March 2007 / Vol.4 / Issue 3

Hello and Welcome to the March Greenpest News. Each month we aim to provide you with some useful information, keeping it short, sweet and pertinent.

Contents

1. Pest Talk
2. New Pack Sizes
3. Customer Question of the Month.
4. Story of the Month.
5. Monthly Special

Pest Talk

Special Announcement... And we're not just excited. We're ecstatic!

It's taken 11 years to happen, but finally Termidor® Dust is available. The number 1 termiticide in the world has now been released in Australia in a new dust formulation. It is the culmination of over 10 years research and is the perfect nest elimination product. This dust has been tested and proven to work extremely well with the Green Termite Bait System. We conducted trials with the dust in 2006 and we were greatly impressed with the results.

It is non-repellent to termites. When applied correctly, Termidor® Dust will not repel termites and therefore they cannot avoid the treatment.

Termidor® solution has been used in more than 50,000 structures in Europe and on over 2.6 million structures in the US. In Australia it has been used on 15,000 buildings since its introduction in 2002.

Is Termidor®safe?

Termidor® is one of the most thoroughly reviewed termite control products in history. Termidor® has been assessed by the APVMA (Australian Pesticide and Veterinary Medicine Authority) and Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing and is fully approved for use in domestic situations. Termidor® is applied at some of the lowest doses of any of the termiticides available today and in addition, the active ingredient is used extensively on food crops around the world and as the leading product for flea and tick control on dogs and cats in Australia since 1996.

Only .25g is needed to treat a Green Termite Bait. How much? Just .25g! No, that isn't a misprint. just one quarter of one gram of Termidor® Dust is sufficient to kill an entire nest of termites. The active ingredient in Termidor® (Fipronil) is a member of the phenyl pyrazole chemical group. Termidor® acts via contact and ingestion, to block the GABA receptors in the central nervous system; therefore disrupting nerve impulses, resulting in death. It is highly toxic to termites, but extremely safe around humans. This is because the termite's GABA receptors are different to those in humans.

It takes just 15 nanograms of Termidor® to kill a termite. (No... a nanogram isn't a telegram to Nana).

By definition: nanogram; Noun 1. ng - one billionth (1/1,000,000,000) gram.

Picture this, 1 gram of Termidor® Dust in the palm of your hand is about the size of a ten cent piece. 15 nanograms is .000,000,000,15th of that!

Try saying this: It is a fifteenth billionth of a gram.

You would need an electron microscope to see it.

Will Termidor® get back to the nest?

Absolutely! Thanks to Termidor's unique "Transfer Effect™", termites don't even need to ingest or contact the termiticide directly in order to die from it. All they need to do is make contact with another termite that has already contacted or ingested Termidor®. This is because termites that come into contact with Termidor® collect it on their bodies. They then become carriers that spread the termiticide to other termites. And the "Transfer Effect" doesn't quite end there. Secondarily affected termites can also pass Termidor® on to others and indeed this will eventually wipe out the entire colony. Termites are social insects that live together in large colonies and feed and groom each other. The "Transfer Effect" makes the most of this. It's a key reason why no other termiticide performs as well as Termidor®.

Termites will usually die from Termidor® within 4 hours of it entering their system. If the dead termite is cannibalised by other termites then it will spread to them also.

A termite that has come in contact with the dust will come in contact with many other termites in the time it takes for the initial termite to die. They in turn will do the same thing. The dust rapidly spreads throughout the entire colony in days sealing their fate.

Because Termidor® Dust is made with alpha-cellulose as the carrier, some termites will eat the dust in the Green Termite Bait whilst other simply pick it up on their bodies. Termidor® kills the termites once the active ingredient (Fipronil) enters the termite's metabolism. A termite with dust on its' exterior won't be affected until the Termidor® penetrates the soft exoskeleton. The time lag from initial contact with the Termidor® Dust to death is one of the reasons that Termidor® Dust is so effective. It means a contaminated termite has plenty of time to spread the Termidor® Dust to other termites before it dies itself. Termites don't stand a chance.

Nest eradication is usually completed in just 2 - 4 weeks. That is absolutely brilliant, and if you have termites around your area then you should be excited because it's no longer your home at risk, it's theirs! Termites don't stand a chance.

Like we say in our slogan; "Termites don't play fair. Neither should you!"

We will talk more about Termidor® Dust in future newsletters.

Note: Excerpts of this newsletter have been taken from information and literature provided by BASF - Termidor®.

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Quick Tip

With the latest model Green Termite Bait we provide and use a dark green treatment window to keep the light out of the bait once it has been treated. If you accidentally misplace your dark windows, then you can still close the termite treatment tubes after treatment by simply rotating the top through 180° to cover the holes.

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New Pack Sizes

We are no longer selling 12, 18, 24, 30 or 36 packs of DIY Green Termite Baits. For convenience we are now packaging the baits in 6 packs only.

The Pack contains:

 

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Just one question to ask our competition.

The Green Termite Bait System is growing more and more popular as pest managers across the country discover just how simple and effective it is. The release of Termidor® Dust and its perfect compatibility with the Green Termite Bait System will see even more pesties join our list of authorised distributors. Our latest design with the dual purpose Ec2c Termite Windows incorporated into the cap on the top of the bait has proven to be remarkably effective at luring passing termites and readily revealing their presence in the clear windows.

The termites can easily be identified during the treatment process with very little disturbance.

Sales of Exterra and Sentricon II are declining worldwide, whilst sales of the Green Termite Bait System are increasing. Our competition is on the back foot and we are starting to hear all sorts of wacky comments and misinformation as to why our system is 'no chop'. Some of the things we hear are dead set funny and others are just plain lies. There is only one thing you need ask if you should hear any negative comments about the Green Termite Bait System, and that is, "How do you know, have you tried it for yourself?"

The fact is that if they did try it and give it a fair go, then they would see for themselves just how effective it is. They would soon realise that the Green Termite Baiting System puts every other monitoring and baiting system to shame as per our comparison sheet. There is no doubt that if they did try it, they would soon see the light and join with us and add it to their own armory of termite management tools, especially now that Termidor® Dust is available.

At Green Termite Bait Systems we are continually working towards the perfection of termite monitoring, interception and baiting to achieve nest elimination. We especially welcome negative comments and feedback for the growth and development that we achieve if the comments are pertinent.

If you hear any negative comments or have any of your own, please contact us so we can answer them. In many cases we have addressed the issue already, so if you would like to see an index of termite topics, please visit this page: http://www.greenpest.com.au/newsletter.html

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Customer Question of the Month.

Question:

Hi Jerry,

Why can't I buy some Termiticide from you? Why not put some in with your kits? Is there any way I can buy some from a chemical supplier or from my local pestie?

Peter T. Flinders Park Adelaide SA

Answer:

Hi Peter,

I'd love a dollar for every time I get asked this question. It would be wonderful if we could provide termiticide with our kits, but at this point in time it would seem that it is never going to happen. In Australia we have labeling laws which are governed by the APVMA www.apvma.gov.au. All insecticides are registered with the APVMA before release to the public or the industry.

Many modern insecticides and rodenticides are available in Woolies and Coles. Fly spray, personal insect repellent and rat bait, all of which can be dangerous if misused, are readily available. In fact many of the products available on the shelf contain the very same active ingredients as are found in termiticides. Either their formulation and/or labeling is different.

Chemicals can only legally be applied and/or sold according to their labels. The APVMA is mainly concerned about the safety and correct use of the products and most termiticides are as safe as most fly sprays. However, termiticides all have wording on the label that basically says, "Only to be used by licenced professionals, not to be sold separately". These words are added by the manufacturers of the product, NOT the APVMA. If the manufacturers didn't add these words to the label you would be able to go into a supermarket or hardware store and buy these products yourself.

So why are these words on the label?

Firstly they are there to protect you, the consumer, from yourself! Here's why. Termiticides work extremely well in the hands of an expert. There is every chance of successfully destroying termites and their nest if the termiticide is applied by an experienced termite manager who has practiced skills and knowledge about termites as well as experience on how to apply termiticides without scaring the termites off.

If you watch a professional do it, it looks easy. But it is just as easy to muck it up, especially if you haven't got experience.

Manufacturers don't want the public doing it themselves because if it goes wrong then the termites may survive and go on to destroy even more of your home. It is only human nature that some people will blame the chemical rather than themselves if it is applied ineffectively. So the first reason they put these words on the label is to protect your home.

The second is to protect their product's reputation.

The third is to protect themselves legally from frivolous claims from disgruntled home owners who failed to successfully rid their home of termites themselves.

Finally in answer to your question, there are many more real benefits that you will gain by having a professional apply the termiticides, rather than doing it yourself.

Story of the Month.

Snakes, Termites, Terror and Olympic Records...

By Jerry Furnell

I was crawling along on my belly under a lowset house checking the stumps and bearers for termites. It was the lowest section of the house farthermost from the small access door in the opposite corner. My progress was slow and gingerly because there were a lot of sharp rocks and debris on the ground that poked into my knees and elbows.

My torch was lighting up the bearers on top of the ant capping as I searched for evidence of termites when I noticed a hole in the ground just in front of my nose.

Deciding to take a look, I shone my torch into the hole and at that precise moment a startled 4ft brown snake burst forth from the hole scooting off to my right.

I jerked back so violently that my back slammed into the floorboards above me. In one hell of a hurry I then reverse crawled in the opposite direction to the snake as quickly as I could.

I believe that I might have claimed an Olympic or Guinness World Record that day for the fastest ever reverse crawl over fifteen metres! Interestingly enough I didn't feel or notice any of the sharp impediments that hindered me earlier.

When I emerged from under the house, the lady owner who was inside at the time said she felt the house shake as if it was a mini-earthquake, except she knew it wasn't because she also heard the muffled scream, which is really funny, because I didn't remember actually screaming.

I felt like such a goose.

Ceiling Jitters...

On a similar note, I hate doing termite inspections on older style houses in the hinterland. Especially if there are lots of rat droppings in the roof.

Rats attract snakes.

I don't mind snakes, but I prefer not to be confined in a roof with them. On several occasions I have been moving through a roof looking for signs of termites, when suddenly I have shone my torch on what I think is a snake immediately under my foot, or at least where I'm about to place it.

It's amazing how quickly you can move backwards in a confined space, even when you have to step on the beams or risk falling through the ceiling.

After I've calmed down, (about 10 minutes till the heart is beating normally again) I'll creep back to the spot and take a closer look. With relief I see that it's only a snake skin... But then I get real nervous wondering if the former owner of the skin is still hanging around.

The longest skin I've found is about 12 feet long in a roof at a home on Burleigh hill, Gold Coast.

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Monthly Special Promotion - For Newsletter Subscribers Only.

This special is no longer available. Please go to our current newsletter for this month's special.

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The Greenpest News is Published by J & A Furnell Nominees P/L; Shop 23a Franklin Square, 60 Railway Street, Mudgeeraba, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The opinions expressed in this newsletter are those of Jerry Furnell. The reader is encouraged to seek further information from appropriate government and statutory departments before taking any action based on this material alone.

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See you again next month.

Always... At your service,

Jerry Furnell
Green Pest Control & Green Termite Bait Systems.
Phone 1800 6 12345.

Copyright 2007 Green Termite Bait Systems & Green Pest Control. All rights reserved.

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