Hello Noeline,
Somewhere in all our stuff, I think there is a reference to sloshing water on Traps that are positioned where they are not rained upon. The idea is to get the termites to believe that it is worthwhile building a tunnel to a timber source that also has some moisture content. So yes, gardens are generally better because they are watered, but having Traps along paths up against the wall over expansion joints is also good because right beneath the path (or pavers) the soil is also usually damp. Because paths are also under the eaves and somewhat protected, it is a good idea to lightly hose over them as well.

I hope this helps,

Ion

Hi Terry-Lynn,

A defensive and expected reply would jump at the chance to say, yes, another colony must have entered the previous colony’s galleries and be re-infesting the timber in the house. This does in fact happen often enough but, it may not be the case; impossible to be dogmatic or definite about it.

I just re-read the transcript of the podcast and, adding to it the new information in your comment, it would seem that if a colony had been feeding on the bait for 5 months and gradually stopped eating it would seem most likely that bait had been taken back to kill off the nest, wherever it was. If there were no active termites since then until recently, that points to one of two possibilities: this is a new colony or, it is the old colony having vacated the building for whatever reason are now back.

But why did they by-pass the 22 Traps? If it is the original colony, they have no need to forage for alternative food sources because they remember the way in. If it is a new colony (I say ‘new’ but it may be 4-5 years since establishment) that discovered the original colony’s entry points, they didn’t need to look around outside either.

So what do you do?

The two major termites in SW WA build their nests in one of three places: inside a hollow tree or stump, below soil level where you are unlikely to find it, or, construct a mound. Taking the easy one first, a mound is fairly easy to find (don’t forget to peek over into neighbouring properties) and easy to destroy with a pick or crowbar. Hollow trees within 50-60 metres should be drilled and flooded with insecticide (see our How-to-guide for details).

I assume that as you’ve said they are back in the building, you should again carefully open up the timber they are happily eating and place a cache of bait over the hole you’ve made so the workers can get directly into the bait and transfer it back to kill off the colony. As it is now summer and the termites are more active, it will probably take about the same amount of time (5-6 months) as before.

While this bait-feeding is in progress, no digging, weeding or landscaping which may sever the tunnels between the house and the nest. Tunnels are typically in the top 50-75mm under the soil surface.

Please phone me on 1800 20 30 20 if you’d like more specific info.

Ion Staunton

After successfully getting rid of the termites we had in our floorboards (we are in that steel frame house mentioned in the podcast) we find they have returned and in the exact same places they were before! This time, however, we cannot see where they are getting in. I am baiting them again but my problem is that they totally bypassed the baiting stations. All 22 of them. This disturbs me as it would mean we have mo real line of defence and will have to find them in the house before we can start baiting. We have stations in the areas where there is most likelihood of them getting in (areas we cannot see due to split levels) Would the termites we have now have followed the old trails from the termites we had 2 years ago? We would really appreciate your help.

It would be a brave or foolhardy person to say “no problem” so i won’t. However it is pretty doubtful. For a start, the dam is an uncomfortable obstacle, and the distance, although possible may have too many other bits of wood or other dead trees between them and your buildings.

My Advice? Take the fence post auger and drill a hole, flood the inside of the tree with permethrin, bifenthrin or chlorpyrifos diluted with water and forget about it for 10 years. By that time you might need some fire wood and the termites will not have eaten it because of the chemical being effective for about that long.