Termidor, a competing product from BASF, is also lethal to termites when ingested and through contact, a process the company calls "the transfer effect."
Baiting, the third popular option, was developed before non-repellents were introduced. Dow's Sentricon debuted in 1994 in reaction to concerns over the EPA bans and homeowners' objections to having holes drilled every few inches through concrete surfaces to inject liquids.
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
|
The typical baiting set-up works this way: Monitoring stations, or containers of wood or cellulose, are placed in the ground around houses . If termite activity is discovered, the wood is replaced with a material that poisons the insects or affects their growth cycles. Foraging termites take the bait and share it with nest mates. Some bait systems start with the poisons inside .
The leading bait makers contend that they can kill an entire termite colony through the shared bait, without drilling or pouring chemicals in the ground.
Updating Treatments
Bayer's response in 1996 to the chlordane ban was Premise, a liquid non-repellent that it touted as being quicker and more protective than baits. This product set off a new round of competition, and BASF brought out non-repellent Termidor with a big bang in 2000.
In response, Sentricon a year ago changed the active ingredient in its baits, promising the new product works twice as fast and does a better job of eliminating an entire termite colony than other products.
Brian Forschler, an entomologist at the University of Georgia, worries that the claims and counterclaims make it hard for consumers to see the forests for the trees. Termites are a part of nature, he says; they will always be in our yards.
"I can go to any house in the Southeastern United States and find termites in people's yards, but I doubt that in most cases their house would be infected," Forschler says. "The point from the consumer perspective is not whether there are termites out there, but whether or not your house has them."
Another noted termite expert, University of Kentucky entomologist Michael Potter, says on a homeowner-advice Web site that "overall, the non-repellent products are proving to be more reliable in their ability to resolve termite problems in the first attempt" than repellents. He says, though, that all registered termiticides, both repellents and non-repellents, "can be effective." Forschler says Dow slipped a bit in its domination of the post-chlordane market because its initial bait required monthly inspections -- a costly venture for pest control companies. Sentricon's new bait is supposed to need only quarterly checking.
Cindy Mannes, public affairs director for the National Pest Management Association, says "both liquids and baits are effective. What it really comes down to is the partnership between the professional and the homeowner." The decision of which product to use, she says, is partially based on how a customer feels about drilling, liquid chemicals and baits, and partially on how a structure is built, the soil conditions, the extent of infestation and the geographical location.
FMC developed a bait product, says spokesman DeStefano, because "a lot of people had chemophobia" after chlordane and heptachlor were banned. Now FMC's customers use both baits and liquids, DeStefano says. "It really depends on the professional operators and the homeowners' preference. If people have an active infestation and are real concerned about that and want to get rid of them right away, [the operators] would go with a liquid because it's faster-acting. If the homeowner has concerns about liquids and doesn't want to deal with them, they'll go with baits."
Whichever type of treatment is used, the typical cost to treat a 1,500-square-foot house is $800 to $1,800 for the initial treatment, depending on where the house is, the construction of the house, the severity of the infestation and the type of contract, trade association spokeswoman Mannes says. Most treatments take no more than a day. Renewal fees vary .
Product guarantees also vary, so the experts advise that homeowners pay close attention to pest control firms' contract language . Industry leaders also stipulate that guarantees will be affected if there is new construction or renovation on a treated property.
Swarm Warning
The Washington area has relatively mild winters and gets lots of rain, so it is a natural haven for termites, the experts say. Although there are no hard data on how many houses here or around the country are infested, Sentricon representatives estimate that 1 in 25 homes in the Washington area has a termite problem. That compares with a national average of 1 in 30, along with 1 in 5 in Los Angeles, 1 in 8 in Miami, 1 in 10 in Houston and 1 in 22 in New York.
Entomologist Forschler says above all, homeowners should not panic if they see a swarm in the house. "Most termite damage isn't sudden or catastrophic," he says. He advises taking the time to talk to several pest control firms, weigh the alternatives and check prices and contracts. He also recommends locking in the yearly renewal fee.
He also says he thinks, however, that most of the products on the market today, while effective, are based on "old science" and that a lot more is to be learned about the complex social structure of termites. He notes that in a recent study, his research team found that doing nothing led to success: When the team watched six bait stations with no baits over a three-year period, two of the three colonies observed by scientists went away on their own.
Prescription for Prevention
He says prevention -- sealing holes, fixing leaks and keeping termite "food" away from houses -- is the best medicine. He also suggests homeowners can make it easier to spot intruders by installing plastic-door bath traps where utility pipes enter structures, and by installing removable baseboards in places like the garage, where the sill plate sits closest to the soil and is a tempting meal.
Forschler and Kentucky entomologist Potter are among the independent voices and pest control companies who warn against do-it-yourself treatments.
"A knowledge of building construction is needed to identify the critical areas where termites are likely to enter," Potter says on his homeowner Web site. "Many of these potential points of entry are hidden and difficult to access. Termite control also utilizes specialized equipment such as masonry drills, pumps, large-capacity tanks and soil treatment rods."
A possible exception, Potter writes, would be if a mailbox post, sandbox or other small wooden object not attached to the house was infested. "Do-it-yourself" products, sold at retail stores or bought over the Internet, "will seldom eradicate an existing termite problem," he says.
