fix.  

So researching a little on the subject of our flying termite friends I found out why these pesky flying critters come out in their millions.  This is no exaggeration, well maybe not millions, but thousands and when I have to get up to close the door, they swarm around your face and dive bomb the doorway as the light attracts them..  Even though it is a pain in the bottom to clean these creatures up the next day, it just goes to show how wonderful nature can be, even with flying termites!!!!.  The first heavy rain usually brings out the large termites, which fly into the dusk and up to any electric light, and unfortunately I have a security light on the wall of my backyard that I don’t have a switch for, so I think I get MORE than my fair share of the bugs as the light attracts them even more.  Within a termite colony there are members of different castes, each with a different role to perform and all interdependent upon each other for the survival of the termite colony. The different castes include the queen, king, the winged reproductive (young kings and queens), soldier and worker termites. Yes, during the warmer months you may see the flying alates (winged re-productives) caste take to the air and swarm in their thousands, in order to meet up with swarmers of other nests in the area so they can establish new termite colonies in the local area.

It is beneficial to understand what swarmer termites are and how they occur. A termite colony begins with a male (king) and a female (queen) termite that mate for life. This can extend to more than 20 years. The queen can produce up to 100 million eggs during her lifetime. Most of these eggs become the workers and soldiers that feed, forage and take care of the colony needs but as the colony matures, some eggs may become re-productives, or winged termites.  Re-productives have only one assignment in a colony and that is to leave, find a mate and reproduce.  After emerging from a wood pile or a stump in the woods, reproductive termites fly off to find and mate with re-productives from other colonies. Only a very small percentage of swarming termites actually survive to initiate new colonies. Many are eaten by other insects, amphibians or birds.  Winged termites are also known as "swarmers" because they come out in large numbers all at one time – usually after rains.  Swarmer termites keep their wings attached only for a short period of time. After around 20 minutes the wings break at their base and are discarded, sometimes in large piles.

Once the rainy season starts here in Kenya, no one is immune to the flying termites and as soon as you see the first one in the house you know you have to hurry to close any doors or windows that maybe open because if you don’t you will literally have hundreds of the flying missiles in your home.  They are attracted to the light, so you need to switch off any lights that you aren’t using and then you just have to wait the 20 minutes or so for them to lose their wings, so they aren’t dive bombing you and then they crawl around on the floor for a non-specified amount of time before they eventually die and then the clean-up can begin.  I am not sure what other people’s homes look like the next day, but from the comments on NES (Nairobi Expat Social) and friends, my backyard isn’t the only one that looks like a massacre, literally thousands of wings everywhere and depending on what time I get out there how many little bodies there are to sweep up as the birds and geckos have a non-stop buffet on the little carcass.  There are always random wings in the house, even after you have swept them all up, as they are as light as feathers and the slightest breeze just carries them around, I even get them under my door days later.

   

I have found that generally in nature there is always a positive to pesky bugs in the world, I call it the USB (the unique selling point) of a bug.  The USB of the flying termite is that here in Kenya they are a delicacy enjoyed by some Kenyan tribes particularly the Luhya of Western Kenya!  Termites are rich in protein. In Western Kenya, they have become an income, a commercial venture, and are now being exported to Nairobi in their various forms. At Gikomba, in Nairobi, you can find even live ones on sale!  The termites are cooked, fried or eaten raw. Just a pinch of salt is sprinkled on the live, raw termites and there you go... when being cooked, they are put onto a huge sufuria and a little water and salt sprinkled over them, and then allowed to boil. When being fried, just a frying pan or sufuria is first put on the fire and allowed to be hot and then the termites are put on it and turned over and over until they are fried.  Sometimes, the termites are dried and preserved. This is done by first boiling them as stated above and then spreading them out on the sun to dry for several days. They are then rubbed slightly and winnowed in the wind to remove the wings. This leaves only the dried termites for storage for future consumption.  Needless to say I am yet to taste these cooked little delights, but I certainly have no shortage of them should I decided to try them.  As nature works there is a certain bird that drums on the soil to lure the termites out. When the termites hear the drumming, they usually think it is the heavy rain so they come out, and are busted by the birds!!!  Pretty smart huh!!!!

So now you know what I am talking about when I complain about ‘attacks of the flying termites’.  During the rainy season they will escape their underground homes around once a week.  It is a mission for the clean-up, but all God’s creatures have a purpose on this planet and I am just thankful that this phenomenon doesn’t happen all year long.