On Thu, 07 Aug 2008 20:05:47 +0000, len gardener wrote:

g'day terry,

can i ask wher the nest is situated?

Between two houses. They were into the trunk of a Melalueca amaryllis that
I lopped off as it was filling mine and the neighbours gutters. Bad
mistake as it was really great shade for that partof the house.

Every so often I test the 7' stump by rocking it, or trying as I expected
it to take a decade plus for the roots to rot out and I could pull it
down. Meanwhile, it was great support for tools, hoses, plants, etc as
the area was made a shade house.

So, I wasn't surprised when it didn't moved when I pushed, but oh oh when
it moved when I pulled it and it craked at the base and I suddenly had
100kg+ of tree stump/trunk to gently guide somewhere.


it is probably going to be unlikely that it is the termites main nest,

That is what I thought actually. Probably too late now, but I'd like
something they'd take back to the nest.

so something to consider if you do anything to cause the termites to
move on, which is what they may likely do they could move on to you home
or some place else out of sight but not out of you life.

This whole area is termite country. so you'd have to consider them as
always there. Yes, they have already visited the house.

it may just be best to chat to a termite expert they have ways of
poisoning the nest and the main nest as well by setting baits or
whatever.

Sorry, but I see no reason to ask a clueless **** with their eyes on "how
much $$$$ can I milk the situation for". Almost 99.99% sure that there
line will be "they are in that tree there and you'll have to get rid of
it, or they'll offer to spray my yard with another toxic chemical. I am
still wondering if the white substance all over the soil under the
house is arsenic or something else.


the main nest could be a couple of k's or so away and hidden from sight,
especially if you have bush near by.

Then they have come past a lot of possible targets.

not all termites attack timber and not all termites attack our homes the
best defence is to have a well maintaned termite barrier around your
home and out buildings, better still if you ever get the opportunity to
do so build an eco' friendly termite resistant home then you have no
worries.

Yep, know all this. Just a bit lacking in the regular inspections around
all the piers under the house as it involves a low of crawling under very
low joists.


keep us informed

I suspect that this nest is well hidden in the local streets and has
fairly extensive burrows. They have hit the house once and we fixed the
problem source; valley gutter too small by replacing the entire roof
($$4ouch). The gutter now goes into a small tank and the overflow runs
along the fence down to the back of the yard. we extended the overflow
when they came up into some vertical boards stacked on a gravel base.

The problem about putting down a barrier is that I'd have to completely
circle the whole house to considerable depth as they have hit other houses
all around (but xoo metres away).

What i really want is some liquid that I can have on hand and pour on the
soil where & when I discover them that they will pick up and take back to
their nest. Loosing this nest isn't going to affect the local bushland
(next street over), if that is where they are coming from.

The local bushland is very healthy with mound building termites and I love
taking the local kids down the bush to show them the new ones being built
and educating them about the different termites. which reminds me,if I
ever get the Tv capture card working again, I can use it to try
and identify what might be a little white termite that turns up in my
cool-style compost bins. I built the "microscope" that was a project in
Silicon Chip sometime ago, which uses alittle matchbox cmos camera and a
lense from an old slr camera.


Okay, procrastinated enough. Nowe I have to go and meke SWMBO a cuppa.

"terryc" wrote in message
news
The problem about putting down a barrier is that I'd have to completely
circle the whole house to considerable depth as they have hit other houses
all around (but xoo metres away).

What i really want is some liquid that I can have on hand and pour on the
soil where & when I discover them that they will pick up and take back to
their nest. Loosing this nest isn't going to affect the local bushland
(next street over), if that is where they are coming from.

The local bushland is very healthy with mound building termites and I love
taking the local kids down the bush to show them the new ones being built
and educating them about the different termites. which reminds me,if I
ever get the Tv capture card working again, I can use it to try
and identify what might be a little white termite that turns up in my
cool-style compost bins. I built the "microscope" that was a project in
Silicon Chip sometime ago, which uses alittle matchbox cmos camera and a
lense from an old slr camera.


Okay, procrastinated enough. Nowe I have to go and meke SWMBO a cuppa.

good for you!
back to the subject. our house came with a free set of termites - same
situation as you, they are everywhere round here (& i don't object to that
of course), but the reason they were eating our house was due to flooding in
the past which rotted some of the wood.

we fixed things so that flooding in the future is unlikely to happen, and
we;re going to replace the wood asap, but yes, it's always going to be a
"risk".

i got a pestie round who used "exterra" traps round the house (and one
inside). this is the thing you want - the traps contain cellulose baited
with "requiem" (titter!) which they take home to the main nest & die from.
it's NOT a poison in the usual sense - it basically destroys their jaws so
they can't eat & subsequently all die. which isn't nice, but there you go. i
believe you can't get a poison they take home, however, i may be wrong about
that. if you can, it must be very slow-acting so they wouldn't associate the
two events, otherwise they'll stop eating it & you've achieved nothing. if
such a thing was available, i'm pretty sure everyone would know, so i'm
therefore not sure that what you want actually exists.

at any rate. the exterra traps solved the problem of infestation chez moi.
the traps are unbaited to start with, then once they have begun to eat the
bait, the additive is put in as well. the only thing to do after that, & in
your situation, is to ensure that they won't visit the house again anyway.
this means all the usual malarky of fixing leaks & monitoring the slab &
ensuring all woodwork is dry & sound etc etc. truthfully, if there is plenty
of functional bushland around with wood rotting in the ground for them to
eat, your house isn't at unusual risk unless there are problems with the
house - as you've seen by them eating the tree stump instead because it was
rotting but the house was not. i think i read above that the crawl-space
under the house is very small..? even so, keep checking anyway. get a small
person if you don't want to do it yourself!

not sure if this post helps or not :-) also, i found exterra treatment to be
quite expensive!!!! but on the other hand, it solved the problem & the extra
tips & info i got from the pestie was free. and the baits are permanent, so
if any subsequent treatment is required, part of the trouble & expense will
not be there 2nd time around.

having said all that, unless you have termites in your actual house, you
don't want exterra treatment, i'm sure - they would do it, but you might
find it hard to justify the expense on a "just in case" basis. however, i DO
know there is a treatment they will eat & take home which kills. but i also
know it cannot be sold to joe-on-the-street. they won't sell it to you
as-is.
kylie

0tterbot wrote:
"terryc" wrote in message
news
The problem about putting down a barrier is that I'd have to completely
circle the whole house to considerable depth as they have hit other houses
all around (but xoo metres away).

What i really want is some liquid that I can have on hand and pour on the
soil where & when I discover them that they will pick up and take back to
their nest. Loosing this nest isn't going to affect the local bushland
(next street over), if that is where they are coming from.

The local bushland is very healthy with mound building termites and I love
taking the local kids down the bush to show them the new ones being built
and educating them about the different termites. which reminds me,if I
ever get the Tv capture card working again, I can use it to try
and identify what might be a little white termite that turns up in my
cool-style compost bins. I built the "microscope" that was a project in
Silicon Chip sometime ago, which uses alittle matchbox cmos camera and a
lense from an old slr camera.


Okay, procrastinated enough. Nowe I have to go and meke SWMBO a cuppa.

good for you!
back to the subject. our house came with a free set of termites - same
situation as you, they are everywhere round here (& i don't object to that
of course), but the reason they were eating our house was due to flooding in
the past which rotted some of the wood.

we fixed things so that flooding in the future is unlikely to happen, and
we;re going to replace the wood asap, but yes, it's always going to be a
"risk".

i got a pestie round who used "exterra" traps round the house (and one
inside). this is the thing you want - the traps contain cellulose baited
with "requiem" (titter!) which they take home to the main nest & die from.
it's NOT a poison in the usual sense - it basically destroys their jaws so
they can't eat & subsequently all die. which isn't nice, but there you go. i
believe you can't get a poison they take home, however, i may be wrong about
that. if you can, it must be very slow-acting so they wouldn't associate the
two events, otherwise they'll stop eating it & you've achieved nothing. if
such a thing was available, i'm pretty sure everyone would know, so i'm
therefore not sure that what you want actually exists.

at any rate. the exterra traps solved the problem of infestation chez moi.
the traps are unbaited to start with, then once they have begun to eat the
bait, the additive is put in as well. the only thing to do after that, & in
your situation, is to ensure that they won't visit the house again anyway.
this means all the usual malarky of fixing leaks & monitoring the slab &
ensuring all woodwork is dry & sound etc etc. truthfully, if there is plenty
of functional bushland around with wood rotting in the ground for them to
eat, your house isn't at unusual risk unless there are problems with the
house - as you've seen by them eating the tree stump instead because it was
rotting but the house was not. i think i read above that the crawl-space
under the house is very small..? even so, keep checking anyway. get a small
person if you don't want to do it yourself!

That should be easy, Dwarves are always looking for work.


not sure if this post helps or not :-) also, i found exterra treatment to be
quite expensive!!!! but on the other hand, it solved the problem & the extra
tips & info i got from the pestie was free. and the baits are permanent, so
if any subsequent treatment is required, part of the trouble & expense will
not be there 2nd time around.

having said all that, unless you have termites in your actual house, you
don't want exterra treatment, i'm sure - they would do it, but you might
find it hard to justify the expense on a "just in case" basis. however, i DO
know there is a treatment they will eat & take home which kills. but i also
know it cannot be sold to joe-on-the-street. they won't sell it to you
as-is.
kylie

"Jon" wrote in message
u...
even so, keep checking anyway. get a small
person if you don't want to do it yourself!

That should be easy, Dwarves are always looking for work.

that's right. terry would be doing the right thing to contact the thin
dwarves house-inspection association!

by coincidence, i saw an ad for these people in some junk mail yesterday.
it's the same concept of baiting them with stuff they take home, but at a
d.i.y. price: www.termitetrap.com.au
kylie

0tterbot wrote:
"Jon" wrote in message
u...
even so, keep checking anyway. get a small
person if you don't want to do it yourself!
That should be easy, Dwarves are always looking for work.

that's right. terry would be doing the right thing to contact the thin
dwarves house-inspection association!

by coincidence, i saw an ad for these people in some junk mail yesterday.
it's the same concept of baiting them with stuff they take home, but at a
d.i.y. price: www.termitetrap.com.au
kylie


No No, dont bait the dwarves....Theyre cute.
There's one that lives near me he's got the biggest darn dog ever.
I reckon he could ride it. I reckon you 'd come of second best in a
fight. (with the dog that is)

On Tue, 12 Aug 2008 09:42:36 +1000, Jon wrote:


No No, dont bait the dwarves....Theyre cute.
There's one that lives near me he's got the biggest darn dog ever.
I reckon he could ride it. I reckon you 'd come of second best in a
fight. (with the dog that is)

Mastiff?
They rival a small horse in size.

terryc wrote:
On Tue, 12 Aug 2008 09:42:36 +1000, Jon wrote:


No No, dont bait the dwarves....Theyre cute.
There's one that lives near me he's got the biggest darn dog ever.
I reckon he could ride it. I reckon you 'd come of second best in a
fight. (with the dog that is)

Mastiff?
They rival a small horse in size.

Al I know is that I walk on one side of the road when I see him coming.
He walks where he likes. Great protection..