My wife and I purchased a home a little less than a year ago. Around that time the peach tree in the back yard was providing us with the most delicious peaches I'd ever had. Needless to say, I've been very excited these past few weeks watching the tree prepare for this years bounty.

I've decided to be a little bit more proactive about taking care of the tree and have a number of questions and concerns that I'm hoping someone can help me with. The picture attached should do an okay job of illustrating my concerns.

1.) The bark seems to be peeling and curling away from the tree in certain areas. In my limited research, this could be due to any number of reasons including too much sun, or possible insect damage.

2.) I am fairly certain my tree has termites. How on earth do I kill the termites without damaging the tree or making the fruit itself possibly unsafe to eat?

3.) Ants -- dear lord there were a lot of ants. I found a tip online where I use cotton around the tree, then wrap the cotton with flagging tape, then applying a layer of Tanglefoot all around the flagging tape. This seems to have done the job and is reducing the number of ants every day. If I recall correctly, however, aren't ants and termites sworn enemies? Should I have left the ants free passage or are they just ignoring the termites and up to no good elsewhere on the tree?

I guess that's mostly it. I'd like to have the tree pruned in the not too distant future but I'm not sure who to trust to do this correctly and/or when is the best time to do it. THanks for any and all input, folks. =)