I have dedicated my career to obstructing and destroying termites, but I have to confess to a fascination with termites, and an admiration for their habits. Effective termite control depends on an intimate understanding of termite behaviour, so bear with me while we take a look.
In many ways, a termite colony operates like a well-organised corporation. Its purpose is to protect and nourish the queen, to produce succeeding generations of termites. Nourishing the termites that do all the work necessary to this end involves a well-structured pattern of activity outside the nest, as the colony forages for sources of food. The purpose of a termitrap is to present a more appealing source of food to the termites, such that they designate it a preferred food source.
You can then add termite bait, confident that the termites will carry the bait back to the termite nest.
Termite Monitor – Termitrap Works
Your termite monitor might sit on sentry duty for weeks, months or years before any activity is apparent.
Here’s how it works:
Termite scouts come to the surface to forage for food supplies. Many millions of years before men were building houses, termites’ natural food was dead timber, and frankly the deader and more rotten and moister, the better. Remember, the termite’s job is not to be a hero, but to bring back to the nest energy-giving nutrition with the least possible expenditure of its own energy. So they love decayed, squishy timber.
When they find a promising source of food, they return to the nest, where they report on the quality of their find – nutritional content, moisture, temperature and so on. A collective decision is made, and if the new source gets the thumbs-up a construction team is despatched to build a secure tunnel to connect it to the nest.
And that’s where your termitraps come in. They contain Tassie oak that is granulated to make it extremely attractive. Once they find your termite monitor, they construct a tunnel to it, making it their termitrap.
After termites have secured the termite monitor base against intruders such as ants and lizards, they will quickly move to seal off the hole at the top of the termitrap. That is the visible signal that they are serious about using your termitrap as a food supply.
So at this point, you can introduce Colony Killer Termite Bait to the termitrap. Once you have added water to your Colony Killer Termite Bait, poked the sealing mud into the lid and laid the Termite Bait on top of the existing food, the termites will investigate this new, moist extension to their termitrap.
Finding it moist, nutritious and easy to masticate, they will avidly consume it, transporting termite bait back to the termite nest.
White Ant and Termite Control Tips
- Termites are comfortable in temperatures up to about 32c, but many Australian summer days can cause the temperature in the trap to exceed this, whereupon the termites will temporarily quit the trap, giving the misleading impression that your termite [the problem is fixed. So always assess your traps in the cooler parts of the day, when maximum activity can be expected.
- It may take several Colony Killer Termite Bait pouches to destroy the termite nest. Make sure the termite bait pouches are never exhausted, or the termites may abandon your termite monitor before the destruction of the termite nest is complete.
Read termite control for more detailed info
