Termite baiting in Sydney

Termite baiting is certainly proving to be an outstanding leader in the field of termite colony elimination. When it comes to eliminating a termite colony there are few choices really.
The choice of a system to protect your home is very important as not all systems are designed to work in all homes. Much research should go into which system best suits your particular home. A professional can usually sum this up in next to no time, so if you have a technician that you trust take his advice. There is a lot more behind termite control products than the layman might think.

• Baiting, feeding a palatable substance to the termites that they will willingly transport back to the colony and share it as a food source.
• Dusting, introducing by stealth a toxic dust that will adhere to the bodies of termites and inadvertently be transported to the colony where members of the colony may come into contact with the toxicant as they groom each other thereby possibly ingesting the dust.
• Nematodes, an extremely small creature that can be introduced into the termite workings where it can then try to do what nematodes do, and enter the termite and cause death by eating the gut and other parts of the termite.

Baiting termites has become a %100 positive solution for controlling termites in Sydney. When the system is installed correctly and maintained in the correct way there are no failures.

Hundreds of termites dead and alive in a bait station

This photograph of a termite bait station was taken after the termites had been feeding on the bait for eight weeks. In the top right hand corner of the station you can see masses of termites huddled together, these termites are all very near death as they have consumed plenty of the toxicant designed to eliminate the colony.
In the bottom left corner when you look closely you will find that many of the termites here are dead and there is a "pile" of termite heads that have been "dumped after the rest of the colony cannibilised them.

How to exterminate termites in Sydney

How do you exterminate termites?
Really the science behind termite extermination is very complex, for the layman a simplified explanation follows.
Termites have a complex colony structure (not unlike bees) where there is a King and Queen who are looked after by a multitude of members of the colony which is made up mostly of worker termites and then soldier termites.
The queen is arguably the most valuable member of the colony, and her job really only involves constantly laying eggs. A Queen termite can lay up to two thousand eggs a day. The Queen is very large when compared to the other members of the colony and needs twenty four hour care.
The worker termites are the ones that do the destructive damage to our homes, eating vast amounts of timber from within the structure. The workers transport the timber back to the colony and share it with the other members including the Queen. The workers are also responsible for foraging for new food sources, extending the nest, grooming each other and ensuring that there is enough moisture to keep the colony healthy.
The soldier termites as their name infers are the protectors of the colony ensuring that marauding ants and other insects are kept away and generally guarding the entrances and feeding sites.
So after that introduction to how a termite colony functions, how do we kill the colony?

There are several ways

1. Direct destruction of the colony. If you know where the colony is and can be sure that the Queen can be located, then destroying the colony by breaking it open and applying a permethrin based pesticide will kill the inhabitants. Be sure to kill the Queen because if she is missed then the colony will be rebuilt.
2. Apply a bait product to the termite activity, the termites will share it amongst the entire colony and eventually die. This process can take some significant time however is very worthwhile as it achieves success %100 of the time.
3. Apply a termite dust which will be inadvertently taken back to the colony by those termites who come into contact with it. This method can work well but the pitfall is that there is usually no evidence as to whether colony extermination has been achieved.

The advice is still to seek professional help whenever you believe that you may have located termites and to ensure that you have a professional carry out a termite inspection each twelve months.

What is a termite inspection?

Termite inspections can be carried out in many ways.
Australian standard 4349.3 is the standard that we must work to when carrying out a prior to purchase inspection.
Australian standard 3660.2 is the inspection standard that we must work to when inspecting an existing home.
Unskilled or untrained operators in pest control may well be inspecting to no standard at all.
It is worthwhile to invest in a copy of the relevant Australian standard. This will ensure that you can keep an eye on any work that is being carried out at your home. A proper inspection will include checking all high risk areas around the yard, under the house, if access is available, through each room inside the house, and right through the roof void.
The signs are that termites around are generally not obvious to the average home owner. When an expert is carrying out a termite inspection it is rare to site the actual insect. termites travel in mud shelter tubes or within timber that they are damaging. We have a series of termite inspection videos available to view on www.pestec.com.au. When you need a termite inspection carried out hire an expert, it is too easy and costly to make mistakes where termites are concerned.
watch the video here