Killing termites in Sydney and other
towns and cities around New South Wales has become much more simple in the last
few years with the advent of termite baiting and monitoring
systems.
In essence a termite monitoring system
is put in place to detect termites before they manage to attack a building. Once
the termites are in the monitoring system then it is up to us to introduce
a bait toxicant, which will ensure the eventual elimination of the termites.
The time taken to eliminate termites can vary substantially
from colony to colony. Some of the variables are,
1 species of termite
2 size of the colony
3 distance to the colony from the bait site
4 time of year
With the most common species of termite in Sydney, that is, Coptotermes
species, if the termites are fed the bait starting in spring, then we will
often have colony elimination within 2 months. Some other species can take up
to 12 months.
Occasionally we will see that it is necessary to use a
different type of treatment because of the amount of time that it takes to
colony elimination. Whenever we use a baiting system however, we find that we
have colony elimination 100% of the time. Therefore whilst sometimes it can
take a little longer than other methods it is generally the best method to use.
A monitoring system comprises only a few basic components.
Arguably the most important part of the monitoring system is the inground
station and the timber insert that sits within it. The inground station is made
of a durable plastic which is buried in the ground with its top flush with the
soil. A lockable lid is on top which when removed will reveal the timber insert.
The timber insert is a specially designed piece of Eucalyptus Regnans which has
been cut to have a large surface area. The timber inserts are highly palatable
to termites.
The in ground monitoring stations are placed in the
ground around 3 m apart. Once the stations are installed, regular
inspections of them must be undertaken. When termites are noticed within the
stations the bait toxicant can be added and colony elimination will start again.
Once colony elimination has been achieved timbers in the
station are renewed and the monitoring inspections start once again.
