During the next 12 months approximately 365,000 homes will require the services of a fire department. During that same time span, more than 2 million homes will need termite treatment. Unfortunately, there is almost no such thing as termite damage coverage in a homeowner's insurance policy. But there is a way to partially ensure your home's safety: knowing what to look for.

Termites are highly beneficial to our forests. They eat dead trees and convert them to valuable soil nutrients. You, however, don't want your home made into fertilizer.

More often than not, by the time you have seen and identified a termite some damage already has been done. Nonetheless it is helpful to know how to identify one. Being able to do so could reduce substantially the likelihood of long-term damage.

Termites can easily be confused with winged ants; this because both insects are about the same size and the same dark color. Close inspection reveals several differences, however. The flying ant has a narrow waste, a hard body and two pair of wings that are unequal in length. Termites have a more rotund figure, a soft body and their two pair of wings are of equal length. Also, a termite's antennae are straight, whereas those of an ant bend in the middle.

The termite we have described is called a reproductive swarmer and is normally seen flying in groups during mating season. A termite colony includes the queen, the king, soldiers and workers. Workers are small and creamy-white in color. Besides making up the biggest part of the colony population, they do all the damage.

Subterranean termites are the most common variety and can make their way into your home through an opening as small as one thirty-second of an inch. Thus, if they're determined to enter, they will; but you can do things to slow the onslaught.

When the earth and wood parts of a house are in contact with one another, the condition is referred to by those of us in the construction business as a termite rapid-transit system. Earth-to-wood contact is a no-no. Excavate soil away from wood or install sheetmetal barriers flashings between earth and wood to prevent direct contact.

To a termite the presence of wood means dinner is served. Remember: paper, cigarette wrappers, cardboard, ice cream sticks and matches are all wood by-products, and thus, termite dessert.

There are numerous ways to eradicate termites, but the little devils must first be discovered. Being able to recognize the swarmers on sight is one way, and finding their mud tunnels is another. You might never see a swarmer, yet still have an infestation.

Termites hate light, and travel from their subterranean nests to their food source your house via mud tunnels that are about the diameter of a large pencil. A symmetrical strip of mud on the side of your foundation that travels from the earth to the wood above is revealing you have termites.

Every six months or so make your own inspection. Search for mud tunnels in your subarea or basement. Always be on the lookout for flying ants with fat little bellies instead of narrow ones. And as a preventive measure don't forget to ensure that wood and earth are separated from each other everywhere on your property. You also can reduce the chance of attracting termites by raking cellulose debris out of your underfloor area. Why attract termites by leaving food on the ground for them?