there is no such thing

The closest to organic, if you want to treat the termites themselves, is a bait system installed by an exterminator. It uses fipronil, I think -- the same thing they use on cats and dogs, basically. But instead of spraying it everywhere, they surround the house with bait stations (basically a piece of wood in the ground). When termites start eating the bait, they add a cartridge of fipronil to the bait station, and the termites then carry the fipronil back to the nest, where it kills the whole nest. So it still uses chemicals, but in much reduced amounts. BUT it's expensive. In our area it's about $800 to install, and then you pay money every time they come out to check the baits. I'm not sure if there is a do-it-yourself version of this -- there should be, though; it doesn't sound difficult.

But here's the thing about termites: they HAVE to return to the nest (in the ground) every 24 hours in order to live. Their bodies dry out otherwise, or something like that. So if you can interrupt the path of carbon-based materials (wood and the like) that they're taking to get to your kitchen, then the ones already in your wall will die of natural causes, and no new ones will be able to get in. Check your basement/crawlspace. Is there any wood linking the ground to your house? In our house the chimney had been framed in wood, and the termites were using that frame to get into the house. Also, termites won't go through thick plastic, so a vapor barrier might help if you have a crawlspace.

In our house, after we removed all wood connecting the house with the ground, then covered our crawlspace with a plastic vapor barrier, the termite inspector basically told us that we probably wouldn't have any more termites. Of course, he wanted us to use his bait system anyway, and we probably will just in case. But we no longer feel like it needs to be done NOW; we'll wait until we save up the money.

Oh, where are you? On the west coast, there are some companies that are using a borate (boric acid base) treatment to eliminate nests. VERY low toxicity for the environment, although breathing it in still isn't good for humans. We couldn't find any people who do that treatment where we are. Borate is big in Australia, too.

We did find that our local companies had a borate treatment for wood (usually used to eliminate post beetles). They spray it on the wood underneath your house. When we asked them if it would help with the termites, they said that it would not eliminate the nest, but it would prevent the termites from eating the wood that was sprayed with it.

Hope this helps. If you can do some work on it, you may be able to put off an expensive treatment until you have the money. Good luck...

We're remodeling and had to get a pest certification. My pest control guy didn't hesitate when I asked him for an organic solution. He sprayed and dusted with boric acid, which I realize is not an organic material, but it is considered to be relatively safe when compared to the toxic petroleum distillates and chemical nerve poisons in common use. I've used boric acid against roaches since about 1979 and really have had excellent results. I didn't realize it would be effective against termites. Just don't use it directly in the soil.

For most creatures living in the soil, there are usually biological controls such as bacteria, fungal disease, or other predatory creatures. If you can create a disease that attacks their food supply, then you are home free. For example fire ants eat protein and bring their food back to the nest. If you can get a sugary substance down into the ant hill, a bacteria will grow on their food that the ants cannot live with, and they will either die or move.

Are you sure you have termites in your kitchen? They usually don't leave wood to visit in a well lit and cellulose-free kitchen.

Beneficial Nemodes
I was cleaning up an area i had logs on. Some rotted i threw out. This area was in my yard. A few pieces of logs had termites on them that i threw out. Can i spray the composted stuff thats left over with these to kill the termites? I thought about just soaking the area with vinegar

We bought a house in the country a couple of years ago and right afterwards noticed that the wooden window sill above the sink between the kitchen and den had a small mound of what looked like redish brown dirt. I cleaned it off and this year it has returned. It looks like the pictures of the termite mounds but only a half inch high. If I call a termite company, there is no guarantee that they will actually tell me if it is not termites. We have had such bad experiences with bait and switch that we are gun shy. Does anyone know if diatomaceious earth is a viable treatment for termites? I am a heart bypass patient and not sure I would like chemicals in my house or around it. When an elderly friend several years ago gave me a box of give aways to donate, I brought it home only to have hundreds of roaches escape in my kitchen. I tried every treatment possible including chemical sprays and boric acid. Nothing worked until I got the DE. Is anyone familiar with whether this could work on termites also or does anyone think that the mounds could be something else?

About 10 years ago, we had termites pop up though a crack in the concrete slab under the flooring and work their way up to the ceiling and into the attic under the insulation/

We called a professional exterminator, who - for only $2,000, installed monitoring stations around the house. He'd come every 3 months, charge $75 a visit, and if he found termites in the bait station, replace it with the poison, the termites would snork down the poison, take it back to the nest, and that was that, it wiped out the nest.

Over the years, he sold his company to another who sold it to another, the price of a monthly visit kept climbing until it was $115. One day I watched some kid with a backwards-baseball cap wearing earbuds show up and walk around the house, never even checking the baits, then left a bill by the door. That was that.

This system works - over the years we've found termites twice in the monitoring systems, then they disappear after eating the bait. They also gave me a couple of poison baits that, er, fell off the truck, which I used to get rid of the termites around my firewood pile and some I found in the garden.

The monitoring system is a small plastic basket buried in the ground with a piece of aspen or another very soft wood. The actual bait is a same-sized piece of some sort of tissue paper with the toxin. When you find termites, you swap out one for the other and leave them at it.

Anywho, the point I'm slowly getting to is you can now buy the whole kit for around $275, which is reasonable, considering the alternatives.

There are termites and then there are other termites. Finding the actual queen and nest isn't that easy to do. This way, you don't have to.

Here is a link that might be useful: link to termite kit

This post was edited by david52 on Wed, May 7, 14 at 12:20

Here in Fl some of the pest companies are treating Termites with Orange oil.
I have used it on fire ants and its quite effective.

Whats the best way to inject something into the wood to kill termites?

I once saw a termite trail going up the exposed slab. I dug out a few shovels full at the spot. I then scooped up a fire ant mound and dropped it in that space. Problem solved. They had termites for dinner.

My chickens love a good, juicy termite. They're a good preventative, but won't help with your already infested home.