Termite Eradication: A search for the Holy Grail
| Overview - Termites are not thought to be native to the state of Wisconsin, but were likely introduced by relocation of infested wood materials (e.g. railroad ties). In 2006, a program to eliminate termites from a small Village in central Wisconsin was initiated using a commercially available bait product (i.e. Diflubenzuron). Although preliminary results showed this method to be somewhat effective, it was apparent that additional methods might be required to obtain complete, colony eradication. Past studies have shown direct dusting of individual termites with an insecticide to be a labor intensive, yet effective means of transferring poison into a termite colony. Laboratory tests were initiated to evaluate transfer of a number of different dusting compounds to un-dusted colony mates with varied results. In the field however, application of a dusting compound in conjunction with the commercial bait stations significantly reduced termite numbers, suggesting perhaps a multi-compound approach is most effective. | |||||||||||||||
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