the termite saga continues

Well, the county extension agent was less helpful than I had hoped. In fact, of the two of us, he gained more from the conversation since he now has decided not to use wooden pallets to frame his compost pile. He had never heard of such a problem in the area and had no advice to give except to get rid of the wooden pallets.

I did some research and asked over at Rodale's Organic Gardening forum, and the general consensus seems to be that I should a) get rid of the wooden pallets; and b) scatter wildflower seeds around the compost pile. The flowers will attract ants, and the ants will fight the termites to the death since the two species do not get along.

(The termites apparently are in the compost pile only for warmth and/or moisture, since the pile is pretty much finished and contains nothing of interest to them.)

orbital bombardment

I was out turning my compost pile this afternoon when I came across what I am now fairly certain is a colony (new, I believe) of termites living at the bottom of the pile, right next to one of the wooden pallets I use to contain the pile.

And of course, we have a yard surrounded by giant trees and fenced in on all sides, with wooden fences.

I recognize that termites fill an important ecological niche and aid the decomposition of woody material, but this really isn't what I hoped for when I started composting. I've requested advice at two different gardening forums, and I'm hoping someone has an idea I can tap. Given the way termite colonies burrow meters down into the ground, I don't think adding fresh material to the pile so it will heat up again will be enough to get rid of them.

A friend of mine suggests nuking them. Of course, I lack the authority to deploy nuclear weapons, but I figure that if I can reach orbit, all I'd have to do is fire a bowling ball at the site with enough speed, and it should obliterate at least the block I live on.

I'm sure it would be pretty explosive, assuming the bowling ball isn't torn apart by the forces of re-entry. (My understanding is that anything that large is going to remain pretty much intact, though; while it might break apart, the pieces are going to continue on the same trajectory.)

I'm not a rocket scientist, but for purposes of this exercise, I think we can assume that the guidance will be handled from orbit; i.e., a computer would take careful aim and then fire. True, it might not be pinpoint accuracy, but I'm not sure it would need to be. Hitting my back yard -- or even the neighbor's house -- probably would be close enough to eliminate the problem. If the trajectory turns out to be in error, we can always fire another bowling ball.

That's not to downplay the significance of the math involved in this. Obviously, the bowling ball is not going to drop "straight down." As it moves closer to the earth, its velocity relative to the surface of the earth is going to increase; that's something that would have to be considered when the bowling ball is released.

Figure the bowling ball has a mass of 5 kg, Let's suppose I fire it earthward from a distance of 140 kilometers (low orbit) at a velocity of 200 kilometers per second (200,000 meters per second). The gravitational attraction of the earth should be negligible, so it'll release the energy of ...

KE=mv²
KE = 1/2(5 kg)* (200,000 ms^-1)²
KE = 2.5 kg * 40,000,000,000 m²s^-2
KE = 100,000,000,000 joules, assuming my estimates for the mass and velocity hold true.

(That's 1 * 10¹¹ joules, for those concerned with scientific notation.)

I'm not quite sure of how much energy a joule represents in layman's terms, but I think we can assume we're talking about quite a detonation. One hundred billion joules seems like quite a payload.

Of course, if it landed in one of the Great Lakes instead, I think we could expect major ecological impact as well, at least in that area.

I should note for those genuinely interested in termite control, one person said she understands ants and termites don't get along, so if I can plant flowers that attract ants, the ants should help to drive out the termites. I don't know how effective that would be at eliminating the colony, though. I have a call in to the county agricultural agent for advice. If they suggest firing a bowling ball from orbit, though, I'm giving up.

they're termites

Well, I've done a little research online, and I'm fairly certain I have a bona fide termite infestation in my compost pile. What threw me off is that they're a different species of termite from what I dealt with in Haiti.

Help is definitely needed. We have a wooden fence not far from the compost pile, and we were planning to replace it this summer with a new wooden fence. (Not to mention I really wanted to use this compost around the yard, and we have a number of trees, and yes, our yard is surrounded on all sides by wooden fences. Groan ...)

bugs

I always figured when I started a compost pile that I would see a few animals, but I figured they would be earthworms for the most part, with maybe a few grubs and flying insects. (And maybe a basilisk or two. One never knows.)

Today when I was turning my compost pile, I uncovered a colony of six-legged critters with antennae and segmented bodies. I think they're ants, though I don't know enough about insects to say for certain. I would worry that they are termite larvae, but I didn't think termite larvae have legs. Whatever they were, they were colorless, I imagine because of the lack of sunlight at the bottom of a compost pile.

My compost pile contains the usual items: kitchen fruit and vegetable waste, rinsed-off eggshells, the occasional all-natural Christmas wreath, dead garden plants, dryer lint, a few sticks that have fallen there, and leaves. Lots of leaves. No meat, no dairy or anything else that screams, "Pests come here!"

The compost pile is above-ground, framed by wooden pallets, and gets turned at this moment about once every two weeks. Given its current state of decay, I expect the compost to be finished in another six to eight weeks.

Does anyone have any idea what these critters are doing in my compost? Are they a problem? And if they are a problem, what's an effective organic way to get rid of them? (I suppose it's possible they'll simply get cooked as I continue to stir, but the pile's hottest days should be over.)