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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
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    Northern Brisbania...
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    791

    Default Over-The-Counter Termite Baits - is there such a thing?

    Dear Folks,

    Found some of the relentless little white-wood-munchers behind a "track" heading up between a concrete stump and a lattice-panel underneath my brother's house over the back fence yesterday. We were in fact looking for them at the other end of the house where there is another track that we first saw a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately, we also located several tracks at different locations in between. The track that we found them in was the only one that we could chip away at enough to see if they were inside (and alas they were...), so theoretically they might well be inside some of the other tracks also. Anyway, the antcaps seem to be holding them down for now...

    We had bought a 1L bottle of Pigeon's 500 (about $35 from a Produce Store, makes up about 50L, and probably as good a barrier-style treatment as a DIY'er can lay his hands on) on the naive assumption that we were just going to find them in the one place where we saw the first track. However, now that we've found several more tracks (and some "live" specimens), a series of baiting stations seems to be the better solution.

    For the stations, we were just going to cut up some PVC pipe into lengths of about a foot, drill some holes through the side, and stick them in the ground around the house with some pine inside, and a plumbing-style cap on top to keep the light out.

    Only thing is, once we find them munching on the pine inside, we will need some poisonous "baits" to replace the timber with in that particular tube. Does anyone know whether you can buy the baits over the counter from anyone in the Brisbane area (preferably northside)? I had a look at the Globe Australia website last night, but it only seemed to deal with the stations - not the baits...

    Thanks Awfully,
    Batpig.

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  3. #2
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Mapleton, QLD
    Age
    69
    Posts
    318

    Default

    Don't know if this is any use to you.

    http://www.envirobug.com.au/index.html
    Traba non folis arborem aestima

  4. #3
    Join Date
    Aug 2004
    Location
    Perth WA
    Posts
    2,035

    Default

    I'd be very sus about any over the counter treatments.

    Checkout their chemical composition and do some research on that to see if it will do the job.

    What is required is a product that will destroy the colony from within ie ants that eat the stuff die inturn the dead ant is eaten by another and so on. You don't want a product that just deters the little buggers for awhile.

    Back in the 70's I worked for the Conservation Commission of the Northern Territory. The Tech'os would come into the workshop requesting fine sawdust to mix with some chemical (can't remember the name) to make baits to do what I said above... destroy the colony from within.

  5. #4
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Gold Coast
    Age
    70
    Posts
    2,730

    Default

    I looked at doing this a few years ago and couldn't find anyone that would supply arsenic powder. I recently saw a reference to a new dust that is apparently not a controlled substance "Bayer Intrigue" but I don't know where to obtain it.

  6. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Adelaide
    Posts
    2,794

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Batpig View Post

    For the stations, we were just going to cut up some PVC pipe into lengths of about a foot, drill some holes through the side, and stick them in the ground around the house with some pine inside, and a plumbing-style cap on top to keep the light out.
    FWIW, according to the "professionals" who charged me around $4,000 a couple of years ago the most appetising timber (for a termite) is "australian oak". I bet they were using flooring offcuts for the traps.

    It might be a silly question, but given that you already know you have them, wouldn't be the safest and possibly not much more expensive way (at least compared to envirobug's prices) to have a licensed person just spray the lot?

    Small hijack: Outbackrr, I assume your signature's meaning is "ex trabibus non foliis arborem aestima". I like it. Where did you find that quote? Google did not help.

    Cheers

  7. #6
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Mapleton, QLD
    Age
    69
    Posts
    318

    Default

    F & E; It was originally 'Fructu non folis arborem aestima' Judge the tree by its fruit, not by its leaves. Substituted 'traba' (timber, beam of timber, etc).

    So it should mean 'Judge the tree by it's timber, not by its leaves' (or thereabouts but could probably stand correction)
    Traba non folis arborem aestima

  8. #7
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Northern Brisbania...
    Posts
    791

    Default

    Dear Frank,

    Thanks for the reply, but seeing a few of them going up inside a track on the side of a stump doesn't mean that a pro will be able to spray "the lot", because "the lot" (being the nest) usually live somewhere else to where you find them. The nests are usually in the ground somewhere (could even be a hundred metres away or so!) but could also be inside the walls or roof of the house (but not typically). Spraying usually kills just a few therefore, and the remaining millions back at the nest can simply end up attacking the house from a different direction...

    As your own experience has shown, "Chemical Barriers" are usually very expensive, and wont last forever anyway. Baiting makes more sense because if you can get the little buggers munching on the bait, you can kill the whole nest. As for the cost, if you install the stations yourself and don't get locked into some sort of contract for the monitoring and baiting, it works out much, much cheaper than a Barrier. Thanks for the input all the same.

    Outback - looks interesting. Might give them a call, but toxicity is the main thing (needs to be high).

    Rod - you are on the right track with the "cannibal" approach - something that they eat, before getting eaten themselves when they get sick.

    Fuzzie - I think Globe Australia sells it, but I'm not sure that a "dust" is the way to go inside a bait station.

    Thanks everyone so far,
    Batpig.

  9. #8
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    Nambour queensland
    Age
    69
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    1,783

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    carefully remove a section of the track puff a small amount into the track and then close up track and tape over , a stanley knife is ideal for this,but remember a small puff, in this case more is not better,it will end up back at the nest,you can do it a few times along the track but dont disturb the track or block it , if you do it in the night when you open the track ,turn off your torch and listen you can hear them, natter natter . just remember not to try and bomb the crap out of them with chemicals ,most of the time this wont work. bob

  10. #9
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Adelaide
    Posts
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    Batpig: sorry for my clumsy expression, I meant what you said: "if you install the stations yourself and don't get locked into some sort of contract for the monitoring" the actual baiting should not be too expensive.

    Outbackrr: yep, correction given. The "ex" can be omitted.

  11. #10
    Join Date
    May 2003
    Location
    Kuranda, paradise, North Qld
    Age
    62
    Posts
    5,639

    Default

    Batpig,
    in my opinion baits aren't as important as a barrier. Baits will kill a nest, but they can come from over a kilometere away and you won't kill every nest. Physical barriers are best (design/build to exclude the buggers) but failing them a good chemical barrier will keep them at bay for a decade or more.

    Mick
    "If you need a machine today and don't buy it,

    tomorrow you will have paid for it and not have it."

    - Henry Ford 1938

  12. #11
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Northern Brisbania...
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    791

    Default

    Dear Mick,

    It's a possibility that I might end up strategically spraying the laundry wall frame, and flooding a trench in the soil beside it, with some Pigeon's 500 (along the lines of a Chemical Barrier just in that section), as well as put some baits in the ground beside where there is just lattice panelling between the concrete stumps. By doing this, I will hopefully save the frame by getting them away from where they are having success in getting up to the house, and perhaps get them to instead concentrate on the baits in their search for a replacement food source - with the hopeful result of killing the whole nest. You see, they haven't been able to get over the antcaps yet in the sections where there is just stumps and lattice, so it would be fairly safe to not have a Barrier there, and by not having one, I'd have more luck in getting them to go for the baits that were there instead.

    I am having trouble finding someone, though, who is prepared to come out just to drop a bait into a station when I see some activity in there...

    Best Wishes,
    Batpig.

  13. #12
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Victoria
    Posts
    3,191

    Default

    An old remedy was to use creosote as a barrier in the soil though I think that's frowned on now as are most things that smell good.
    Teaching my grandmother here probably but antcaps should be seen as an early warning system rather than a barrier to be relied. If left alone long enough they can breach the barrier.

  14. #13
    Join Date
    May 2003
    Location
    Kuranda, paradise, North Qld
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    Batpig,
    if you can trench right around the building and each stump and use the pidgeons mix in this before backfilling then this should prove to be a good barrier for a decade or so, as long as the soil isn't disturbed. You also need to ensure that nothing bridges your barrier (tinber leaning against house wall) andf that you keep at least 1m around your house clear of garden beds and plants. Drainage is important too, if you keep the house well drained it makes it less atractive to them than if the ground is swampy.

    Mick
    "If you need a machine today and don't buy it,

    tomorrow you will have paid for it and not have it."

    - Henry Ford 1938

  15. #14
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Vevey, Switzerland
    Posts
    407

    Default Termite Protection

    We found termites after we bought our house. We found that the previous owner had problems with them for years. The termite guy had tried many times to kill the nest with arsenic but it hadn't worked. Arsenic is hit and miss, too much and the termites don't make it back to the nest, too little and it doesn't kill the queen, so it sets the nest back, but it soon recovers. Anyway the Exterra system had just come onto the market. The termite guy put a couple of bait boxes on the affected walls (tasmanian oak panelling) and they took the bait straight away, apparently killed the nest. Expensive but effective. Not available as a do-it-yourself treatment though, they have a very strict licensing system.
    We also bought 5 litres of Termidor for about six hundred dollars (enough for a house when diluted). That's a non-deterrent barrier treatment. The termites don't notice it but if they go through it they pick up the poison and it kills them, and with any luck they take it home and it kills the nest. We had to argue a bit with the suppliers because they didn't want to sell it to the public, but it is not a poison so they had to in the end. We bought the Termidor six or seven years ago so it may be cheaper now, or even more expensive.
    The problem with deterrent barriers is that it is very difficult to get 100% protection, sooner or later the termites will find a way round it. That depends on the construction of the house of course, if it is on stumps a deterrent barrier might be realistic, but the way our house is constructed it just wouldn't work so we hope Termidor does the job.
    We did a lot of research and talked to many pest controllers, also CSIRO, and the chemical suppliers and figured that for our situation there weren't any quick fixes.
    Cheers, Glen

  16. #15
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    North of the coathanger, Sydney
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    68
    Posts
    9,417

    Default

    I believe there are several different species of termite.
    some take the bait developed by the CSIRO a few years ago and kill the queen fairly quickly.
    Others are immune to this bait. 3M have a product which stops them moulting or shedding their exoskeleton then the colony dies. can take a while as some only moult once a year
    trouble is you need to id which you have before working out a plan

    what about discussing with the neighbours and trying to get a job lot. If you all did it less of a hit and miss affair

    I've a barrier, don't trust it too much, do a thorough check once a year. And liking woodwork what do the blighters like to eat, might take up sewing

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