{"id":169998,"date":"2026-02-26T11:57:31","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T11:57:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/169998\/"},"modified":"2026-02-26T11:57:31","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T11:57:31","slug":"they-think-its-spring-temperature-swings-spark-premature-termite-activity-in-florida","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/169998\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;They think it&#8217;s Spring&#8221;: Temperature swings spark premature termite activity in Florida"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/06z46jxsm7c5kco7.jpg\" alt=\"Cold temperatures can cause termites to swarm\" class=\"sr-only\" data-v-4292be72=\"\"\/>    <\/p>\n<p data-v-2899190a=\"\">SPRING HILL, Fla. &#8211; Termite swarms are appearing weeks ahead of schedule in Tampa Bay, catching a handful of homeowners off guard.<\/p>\n<p data-v-2899190a=\"\">Plenty of pest control companies say recent temperature swings are fueling the unusual winter activity.<\/p>\n<p original-article-post=\"\" origination_station=\"WTVT\" data-v-ec26887a=\"\" data-v-2899190a=\"\">What we know:<\/p>\n<p data-v-2899190a=\"\">While <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox13news.com\/tag\/environment\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">termites<\/a> typically emerge in the Spring, exterminators have already been busy responding to several calls this week.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/swarmers.jpg\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"auto\" data-v-97c6a84c=\"\"\/>  <\/p>\n<p data-v-2899190a=\"\">Swarms have been reported in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox13news.com\/tag\/us\/fl\/hernando\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Spring Hill<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox13news.com\/tag\/us\/fl\/polk\/lakeland\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Lakeland<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox13news.com\/tag\/us\/fl\/hillsborough\/tampa\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Tampa<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p data-v-2899190a=\"\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox13news.com\/news\/scientists-discover-hybrid-termite-species-florida\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">RELATED: Scientists discover hybrid termite species in Florida<\/a><\/p>\n<p data-v-2899190a=\"\">Edward Henry, a service coordinator with Truly Nolen, says he\u2019s already seen signs of increased activity.<\/p>\n<p data-v-2899190a=\"\">He attributes the early swarms to back-and-forth winter weather that\u2019s been tricking termites.<\/p>\n<p original-article-post=\"\" origination_station=\"WTVT\" data-v-ec26887a=\"\" data-v-2899190a=\"\">What they&#8217;re saying:<\/p>\n<p data-v-2899190a=\"\">&#8220;The humidity and temperature have lined up, so they think it&#8217;s springtime,&#8221; Henry said.<\/p>\n<p> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/spring-hill-swarmers-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"auto\" data-v-97c6a84c=\"\"\/>  <\/p>\n<p data-v-2899190a=\"\">Experts advise homeowners who see swarms to act quickly and schedule an inspection sooner rather than later.<\/p>\n<p data-v-2899190a=\"\">&#8220;Termites cause thousands and thousands of dollars in damage,&#8221; Henry said. Handling it proactively is the much more cost-effective approach.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p original-article-post=\"\" origination_station=\"WTVT\" data-v-ec26887a=\"\" data-v-2899190a=\"\">By the numbers:<\/p>\n<p data-v-2899190a=\"\">According to Orkin, termite damage causes more than $5 billion in property damage nationwide.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-v-2899190a=\"\">That total exceeds the damage caused by fires, tornadoes and earthquakes combined.<\/p>\n<p> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/image.1611772578691-rotated.jpg\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"auto\" data-v-97c6a84c=\"\"\/>  <\/p>\n<p data-v-2899190a=\"\">In many cases, the cost of termite damage is not covered by homeowners\u2019 insurance.<\/p>\n<p data-v-2899190a=\"\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox13news.com\/news\/agriculture-takes-big-hit-after-multiple-winter-freezes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">READ: Florida agriculture takes big hit after multiple winter freezes<\/a><\/p>\n<p data-v-2899190a=\"\">With warmer weather expected, Truly Nolen pest professionals believe swarm season has likely begun.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-v-2899190a=\"\">Which is why they\u2019re urging homeowners to keep a close eye on their properties for signs of termite activity.<\/p>\n<p class=\"group-source-paragraph\" data-v-4fbf7207=\"\">The Source: Information for this story came from statements from Truly Nolen, interviews with a pest control specialist and reporting from previous coverage on FOX 13 News.<\/p>\n<p>    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox13news.com\/tag\/weather\" class=\"tags-tag\" data-v-2899190a=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Weather<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox13news.com\/tag\/environment\" class=\"tags-tag\" data-v-2899190a=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Environment<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SPRING HILL, Fla. &#8211; Termite swarms are appearing weeks ahead of schedule in Tampa Bay, catching a handful&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":169999,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[1563,115,135,137,136,221],"class_list":{"0":"post-169998","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tampa","8":"tag-environment","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-tampa","11":"tag-tampa-headlines","12":"tag-tampa-news","13":"tag-weather"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169998","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=169998"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169998\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/169999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=169998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=169998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=169998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}