Alan Gabriel wrote:
wrote in message
oups.com...
Can someone please tell me how to get sub-terranean termites out of my
veggie bed... they desimate my turnips, broccoli, cabbage and
brussels!! If I move the plants.. they follow!
How, oh HOW, do I get rid of my unwanted garden guests????!
TIA very much!

Get some racoons.

"Coons? When raccoons try to get on our back porch, Momma just chase 'em
off with a broom."

Incidentally, although many dictionaries indicate that the common name
for “Procyon lotor“ may be spelled either “racoon” or “raccoon”, the
most commonly accepted spelling is “raccoon”; as per the official
classification of the species. The word raccoon is derived from the
Algonquin North American Indian word "aroughcoune", which means "he who
scratches with his hands". The great unwashed Pioneers could have
benefited from the linguistic insight provided by the likes of Samuel
Johnson, but unfortunately had to make do with Noah Webster, which
accounts for why Americans can’t spell. Not that the common Brit is much
better, but at least we have the authoritative reference in the form of
the Oxford English Dictionary. However, since being invaded by a Yank
(Jesse Sheidlower), the integrity of even *that* great reference work
must be called into question.

Seriously though, I can't resist the Netcop tendency to correct the
spelling of "sub-terranean" (subterranean) and "desimate" (decimate), or
my urge to immediately Google for "subterranean termite", otherwise
known as the Dictyoptera Isoptera Rhinotermitidae family, to use the
taxonomic classification:

http://tolweb.org/tree?group=Rhinote...group=Isoptera

Further research turned up a little beastie called Coptotermes
formosanus (Shiraki), or to give it the full classification; Eukaryotes
Metazoa Bilateria Arthropoda Hexapoda Insecta Pterygota Neoptera
Dictyoptera Isoptera Rhinotermitidae Coptotermes formosanus (Shiraki).

http://www.extento.hawaii.edu/kbase/...l/formterm.htm

As you can see from the Tolweb link, there are several species, but
dealing with any one of them should require similar tactics:

http://insects.tamu.edu/extension/bulletins/b-6080.html

Apparently termites (Isoptera) are in same group (Dictyoptera) as
cockroaches (Blattaria), which we *do* get in the UK. All I can tell you
about cockroaches is, never squish 'em, 'cos you'll just help to
distribute their eggs.

Ain’t entomology fun, ‘n shit?

I would imagine there is a chemical treatment for termites similar to
the Vine Weevil (Otiorhynchus sulcatus) killer Armillatox®, but never
having been any further west than Oban, I really wouldn't know.

-
[H]omer