Termites: The Inner Sanctum Page #4

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houses are fumigated from top

to bottom with poison gas.

Climate control in single

buildings in whole cities

has helped termites stray

way beyond their original habitats,

right across America, Australia,

and parts of Europe and Asia.

Getting rid of them is big business.

But not even this is enough

to guarantee success.

In Kenya, Jo and Reinhard

are nearing their goal

of reaching the queen's chamber,

the inner sanctum.

What do you think about this one?

At last, they found a suitable mound

to work with.

It's a little bit damaged

a bit by the rain, but...

Yes.

They've sealed off the entrance.

There is a good shade here.

It's easy enough to remove

the queen's chamber,

but opening it up without

destroying the colony

is a very delicate task.

It must be turned upside down.

Where is the soldier,

have you got his place?

No, it fell down.

I didn't, unless it's in there.

Maybe there it's there...

Jo and Reinhard have been waiting

a long time for this moment,

but they must be very careful.

If the soldiers get nervous,

they might attack the queen.

Very sure.

Well, she should be lying,

she should be lying in

the hole of the roof,

so she should be safe.

I want to look down,

there are big soldiers going already.

They probably will be alright,

it's just sometimes

they desert the colony

and damage the queen.

We can do it this way.

This is the moment of truth.

Three queens, there's a king.

Oh, the king.

Not one queen,

but three.

I've never seen queens before.

There's the other king.

The king, just one centimeter long,

fertilizes the queen all her life,

up to 30 years.

Where do you want to put them?

Now, well, we take the largest

and put in the queen's cell.

Reinhard has brought a laboratory

out to the savanna.

He hopes that a queen, her king,

their workers, and their brood,

will behave naturally in

an artificial chamber.

The tubes linking the

chambers to the nest

are coated with pheromone trails,

to encourage the workers to keep

looking after their queen.

So at least there is

no big soldier inside.

That's most important.

The two remaining queens

and their king are returned to the nest.

Make it as level as you can.

Don't press it too hard,

'cause it's got live termites in.

At least a chance of

finding their way back.

For many years, researchers

have tried similar setups,

gradually refining the technique,

but it's notoriously difficult to film

natural termite behavior

in a queen's chamber.

There goes the king.

Together with the queen.

The cell must be protected

from the heat and light of the sun

as quickly as possible.

Now these we have to select first.

I cover it first with this.

Now, the connecting tubes

are linked to the natural

chamber back in the mound.

It's a tense moment.

If the queen is stressed,

the soldiers and workers

will immediately kill her.

Okay.

Put the stones again, please.

Now there will be a long wait.

Will the queen and her workers

return to their routine,

feeding, egg-laying,

and tending the brood?

Even with all Jo's and

Reinhard's experience,

they still need luck on their side.

The queen and the workers

don't seem to be disturbed.

The workers are still tending to her,

and the queen keeps producing eggs,

hundreds every hour.

All eggs are born equal.

Whether they turn into

workers or soldiers

depends on the food they're given.

Sensitive to disturbance in the savanna,

resistant to shifting in the suburbs,

it pays to pay attention to termites.

So wherever you live,

take a good look at your

home every now and then,

and have a careful listen too.

It might spare you a big surprise.

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