Terminte - Bait system versus chemical treatment

[Klaus]

Hi,
I'd like to see whether anyone out there has good experiences with a
Termite Bait system, such as Exterra or Sentricon rather than chemical
treatment (Termidor or Talstar)?
The bait system seems to be considerably more expensive (initial
treatment appr 25 -50% more, includes killing exiting termites with
chemicals) and the yearly fees (inspection and "structural" insurance)
are 100 to 150% percent more than traditional/chemical plans.

I'd be interested in experiences or opinions that you might have.

Klaus

[Jeff Ledford]

Klaus, I have worked for a Sentricon Authorized Operator, and I have
personally offered the Exterra Termite system. Let me tell you of some
of my experiences.

With Exterra, I found out after I removed the system from some homes
that termites were in the stations, however they had never broken
through the monitors along the outer rim and into the center chamber
for us to find them. On the homes that did get "hits", the bait became
so wet and soggy so quickly that the termites quit feeding on it. It
was a disaster.

With Sentricon, I have seen it work very successfully, and I have seen
it fail miserably.

In one home, we had termites hit the stations within 2 weeks of
installing the system. These were very heavy hits, too. We ended up
more than doubling the number of stations installed to accomodate the
extra feeding that was needed. We achieved "elimination" (as it is
claimed) within 8 months.

On the flip side, we installed a system around a home that had active
termites in 2 rooms, and swarms every spring. For the 2 years I was
involved with this home there was never a hit in any station. None.
Yet the termites continued to work on the home.

This has been my personal experience with termite baiting. Now, with
Termidor, I have had to retreat ZERO homes since it was introduced in
2000. It has eliminated the termite problems from every structure I
have treated with it, and it has achieved control within 90 days.

I could rant about what I feel is best, but I will present only my
personal experiences and leave my opinion out of it.

[Lar]

In article <***@nc.rr.com>,
***@nc.rr.com says...
:) I'd like to see whether anyone out there has good experiences with a
:) Termite Bait system, such as Exterra or Sentricon rather than chemical
:) treatment (Termidor or Talstar)?
:)
:)
I, like Jeff, have been around Sentricon from the
beginning and when I went self employed I chose to go
Exterra because it is a more usable system. But I have
totally given up on baiting systems to be a practical
way to protect the house, or say try to protect the
house. Since termidor came out I have yet to have a call
back, so that is about the only thing I would recommend.
But as far as baits go, I usually come across several
homes a year that have been baited for several years and
I have found termite tubes on the home within just a few
feet of bait stations. I don't even know if I would give
them advantage over the older type liquid treatments any
longer. Too much money for too little the results.

[t***@adelphia.net]

Aw hell leave it up to me to be the radical one. In this bizarre world we
call Pest Control everything has its own place. Baits do in fact have their
own place and that is in the trash. If you are considering having your home
treated for termites use something that is proven to work. I was at a state
meet and there was a regulatory officer from the state of GA there and he
gave a very interesting lecture, now I must also say this was pre-Termidor,
he started his lecture out with this quote, "if you are treating homes for
termites with baits it is going to come back and bite you in the ass!" That
is a verbatim quote from the man, and like I say this was before Termidor
was available for use in the USA. If you are going to have your home treated
have it done with something that you will know works, something that you
feel comfortable with, have them use either Termidor, Premise, or even
Phantom. The reason I say use something that you will feel comfortable with
is because if you had felt that way about baits you would not have been here
asking such a question.

First instincts are always best and it appears your first instinct is to not
trust baits.

[t***@adelphia.net]

So Greg when is Orkin going to make the announcment they are going back to
liquid treatments? I am sure it will be soon. I know Terminix is already
buying trucks with 300 gallon rigs on the back of them, they are set to
automatically mix the termidor during application. I knew it would happen
sooner or later, I think we all did. The big guys just simply seen a way to
make more millions and risk the small chance of a lawsuit filed against
them. The lawsuits will start to come in a couple of years if not sooner.