Termite baiting systems work by killing workers in termite colonies slowly. Termites are smart insects. If they come across a poison that kills termites right away, other termites will not only not eat the poison, they will also stay away from the area. Some termite baits take advantage of this instinct, and will cause termites to die inside the queen’s chamber, which leads the entire colony to go into a panic mode and resettle the queen. This is not only stressful on the workers, but also the queen itself, which will eventually die from the constant resettlement. So how does a pro set up a baiting system?
Step 1 – Pre-Baiting
To tackle a termite infestation using baiting systems, you will need to pre-bait the stations. During this part of the process, termite foragers will locate the bait stations, where you only have cellulose and no poison. They will “tag” the bait stations with a pheromone, which is a scent trail that the worker termites can follow. The worker termites will then begin their feeding cycle. The point of pre-baiting is to make termites comfortable with the food source, so that when you add the insecticide, they will not suspect that anything is afoot. Pre-baiting also allows you to find the right location for your stations. If the stations are in a bad position, they can be relocated, until they are found by a scout or forager.
Step 2 – Adding the insecticide
Once the worker termites have started to feed and have established a connection with the colony, laced cellulose will be added to the feeding station.
Step 3 – Termite colony control
Depending on the insecticide you use, two things can happen – the workers will not be able to go through the molting process, as described in the introduction of this article, or, the bait will kill a large part of the termite population, and the colony will collapse when it’s no longer able to feed and care for itself.
When baiting stations are combined with a chemical barrier, your home will be protected immediately from termites, and the termite colony will be killed off. If you would like to know more about the control methods that you can use against termites, or if you have a termite colony that needs to be removed, contact us today.
