If you drench just the fire ant mound, making sure to create a deep funnel-shaped pilot hole at its center, the collateral damage is minimized. So there’s that.
Dr. Faye explained to me that lively soil biota can make or break termite habitat.
The effect of amending soils with biochar on the microhabitat preferences of Coptotermes formosanus (Blattodea: Rhinotermitidae)
Highlights
Biochar can affect termites preference and 5% biochar is the dividing line.
More than 10% biochar has the potential to control termites.*
Changes in soil characteristics may cause the changes of termites.
Holy Toledo, if you change your soil to > 10% biochar, can you get the anti-termite results you need while not having to re-inoculate with living organisms?
Biological alternatives for termite control: A review
Abstract
Termites are a serious menace to both plants and structures. They are the most problematic pest threatening agriculture and the urban environment. They cause significant losses to annual and perennial crops and damage to wooden components in buildings, especially in the semi-arid and sub-humid tropics. Chemical control has been a successful method of preventing termite attack, but the effects of these chemicals are of concern as they create problems for our health and the environment. Biological methods could be suitable alternatives in this regard. The present paper reviews the various methods (physical, chemical, and biological) for termite control. Recent advances and past research done on termite control emphasizing biological methods are reviewed. Biological methods described include botanicals (essential oil, seed, bark, leaf, fruit, root, wood, resin), as well as fungal, bacterial, and nematode approaches. The relationship between chemical structure of active components responsible for termite control and termiticidal activity is discussed. The plants reviewed show good insecticidal properties against termites. These botanicals can be used for termite control singly and in combination. The active component from biomass can be extracted to prepare efficacious and potent biocidal formulations.
Gigantic reframe: termites = possibly good in specific contexts
We collected termites haphazardly from the plots during the experimental installation in May 2006, and stored them in 100% ethanol. We chose Coptotermes sp. and Drepanotermes sp., as they were the most phylogenetically distant genera sampled and they eat different foods (sound wood and dead grass, respectively). We used worker termites for each species, washed them in distilled water, removed their guts and separated the gut contents by gentle squeezing. The DNA in the gut contents was then purified with an Accuprep DNA extraction kit (Bioneer). We followed published methods for detection of 406 bp of the nifH gene34. We amplified nifH genes using PCR, then cloned the PCR products and sequenced two clones from the Coptotermes sample and four clones from the Drepanotermes sample using a commercial sequencing service (Macrogen, South Korea). We then performed Blast on the six clones; the top ten hits retrieved for each clone were nifH genes from uncultured termite gut bacteria (nucleotide identity levels of 82–88%). …
Growing up (in Latin America) you’d see termites often and they’d be everywhere after the rainy season, but they were never a concern as far as homeownership went because all the homes were brick, cinderblock, concrete, etc. Not saying its any better or worse but it’s interesting to me how in the US termites are such a worry because of how homes are typically built.
Reminds me i should probably schedule that termite inspection of these days, i’ve been ignoring the pest control company i use about that.
As for the orange oil- yes, I intend to only do the mounds. Going to stake them to make a hole and pour the mix in. Several holes for the place under the back patio. We have some native black ants hanging around the place and I like to leave them to their business. If it wasn’t for the fire ants biting people and trying to invade the house in the summer, I’d probably leave them alone too. We’re never getting rid of the damned things entirely.
Well I’m annoyed. Yesterday we got the keys to our new rental, a very nice townhouse in a great neighbourhood, which is a significant step-up from the run-down unit in a 4-plex in a bad neighbourhood we currently inhabit. We’re looking forward to getting moved over, and with a month of overlap between the two leases we can do it at a reasonable pace for a change.
So of course this morning my wife wakes me up at 6am freaking out, because there’s a big bug on the wall of our bedroom. I get up and look at it. It’s a German cockroach. Presumably it’s from one of our neighbours, as we haven’t brought anything into the house that they could have hitched a ride on and with the outside temperature hovering around -15C or 5F in American, it’s not likely they came in from outside.
So now I’m kind of freaking out. I’ve never had to deal with these before and we’ve only got a few weeks to deal with it and somehow prevent them from moving with us. I really don’t want to have to deal with them after the move too.
We’ll be doing a deep clean tonight and removing any possible food and moisture sources. Our new place also has an unheated garage, so I’m thinking I might store some of the stuff that’s not cold sensitive there for a few days minimum to kill off anything hiding in those items, but I am really worried about missing some and having an infestation in our new place.
So anyone got any good ideas for how to quickly nip this in the bud and prevent hitchhikers?
We had a similar issue when moving into our house. We’d been fighting a German cockroach infestation at our apartment for months. We’d had a flood from a broken pipe and the icky things were everywhere.
We managed to move and not take any with us, so there is hope! Some of the things we did:
We were ruthless in culling our belongings. Particularly anything in the bathroom and in the kitchen.
Nothing went into a box without being thoroughly shaken first
We sprayed the outside of the boxes with an essential oil bug repellent. Same with the suitcases
We stacked the moving boxes on tables as much as possible
All kitchen appliances were shaken and then sealed into trash bags before being placed in a box
All bathroom stuff got the same treatment
We did the same for the books and art supplies
Same for the electronics. Particular attention to the PlayStation as I had seen a very memorable video about how roaches love those things. They are warm and the exhaust vents large enough. I left the PS4 in that bag for a month in the garage. TV lived in the new garage for 2 weeks
I’m pretty sure my husband opened his computer case outside and vacuumed it. Then left it in the garage for at least a few days
We ditched all our food except a few things bottled and canned. Cleaned all food containers before bagging in trash bags and packing.
Couch was ruthlessly vacuumed and shaken when leaving the apartment and then again when at the new house. We left it in the garage a few days
Left the washing machine and dryer in the garage for a week too
Put roach baits all over the new place
Got a pest control company in to check everything and spray a month after moving in, just in case
You’ll want to look at Internet pictures of what the egg casings look like so you know what to look for.
The German ones aren’t big. Are your sure that’s what you saw? But maybe that is a relativity issue. Big roaches to me are the giant flying ones in Florida or the big forest ones in Central Texas. Both of which I’ve seen in homes.
Big is definitely relative. In Saskatchewan in January, anything bigger than a fruit fly is ‘big’. It was about a half-inch, and looked exactly like the pictures online.
But thanks for the tips. I guess we’re lucky we’re moving in the middle of winter and have a garage at the new place, since we can leave things there to get well and truly frozen which according to my research should kill eggs and adults. We’ll be extremely diligent in making sure everything is clean and bug-free before bringing it into the house!
I’m going to be going to the hardware store after work to get traps and baits as well.
Yeah, definitely relative! The kind that are “big” from my perspective are an inch to 2 inches. Some people in Florida call them “palmetto bugs.” But they are roaches.
I hope you succeed in leaving them behind. Congrats on the new digs!
I have lived in the Bahamas, Florida, and Alabama for most of my life – all places where the big fuckers (wood roaches, palmetto bugs, cockaroaches, whatever…) live and thrive, and I have never gotten to that point. I have, however, developed a pretty accurate technique for swatting them out of the air with a broom before beating them to death or stupor and tossing them outside for the less noxious wildlife to enjoy.
“nuke 'em from orbit. it’s the only way to be sure.”
apologies, @AnnaPhylaxis , i am not helping your original problem with my nonsense. can i send you some baby tokay geckos?
Used to have them around SC and NC also, lived there long enough to have gotten used to them. They mostly eat decayed plant matter, and like very humid places, like the botttom of a leaf pile. So they’re not a big issue in houses.
@Millie_Fink almost all roaches have wings, more than just palmetto bugs can fly.
