Like most other insects, peak termite activity occurs during times of high humidity, such as spring and summer. From about October, we start to see a major increase in termite activity, through their colonising flights. Flying termites are a real phenomenon which occurs when a termite colony releases reproductives. The reproductives are simply termites with wings, which fly out of the nest in swarms, and are blown around on the wind into areas where they drop their wings and find a mate….and this is how new colonies are formed.

During the termite season, the winged termites will often be found in fly screens, on the front patio or inside your roof. They swarm from the nest in huge numbers and are at the mercy of the wind as to where they land. One major identifying feature of  flying termites (known as alates), is the presence of two pairs of wings, which are equal in size. They are quite cumbersome in the air, and will appear to be flapping their wings quite slowly in comparison to other insects of similar size. They are usually honey coloured, to a darker, almost black with pale see through wings.

If you are finding the winged critters around your home, then it’s almost a certainty that there is an active termite colony on your property, or a neighbours so you need to be vigilant. While termites are active at all times of year, we find that they are most active during the warmest months, and they are responsible for larger amounts of damage, much faster than at other times of the year.

Wings are often the only remnants found after a colonising flight, which can mean that a mating pair have managed to sneak away into a sheltered area to begin the reproduction of the next homeowners disaster. Finding wings does not necessarily mean that you’ll have a termite colony starting on your property, but it’s a damned good reason to get your property checked out and your termite management system in order.

Due to the increased termite activity over the spring and summer, there are often more instances of their presence found by homeowners during gardening and other household chores. Termites are an extremely important part of our ecosystem, but we simply have to manage their presence to keep them from damaging our property. Get your home inspected on an annual basis (as a minimum) and have a termite barrier, or a termite baiting system installed to help reduce the risk of your home being attacked. Termites attack up to 30% of all homes in some areas of Australia. Tasmania has the least amount of registered termite activity of any Australian state, with certain pockets of Victoria, NSW and the Eastern Seaboard of Australia being areas of some of the highest risk of termite attack. Every state has extremely high risk areas, so wherever you are, get a professional to inspect your home, and have a quality termite management system installed.

For the best Termite Baiting System on the market, click through to our shop to see our range of products which have been designed for installation and management by the homeowner.

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A quality inspector will usually have a minimum of 5 years experience, and have a good understanding of construction methods. This knowledge helps them identify possible termite entry pathways and provide a homeowner with methods to reduce the risk of termite attack. Quality equipment is also an important part of the termite professionals arsenal. A good LED torch, a quality moisture meter and Microwave devices such as a Termtrac T3i are valuable to an inspector. Thermal cameras can be helpful at times, but most of the time, these items are simply a tool which looks more valuable than it really is. A knowledgeable inspector will have all the right equipment and provide sound advice. Australian Standards require a minimum list of items required by an inspector.

You have a termite inspection done annually-at the very least. In areas of high risk, or at properties with conditions conducive to termite attack, a termite inspection every 6 months or less would be recommended. Your termite inspector should evaluate the risk of your property with conducive conditions (such as drainage and moisture levels mind), existing termite management (ie termite baits and/or barriers), termite pressure on the property, and an overall risk of termite presence in the area.

Some areas carry a higher prevalence of termite presence than others…For example, The Eastern Seaboard of Australia, from Port Maquarie North is considered a high risk zone for termite activity. Areas like The Northern Rivers, Tweed Valley and Tweed Coast, Gold Coast, Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast are all hotspots which see high levels of population, and a high incidence of termite attack on property. There are lots of other areas also, and the risk is just as high in areas where population levels are lower but there is just not the amount of reported damage.

So, getting a smaller, boutique company with a bit more accountability is recommended, and while you have your inspector on site, use their knowledge. Ask questions and clarify anything you might want to know. Get their recommendations on how to best protect your property and possibly the best question to ask, starts with… “So, if this was your home….”

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Within the termite management industry, there are only a few products which professionals use confidently to protect their customers homes.

In terms of chemical treatment, ‘fiprinol’ is the most now commonly used product for spot treatment of live termites and chemical treated zones. It’s non repellency properties mean that termites are not deterred by its presence, and so termites are unknowingly infecting themselves with the lethal product 24 hrs a day, which is a simple but laborious task to implement.

In terms of professional termite baits, the main 4 professionally used systems are Sentricon ‘Always Active’, Exterra, Termatrix, and Nemisis. Sentricon has released an industry changing product which has simplified the baiting process for professionals, and provides ongoing 24hr termite protection with their ‘Always Active’ Termiticide rods, which are the attractant, AND the poison all in one product. Incidentally, this is the product which Termicure has adopted for the Termicure ‘Active’ Packs.

Exterra, has been the biggest player in professional termite baiting for some time. The stations are large, which allows for good volume of termite bait matrix to be applied, and they are easy to inspect. The Exterra Bait matrix is of the best quality, so there are limited failures which has haunted many other multinational bait producers.

Termitrix is a good product also, with large stations and a good termite bait matrix. This product has been closely modelled off many of the good features with the Exterra System, and are at a price point for the professional.

Nemisis, are a small termite bait station, with unknown bait matrix quality. Often, the matrix is fine, but then there are also instances where termites will vacate the station for no apparent reason, which can put doubt in the mind of the pest manager. This can happen with any bait matrix. The stations are also small, which limits the amount of bait which can be applied to the station, and they are also flimsy in construction. The Nemisis product is the cheaper option of the four main ones, and is often used by the less meticulous termite manager.

In any case, all of the above systems work to some degree, although some better than others.

The best advancement in the termite protection industry in the last 10 years has certainly been the introduction of the termiticide rod. Sentricon ‘Always Active’ Rods can be retrofitted into any existing Sentricon termite bait station, Exterra or Termatrix. The Nemisis bait termite stations are too small to install the ‘Always Active’ Rods, and so some modification has to be undertaken to retrofit with these baits.

The key advantage of the termiticide rods is that termites do not have to be identified in a station to begin applying the poison. The process is automated, with the termiticide rods attracting termites to them for feeding, and then also poisoning the colony for eradication. This removes the key step of having to apply a bait matrix to active termite bait stations. The process may well be already underway before you are even aware that the stations are being attacked. This removes many of the pitfalls which haunt professionals, such as contaminated bait matrix, inconsistent bait matrix, contaminated water, accidental contamination by the termite manager etc…

Once the Termiticide Rods are installed, termite protection is underway.

This is the reason that Termicure has combined their termite baiting product with the ‘Always Active’ Rods. As a well known DIY Termite Baiting product, we saw the opportunity to make the termite baiting process as fool proof as possible for the homeowner. The Termicure ‘Active Packs’ are specifically designed for the most simple termite baiting process available for the homeowner to save money.

The introduction of the revolution in termiticide rods has been a breakthrough for the homeowner, and we are riding the wave. Sentricon has changed the playing field with termite baiting, and we couldn’t be happier to be providing suitable advances directly to the homeowner at a fraction of the cost charged by the professionals.

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Creating a physical barrier by exposing the slab edge around a building is an excellent method which is a simple DIY Termite Protection concept, which simply exposes the main area where termite entry is likely to occur (the perimeter), so that their presence can be seen, and professional treatment arranged. With a slab on ground home, this is basically just lowering landscaping levels around the perimeter so that the edge of the slab can be clearly seen. A minimum of 75mm clearance from the next surface is the minimum I would run with. Even more if you can manage it.

DIY Termite protection via the installation a baiting system is an excellent option, with the right products. Traditional termite baiting concepts require 3 stages.

1.Installation of termite bait stations, and attractant materials (timbers).

2.Monitoring of installed stations

3. Treatment of active stations when termites have been identified. This treatment is done with an insect growth regulator, which affects the termites ability to malt, and can take up 12 months, with application of the bait matrix, and increased monitoring at 2 weekly intervals.

The conventional way can be extremely successful, however it is extremely time consuming once the eradication process begins, and there are many parts of the process where human error can cause termites to vacate the stations, and continue on to other areas of your property. Even experience termite professionals can have issues with termite baiting, through the simple nature of the process.

The Termicure ‘Active’ System is perfect for DIY termite protection, with only two simple stages…

1. Installation of termite bait stations with Termiticide Rods.
2. Check the stations every 3 months, and install an additional termiticide rod once termite activity has been identified. The poisoning of the colony has already begun. There is no need for mixing termite bait matrix’s or continual feeding.

The termiticide rods contain the materials to both attract, and eradicate an entire termite colony. Sold only as a professional product, it’s become a world leader in legitimate DIY termite protection, which is non toxic for humans or domestic animals.

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With extensive experience within the industry as a business owner, employer, and technician, it is often easier to offer your customer the treatment which suits the business or technician best. There are 3 main methods of termite protection. 1-a physical barrier such as Kordon or Termimesh which is installed at time of construction, and provides a physical product designed to force termites into the open. 2-A chemical soil treatment (perimeter barrier) which kills termites on contact as they forage through the ground in search of food. 3-Termite Baiting systems, which attract foraging termites for an automatic ingestion of termiticide (termiticide rods) or for a bait matrix application.

Put simply, an existing home is usually limited to the chemical soil treatment or termite bait installation.

Now, most slab on ground homes will benefit most from the installation of a chemical soil treatment, because it creates a chemically treated zone around the most likely areas where termite entry occurs-the perimeter. This process involves trenching of the perimeter where soil abuts the slab edge, and drilling abutting concrete pathways and driveways for injection of chemical into the soil below. This creates a continuous treated zone which kills termites. This is very labour intensive, backbreaking work, and for a pest control business, it requires a fully qualified professional to be on site during all treatment.

Termite Baits on the other hand, is a far less labour intensive form of termite protection. Instead of trenching and drilling an entire perimeter (75 lineal metres is an average house perimeter), a termite bait installation simply requires an unqualified person to dig approximately 25 holes, with baits to be simply installed into. This process does not require a termite professional, so labour costs are down, however it is rarely found that these costs are reduced for the homeowner, which is why DIY Termite Baits are so popular with homeowners. The service and maintenance of termite bait systems is also something which Pest Control Operators will often use an unqualified labourer for. Again, this is cost cutting.

Now this is not how all Pest Control Operators work, but it is common. A good way to see if your pest control operator has your interests at heart, is whether you are offered the installation of a termite barrier or a baiting system. If you own a slab on ground house, and there are no significant obstructions, then the best method will almost certainly be a termite barrier (chemical soil treatment), but if you’re offered the installation of a baiting system, then you could be talking to a lazy termite professional who is more interested in profits than the wellbeing of your property.

Get some other opinions and do your research. Facebook reviews are often a good source of customer feedback, so do your research.

Always get the opinion of a professional, but speak with a few to get the feel for what the common consensus might be when it comes to protection. A little research can go a long way to saving you thousands.

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The revolution in Termite Baiting, is the introduction of the Termiticide Rod, by Sentricon. Cleverly, we have integrated our successful Termicure Termite Bait Stations, with the Sentricon ‘Always Active’ Rods, to make termite baiting simple for the homeowner as a DIY termite product. Being anything but ametuer, the Sentricon Always Active Termiticide Rods, contain both the attractant to draw the termites to the rods for feeding, but also the toxins to wipe out the colony, helping to protect your property.

Almost any cavity style termite baiting system (external in ground systems with a cavity for installation of attractant timbers), such as Exterra, Termicure, Sentricon, Termiatrix, Nemesis (with some modification) can be upgraded by simply removing the timber attractant materials and replacing them with Termiticide Rods.

Most Termite Baiting Systems use the cavity style principle so a termite bait matrix can be added when active termites are identified in a station. The conventional system of continual baiting until colony eradication has taken a big hit in popularity, with the Sentricon Always Active product having been released to the market. Now, instead of having to purchase attractant materials, timber, bait matrix and other cellulose products to fit suitably into whichever station you own, a termiticide rod can now replace it. It’s an attractant and a poison in one, which eradicates termite colonies.

So don’t feel trapped with your current termite baiting system. It can almost certainly be upgraded to make life even simple and a whole lot cheaper.

For further information on whether your system is suitable, simply email us the details at info@termicure.com.au

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What we have seen in the industry with the introduction of the Termiticide Rod, by Sentricon, is a major advancement in termite control in general. Termite professionals no longer need the years of experience previously required to eradicate termites from in ground termite bait stations. The days of accidental disturbance of termite activity causing stations to be vacated is over with Sentricon developing a bait, and toxicant in one product.

There are still many termite professionals utilising the conventional termite baiting method, with the requirement of mixing and adding a bait matrix to an active station. This is risky enough without being an inexperienced homeowner. The application of the bait can be the cause of many termite eradication failures with incorrect bait mixes, contaminated hands or water, contaminated stations or just too much disturbance.

The Sentricon ‘Always Active’ Rods, are almost maintenance free. They last in the ground for up to 5 years unless depleted by termites, and they actually kill termites without the need for any further work. The only maintenance is the usual checking to ensure that the station is free from debris, and other pests which can invade stations from time to time.

Successful DIY Termite Protection is now a ‘thing’!

The process is simple. Just install your inground Termicure Termite Baits at approximately 3 metre intervals about the perimeter of the footprint of the building (drip line). There are some specific details for where not to install the stations, and more detail can be found here on our website.

Stations should be checked every 3-6 months depending on the environment, with areas north of the Tropic of Capricorn at shorter intervals due to the aggressive nature of the Mastotermes sp. termites commonly located in these areas.

Once activity is located, simply replace the termiticide rods once 50% has been consumed, and allow the activity to continue feeding.

The termiticide rods contain the product Hexaflumuron, which affects the termites ability to molt. Eventually, this prevents termites from being able to support the colony, leading to their demise.

So, if you are like thousands of other Australians not wanting to pay a fortune for professional termite management, then Successful DIY termite protection is available. We will always recommend that you seek professional, site specific advice, however the alternatives are now there…

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