My neighbor just had his house perimeter and garage treated for a small termite infestation. The chemical used was Dragnet. I thought that Termidor was the best chemical to use for a contact type termiticide. Does anyone out there have an opinion on the subject.
I did Google both but can find no article that compares the two.
Norm
Maybe this will help:
Frank
Frank:
Thanks .. just what I was looking for. So, his termites are being repelled. I wonder where they will go next??? Fortunately, I treated the perimeter of my home with Termidor 1.5 years ago. So far, I have had no problems.
Norm
My house was never treated but at time of neighbor's infestation, there were termites all over the place. I put out the poisoned stakes (Sentricon?) and normally spray foundations because of ants. Now with the juvenile treatment, there are no sign of termites. There are still plenty of stumps and stray wood piles on his property. If a colony came back, they would probably attack his yard first.
The repelled termites are bound to find another source of food. If they cannot find decaying woodpiles like my neighbor has, they will look for houses. Personally, I think it is fairly easy to detect their presence by tunnels and swarming and it is not necessary to have the professionals come out unless you have an infestation.
Frank
What do you mean by "juvenile treatment"
Norm
Juvenile hormones keep the insects from maturing and they die without reproduction. Kills the colony.
Frank
That I know. I was referring tothe "treatment". Which of the chemicals did you apply?
Nothing specific for the termites except the stakes. I normally spray foundations with Malathion and spread diazinone insecticide on lawn. More aimed at ants than termites. When my neighbor was infested, I saw termites within 20 ft of my house but they never invaded and now they are gone.
Frank
Nothing specific for the termites except the stakes. I normally spray foundations with Malathion and spread diazinone insecticide on lawn. More aimed at ants than termites. When my neighbor was infested, I saw termites within 20 ft of my house but they never invaded and now they are gone.
Frank
Any children play on lawn?
Instead of a tempting flippant answer: Merry Christmas ;) Frank
NSN wrote:
Well, most exterminators I know, me included, feel that Dragnet is at the bottom of the line as termite products go. It does not seem to last very long. Dragnet is also what we call a "repellent" type temiticide. More of a chemical shield rather than killing the termite...any termite that comes in contact with the treated soil for a couple of years will die, but they actually detect it and stay out of the treated area. If there is a break in the barrier as wide as a pencil mark, they can take advantage of it and re-enter the structure. Due to the nature of repellent termiticides, just treating the perimeter of a home will probably just push them inside around a bath trap, plumbing, or the foundation wall interior if it is a crawl space situation. As you mentioned, termidor would be the choice to use and it has actually changed the way we apply it over products. It does have a perimeter plus label, such as your neighbor has done, but the difference is I still warrant the whole house when treated with termidor, with other products I can only warrant areas of treatment. I would guess your neighbor had a price choice of what would be used and he went the less expensive route. If the company is warrantying the whole structure he should make sure they are there for the yearly inspection like clockwork, though I would be surprised if this company will be a long term survivor in the business if he always uses Dragnet. Now after saying all that, you might live in upstate New York where termites are few and far between and pretty much anything may stop the initial invasion and the same colony now moves on to an old tree root and all parties are happy ever after. :)
Lar
Unless you are just partial to malathion, maybe trying to use it up? Probably any other liquid insecticide you use will last longer around the foundation...and not have the odor to boot :)
Lar
I have not had a call back on any home I have treated with termidor since it came on the market in 2000. The vast majority of the treatments have been perimeter type treatments. Know though that most parts of the country have anywhere from 7-14 established termite colonies per acre. If the home is a slab foundation and the bath traps weren't treated there is a chance that a new colony can find the interior areas without coming in contact with the treated perimeter and get established..but even if this happen by the time the colony gets large enough for you/inspector to detect them they probably have foragers getting into the treated zone thus killing them out.
Stations such as these?
Lar
Sentricon actually is chitin inhibitor...it keeps them from molting properly thus killing them. The vast majority of the colony are all workers, that all are juvenile which aren't allowed by the Queen and King of the colony to mature, so they never will reproduce anyways. The theory of Sentricon is as the work force dies out there is a population crash of the colony, thus killing the colony. The downfall is that Sentricon asks for up to 24 months to get control so if one were to call the pest control company 6 months after the baits have been installed they have dancing room of why termites are still active. Termidor for example, stops the activity in a week or so and kills the colony within
3 months. If a new colony shows up in Sentricon baits, time will be lost waiting for the 40+ termites to accumulate before the pest tech replaces the monitors with the actual bait, then wait another 18-24 months for colony control hoping that another group from the same colony is not attacking the house somewhere out of sight? With the termidor a foraging termite gets into the treated zone and is dead in 3 days along with his buddies he has contacted and in turn who they have mingled with so no actual feeding line has actually gotten established.Lar
What would you recommend for homeowner specific treatment to cover ants and termites? I know insecticides like clordane are no longer available and others are only available to professionals. Irritates me, because I have a chemical background and have handled many toxic materials.
Thanks to my neighbor, the termite colony is gone. I don't know what his exterminator specifically used. I know they sprayed the infested wood and set out bait stations for the juvenile hormone. Stumps on my property, and wood piles on his neighbor in back were infested. If termites were to return, he's got a lot of dead wood lying on his property. Neighborhood is such that he and a few other neighbors do not maintain back yards, cut grass etc. One of his trees fell on my property and he cut it up and stacked it in the back yard where it's been laying the last 2-3 years. Doesn't bother me. One big bait station.
Every spring, it seems, the ants come back and wife sprays kitchen and I spray around foundation. I have malathion for trees, mainly nuts, in northern DE. My wife worries about Lymes disease, and likes me to treat lawn for deer ticks too.
Frank
For ants, any general insecticide applied as you are doing it will work for what you are trying to control, for ease they will come pre mixed and attach to the hose. Malathian and diazinon have food crops on their label because they will break down quickly outside. I would be surprised if more than a week of effectiveness for Mal. and 10-14 days for Diaz. can be expected. If you went the way of bifenthrin or Lambda-cyhalothrin, common active indgredients of the Home Depot type products, and are actually used a lot in the Pest control industry, but what you will buy is a lot more "diluted" than what a pro would use, you won't get much longer residual, but a lot less odor so unless that is an issue doing what you have been doing will work without any extra expense.
For termite control they really aren't helping much. Best suggestion would be to make sure you can view several inches of your foundation and keep wood to ground contact at a minimum around the structure.
I'll end by saying I am am amazed what can be bought over EBAY
Lar
Thanks, that's about what I figured. Frank
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