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History
of Baiting Stations Termite baiting systems
have changed dramatically over the years from a simple peace of wood on the
ground to the elaborate systems we have today. In fact today we have names
for components of baiting systems like monitors, bar’s, aggregation devices.
Etc. 1940 to 1960 Initially the idea of
termite baiting was to get the termites to eat poison bait and die this would
hopefully kill off all the termites leaving none to attack the building. A
lot of this type of back yard amateur and experimental baiting was done about
1940 to 1960’s. The baits were called white ant sandwiches and were usually
apiece of jarrah and pinewood with arsenic sandwiched in between. They were
buried in the ground and usually forgotten about (a dangerous practice). The
arsenic in the 40’s and 50’s was widely distributed to the general public and
sold under various names one being Levinite. Towards the end of the time
period however the availability of arsenic to the public was gradually
withdrawn and the back yard experimenter had to rely on professional pest controllers
with accurate and environmentally safe methods of termite control. Stewarts during this time
period has started developing a number of termite baiting systems. Stewarts baiting initially
thwarted with the crude stake in the ground or a number of stakes of
different wood types to find where the termites were. Then when they were
attacked a larger piece of the dame wood was placed on the ground beside and
when it was attacked it was powdered skilfully with arsenic. At one stage Stewarts came
to using larger staked with an inspection hole drilled in the centre ‘the
whole stake system’, this hole was used for inspecting termite activity and
for arsenic powdering as well. These stakes were made of different wood
types. The main advantage of this
system was that the operator did not have to disturb the termites to see if
they were present and treatment could be done straight away through the same
inspection hole. The 1960’s Through the late 1960’s
into the 1970’s Stewarts developed the whole stake system further by adding
wings. The wings increased the surface exposure to rambling termite galleries
under the soil. This allowed less bait stations needed to provide a good
termite strike rate it also allowed a number of different types of wood to be
tested along the wing. The operator also had more scope when looking for
termites but setting the winged monitoring station’s ‘at right angles to
where he thought the nest was and the known food source. The 1970’s In the early 1970’s
Stewarts experimented with many other methods of termite baiting systems two
were: 1. Toilet role in a tin was an old nestles milk tin or
similar with a toilet role for the termites to eat inside. The tin had holes
punched in it mainly in the base so the termite could enter and was buried
deep enough so the lid could be easily removed for inspection and treatment
to advantage of toilet role was that it could replaced with little
disturbance to contacting termite galleries. This method was used in
conjunction with wings as mentioned above. 2. The telephone book library. A number of old phone
books were buried side by side spin down usually six to ten books gave a food
result to purpose of burying the books spine down was for inspection by
prying the pages open. Arsenic treatment was used when the books were
infested. The 1980’s The styrene bait box was
developed in the 1980’s it was called a baiting chamber by Stewarts and has
the best of the Winged monitoring stations, Toilet role in a can and the
telephone book library all in one. It was a styrene foam box (initially Stewarts
used styrene eskies or lunch drink coolers) with holes punched mainly in the
base it was filed with single sided corrugated cardboard and various veneers
of different woods. The advantages of this
system were: 1. The termites could readily make there own access
through the styrienne once they had established the food source. 2. The food source could be changed if needed or
replaced easily. 3. There was plenty of food. 4. When active there were plenty of termites to treat
and a greater chance of killing of the nest. 1990’s In to the 1990’s and after the stopping of organic
chloride chemicals use on termites the whole pest control industry needed
help in controlling termites, as the available product for termite control would
not do the same job. So since then we have seen many other baiting devices
appear and of course new claimed experts that have the ultimate systems or
new invention. Stewarts have taken advantage of this huge think tank and with
our experience and knowledge we have been able to pick the eyes out of
numerous systems and items available to us. Today we have some of the old faithful methods we
mentioned previous and new devices like some of the monitoring stations etc. Monitors can be linked with and by bars to form a
chain in or around a building thus increasing the chance of termite
detection. Stewarts monitors can be placed direct into soil, concrete, paving
and walls. A monitor’s purpose is only to indicate when termites are present. Below are pictures of the different baits.
Standard Monitor These are for general use
in concrete, soil and paved areas.
Protected Monitor These are used in the
garden or other areas where the monitor is exposed to a lot of water or other
pests the under lid is used to bait black ants that may hinder a termite
attack or other pest like cockroaches. The picture on the right gives a
sectional view of the station.
Penetration Monitor These are for internal use
in concrete floors, walls, etc. The can also aid as a reusable inspection
port for a Borascope and baiting work for other pests. If you would like more
information on the Monitoring Systems then please contact us. |
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