Hello,

I have a couple of small holes on an oak threshold. Drywood termites are
pushing out quite a lot of pellets; very impressive.

In the past I have engaged termite professionals to treat buildings locally,
but they usually spray a relatively lot of insecticide on the exterior of
the wood around the holes. Doesn't seem very efficient or environmentally
friendly.

Seems like it would be better to force a very small amount of gas or liquid
into the holes and along the tunnels. Preferably some material that might
be transferred further into the tunnel system and nest by the termites
themselves.

I have never seen a professional termite guy do this. Am I missing
something?

Also, if I could do this myself whenever I discover pellets or see one of
those little holes it would be a lot cheaper and more effective. I have the
technical background to handle toxic stuff safely.

Thanks for any ideas?

DaveC

On Wed, 7 Feb 2007 15:46:12 -0800, "DaveC"
wrote:

Hello,

I have a couple of small holes on an oak threshold. Drywood termites are
pushing out quite a lot of pellets; very impressive.

In the past I have engaged termite professionals to treat buildings locally,
but they usually spray a relatively lot of insecticide on the exterior of
the wood around the holes. Doesn't seem very efficient or environmentally
friendly.

Seems like it would be better to force a very small amount of gas or liquid
into the holes and along the tunnels. Preferably some material that might
be transferred further into the tunnel system and nest by the termites
themselves.

I have never seen a professional termite guy do this. Am I missing
something?

Also, if I could do this myself whenever I discover pellets or see one of
those little holes it would be a lot cheaper and more effective. I have the
technical background to handle toxic stuff safely.

Thanks for any ideas?

DaveC

You have the right idea.

I recommend you spray the known holes plus drill dozens of small
1/16" holes in the studs and other wood nearby and spray with your
favorite toxic solution.

Then paint over your holes and keep your eye out for new pellets..

If you hire a professional, he MUST spray everything on your property
or you can sue him for incompetence.

DaveC wrote:
Hello,

I have a couple of small holes on an oak threshold. Drywood termites are
pushing out quite a lot of pellets; very impressive.

In the past I have engaged termite professionals to treat buildings locally,
but they usually spray a relatively lot of insecticide on the exterior of
the wood around the holes. Doesn't seem very efficient or environmentally
friendly.

Seems like it would be better to force a very small amount of gas or liquid
into the holes and along the tunnels. Preferably some material that might
be transferred further into the tunnel system and nest by the termites
themselves.

I have never seen a professional termite guy do this. Am I missing
something?

Also, if I could do this myself whenever I discover pellets or see one of
those little holes it would be a lot cheaper and more effective. I have the
technical background to handle toxic stuff safely.

Thanks for any ideas?

DaveC



You might look for a firm that will do a spot treatment of the area with
a product called Termidor. I'm in the Dallas area so I don't get a
chance to deal much with dry woods, but Termidor has proved to exceed
all claims made by the manufacturer for subterranean termite and ant
control so I would guess you would get the same results with dry woods.
The termites don't detect it so if by chance they don't get it to the
main galleries it won't chase the termites to another part of the
structure as other chemicals might and the foragers that are in the
treated areas continue to pass the product throughout the colony.

Lar

"DaveC" wrote in message
...
Hello,

I have a couple of small holes on an oak threshold. Drywood termites are
pushing out quite a lot of pellets; very impressive.

In the past I have engaged termite professionals to treat buildings
locally, but they usually spray a relatively lot of insecticide on the
exterior of the wood around the holes. Doesn't seem very efficient or
environmentally friendly.

Seems like it would be better to force a very small amount of gas or
liquid into the holes and along the tunnels. Preferably some material
that might be transferred further into the tunnel system and nest by the
termites themselves.

I have never seen a professional termite guy do this. Am I missing
something?

Also, if I could do this myself whenever I discover pellets or see one of
those little holes it would be a lot cheaper and more effective. I have
the technical background to handle toxic stuff safely.

Thanks for any ideas?

DaveC



A co-worker used a hypodermic syringe to inject formaldehyde into the
tunnels with good results. I enclosed a small area with an open pan of
formaldehyde with good results also.

Don Young

Lar wrote:
DaveC wrote:

Hello,

I have a couple of small holes on an oak threshold. Drywood termites
are pushing out quite a lot of pellets; very impressive.

In the past I have engaged termite professionals to treat buildings
locally, but they usually spray a relatively lot of insecticide on the
exterior of the wood around the holes. Doesn't seem very efficient or
environmentally friendly.

Seems like it would be better to force a very small amount of gas or
liquid into the holes and along the tunnels. Preferably some material
that might be transferred further into the tunnel system and nest by
the termites themselves.

I have never seen a professional termite guy do this. Am I missing
something?

Also, if I could do this myself whenever I discover pellets or see one
of those little holes it would be a lot cheaper and more effective. I
have the technical background to handle toxic stuff safely.

Thanks for any ideas?

DaveC



You might look for a firm that will do a spot treatment of the area with
a product called Termidor. I'm in the Dallas area so I don't get a
chance to deal much with dry woods, but Termidor has proved to exceed
all claims made by the manufacturer for subterranean termite and ant
control so I would guess you would get the same results with dry woods.

Gee, Lar, does it pay to advertise on newsgroups? Since you portray
yourself as a professional, you should know whether Termidor is
effective against dry wood termites. The U of Fla website, with
extensive information about pest control, mentions Termidor only as a
barrier termiticide for subterranean termites.

It's been a few years since I did extensive research about termite
control and treatment, but at the time subterranean and drywood required
completely different methods for extermination in structures.

The little bit of looking I did now seems much more oriented toward
local treatment for drywood, rather than tenting. Still a lot of
tenting going on down in Fla, though.

The termites don't detect it so if by chance they don't get it to the
main galleries it won't chase the termites to another part of the
structure as other chemicals might and the foragers that are in the
treated areas continue to pass the product throughout the colony.

Lar

Norminn wrote:

Lar wrote:




You might look for a firm that will do a spot treatment of the area
with a product called Termidor. I'm in the Dallas area so I don't get
a chance to deal much with dry woods, but Termidor has proved to
exceed all claims made by the manufacturer for subterranean termite
and ant control so I would guess you would get the same results with
dry woods.


Gee, Lar, does it pay to advertise on newsgroups? Since you portray
yourself as a professional, you should know whether Termidor is
effective against dry wood termites. The U of Fla website, with
extensive information about pest control, mentions Termidor only as a
barrier termiticide for subterranean termites.

I guess there is a fine line in your mine on advertising and talking
about a product that I am familiar with when asked to give an opinion.
Since there is no generic form of termidor I really can't get around
naming it. I am a pro in Dallas Tx and if you locate on the web, maps or
graphs showing the distribution of drywood termites, you'll see they
aren't here so I haven't had a chance to try it myself. The reason I
have based my "opinion" is when the product came to on the market with
the usual hype and smack all manufacturers stick to their products, it
was going to be the best thing since sliced bread. Since termidor came
out on the market in 2000 I have yet to have a call back on any home
that I have treated with it. When doing WDI reports (for real estate
transactions) I have yet to find active termites on any home where other
companies have treated using it. It is the only product on the market
that I have seen that type of results. A couple of years ago, the label
was changed and added localized treatment for dry wood termites and
exterior ant control was added to the label, once again with "whacky"
promises were made by the manufacturer. The results I have gotten using
it for ant control once again exceeded my expectations, so I would think
there is a pretty good shot of a couple hundred dollar service may be
able to stop a $1200 fumigation.

It's been a few years since I did extensive research about termite
control and treatment, but at the time subterranean and drywood required
completely different methods for extermination in structures.

Subterranean termites problems are coming from the ground 99% of the
time. So whether the termites are just around a door frame or through
out the home treating the ground will be the treatment. With drywoods it
depends on the infestation. Localized treatment have always been done,
mainly with borates, but it can push termites to other areas of the
structure. The surest thing is whole home fumigation. Now the question
comes will the treating company do a quick inexpensive treatment or push
for the fumigation, is it because one "works better over another" or
does the industry not want to give up the more money generating route.


Lar

Thanks for the suggestions.

Is it possible for a private person to buy a small amount of Termidor? Are
the active ingredients also found in other insecticides? Is it a liquid?

Will anybody get ****ed if I post a similar inquiry on the
"alt.consumer.pest-control" newsgroup? I did something like this on another
pair of newsgroups, other subject and I got flamed. Apparently there is
some system or technique for "cross posting" to different newsgroups. How
does it work?

Thanks,

DaveC

DaveC wrote:
Thanks for the suggestions.

Is it possible for a private person to buy a small amount of Termidor? Are
the active ingredients also found in other insecticides? Is it a liquid?

Well, let's just say I am amazed of what one can buy on E-Bay. I don't
like the idea of the homeowner being able to get it, not so much as to
"keep the good stuff" out of their hands, but more so that most won't
have the knowledge or the tools of properly using the product and at
some point Joe Public will start using it for areas of pest control it
is not labeled for...next thing you know the honey bee is a thing of the
past, termidor gets pulled off of the market, and we go back to depend
on more expensive type of and inferior treatments for termite work. It
is a liquid and other products containing the same active are Front Line
flea drops and some roach baits.


Will anybody get ****ed if I post a similar inquiry on the
"alt.consumer.pest-control" newsgroup? I did something like this on another
pair of newsgroups, other subject and I got flamed. Apparently there is
some system or technique for "cross posting" to different newsgroups. How
does it work?

heh... the only flaming you probably will get there is from
exterminators blasting you for buying termidor, though you might get a
few more opinions on how to handle your situation from pros.

Lar