Bait Systems

• Termite bait and monitoring systems arose because of concerns over a previous termite control method. This previous treatment used heavy-duty pest-control operations to create a barrier around the home. This barrier method involved drilling around the home and injecting the soil with up to hundreds of gallons of pesticides. These pesticides posed a danger to groundwater deposits because of the amount of chemicals in the groundwater runoff. Another reason for the move away from the barrier system is because it was recently discovered that termites have a beneficial effect within nature by returning nutrients to the soil.
  
  

Unpredictability

• This method assumes that avoiding termite control where an active infestation has been identified is less hazardous than the application of some form of control. When an infestation of a building has occurred, termites pose a serious hazard to the residents, but the success of using termite baits in and around the structure to eliminate the infestation is unpredictable. For example, two homes in the same neighborhood can each have a bait and monitoring system in use, but the termites in one home may find the bait stations sooner than the termites in the other home.
  
  

Detritus

• Another hazard of the bait and monitoring system is that, when effective, it can become a victim of its own success. Termite colony systems can extend up to a full acre in size and you do not always need to eliminate the entire colony to create structural protection. It is possible for termites to find the baiting system surrounding the infestation too rapidly. When this happens the baits can kill too quickly, resulting in a pile-up of dead and sick termites near the bait stations. Such a pile-up of affected termites creates an avoidance of these baiting stations among unaffected termites.
  
  

Combinations

• In some termite control circumstances, those managing the control may use combination systems. That is, they may combine the less predictable, slower-acting bait and monitoring system with the predecessor barrier system. This can cause an increased environmental hazard compared to the baiting system. In this method it is possible for the stronger, more volatile liquid pesticides used in the barrier system to combine with the termite-specific lethal substance in the baits, resulting in a higher level of toxic runoff from the treatments.