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Well, a lot of people seem to think termites are gross looking. I think they are pretty cool myself. Especially the Western drywood termites...just look up pictures of them

Funny thing is...its totally legal to transport termites across states (not sure about queens, but that doesn't matter). All you need to do is find someone to find workers and (secondary reproductives) and transport them to you...and its legal. I don't think transporting termite queens is legal though, but secondary reproductives turn into queens and its still legal to transport those. I think workers can turn into secondary reproductives too, I need to brush up on my termite knowledge. Funny because, since termites seem to cause more damage than ants...and its legal to transport them. :P At least as of last year it was legal, I'll need to see if it still is or not...think it is still legal, since they are can be used for a food source for reptiles and stuff.

Its easy enough to find them though, without having to rely on someone else.

And like I said, generally they are really easy to keep. Though, sometimes they all die at once...and haven't figured out why, but my guess is maybe a new piece of wood I put in killed them...since they die easily be chemicals. Or maybe water I used to spray them was bad. They last a long time though, a few months at least, to a few years or more. They may not be as active as ants, but its still really cool to see them dig and stuff.

Depending where you live, you might not be able to get any...unless you find termites flying. In Southern California the Western drywood termite are flying. But for like, Subterranean termites...at least here, they are definitely a Fall/Winter/Early spring insect...once it gets hot and dry, they go deep underground. So I'm waiting to get lucky and get a few Drywood alates, or wait a little while for the rains to hit and get another colony.

My best termite colony which lived a little over 2 years even got baby termites...that was cool. They even started producing soldiers. It took a while to get to that point.

One big difference between termites and ants...termites you have to be a lot more patient. To get baby termites, took me about a year for me to see them, think it takes 6 months at least from a secondary reproductive to a queen. Ants you see workers pretty quick. Though, later on if the colony lasts a while...from egg to nymph, it only takes 2-4 weeks, unlike the 3 weeks+ for ants. So in the long run, termites can produce a lot more workers than ants.

As for starting with just winged alates...I'm not actually sure how that works. I've only been able to get secondary reproductives, sadly haven't found any winged alates. I imagine it takes a while for them to turn into a queen too, but probably a lot more rewarding than taking a bunch of workers and reproductives.

Oh, and an interesting tidbit of information you may or may not know. Termites are older than ants. So, ants evolved after termites. I thought that was interesting.

The thing with termites I have found. For one, it is a lot harder to view them than ants. The only way to view them is looking at the bottom of a tank or on the sides. However, if you keep the nest humid enough...they'll explore and create mud tunnels and what not. They aren't as exciting or easy to watch as ants.

In some ways, they are harder...always need a moist/humid nest, even for the desert variety. If it dries out, they are dead. Can't be dry at all, at any point in time. Also, they readily create alates and a lot of the wood they decide to nest in, will most likely have hundreds and hundreds of alates. This is the biggest problem. If you find a piece of wood with lots of termites in it, it will most likely have alates. More so with the more older pieces of wood. I've gotten big chunks of wood, and ended up with alates flying all around.

In some aspects, they are A LOT easier. Easy to stop escaping, and the chance of subterranean termites (not so with Drywood termites)...of an alate(s) making a nest is slim to none. I keep the termites in my room, and it is very dry and there is no water leaks...if they escaped, they would dry up really quick. Alates and all. If you live in a humid area, however...that might be a problem. However, I don't imagine it is hard to stop alates flying around and out of a container. At the very least, you can put the tank outside and let them do whatever. But, best to do it away from houses/buildings ;P. Because as soon as I got big pieces of wood, right away they started flying. Due to the warmer temperatures they were in, I guess. In any case, if you managed to keep a colony for a few years...they'll bound to make alates eventually.

However...watching a colony develop is rather fun. The mud tunnels look really cool and some termites (like Formosan termites, but those are invasive/non-native)...make awesome looking carton nests. They start off slow (really slow), but termites on average have a longer lifespan than ants...so it makes up for it a bit. It took around a year for me to start seeing nymphs in a wild caught colony...and around 6 months for colonies that started with newly mated alates. And there was only 6-7 nymphs after 6 months. Nymphs don't even count as workers, they are more like larvae. However, long term...they get a lot more termites than a lot of native ants get. So, I imagine the queen(s) start laying a lot more eggs at some point. Also, workers do turn into secondary reproductives...so, if a queen dies, a worker takes her place.

I think because of their destructive nature of houses...most people probably wouldn't want to keep termites. The queens are also rather big fat, alien-like things. Like Jabba the Hut in Star Wars. Just like that.

I personally find them really interesting, and for me it is safe...because for one, it is very dry here and for two, the apartment is made of 90% metal and very little wood.

There is some good things of raising termites. Termites are VERY healthy for a lot of pets (frogs, fish, toads, lizards) and make a GREAT food source for ants. In the wild, they chew up dead wood that could cause bigger fires. They also fertilize the ground they nest in. While not exciting at all and you barely see them...they are still interesting when they chew up wood and create tunnels. Just need a big enough home to fit wood in...if the home is too small, it makes cleaning out eaten wood and junk A LOT harder. I don't like small homes for them at all for that reason. Plus, it makes putting wood inside the home harder, too. If it is too big, then it is a pain to carry and more dangerous than anything if you use a regular aquarium fish tank. From my experience, I actually see them more often in bigger homes than using smaller homes. I've never tried ytong or hydrostone and stuff for them...but I get the impression they could slowly chew through it. But I don't know. They can't chew through concrete (despite the wive's tale that they can). I don't see a ytong style nest working for termites, like they do for ants. For one, if the termites traveled through a tube (that needs to be polycarbonate made, or they would chew through it)...the wood or container the wood is in, needs humidity...or the termites would end up dried up. Then if the wood/container was humid, they would just end up nesting in the wood.

Another thing, their homes need to be good quality...either plastic like polycarbonate (or harder. Plexiglass WON'T work)...or use glass. Termites chew through a lot of material.

I think a REALLY cool termite farm would be using a series of polycarbonate made containers. Connecting them up with polycarbonate tubes, and having a network of containers. My theory is, if the termite colony was big enough...they would create mud tunnel(s) through the tube, and create a trail back and forth. But, to get to this point would take a while...due to how slow termite colonies grow to begin with.