How Does a Microwave Termite Treatment? Review of a Method

Methods

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Let’s say you are seeking a way to get rid of termites.

It is relatively easy to find a way, though there are so many of them, and some are much harder then the other, while others need you to have at least the basic (if not advanced) knowledge of what you are actually doing.

Contents

Treatment methods

You can count all the ways for a long time, though the most popular are:

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  1. Termite repellents. Mostly toxic materials used in multiple ways, ranging from simple household treatment and finishing on, more rarely, baiting the anti-termite stations.
  2. Baits. Most of those require a professional to assist you, but some types are DIY-able. You use baits for many reasons, such as defending from passive infestations or termites accidentally crawling into your home, or for controlling the overall termite population. It is up to you where, how often and why you are using them.
  3. Other home-made methods. Natural repellents, mulch baits etc.
  4. Microwave termite control. That is, subjecting wood termites’ colonies to large amounts of microwave radiation. Not the most popular method, but sometimes it helps. Also, can be commonly used by professionals. Requires advanced knowledge about the termites themselves, and your surroundings. We will be discussing this method in the following article.
Be careful: for full assurance of what you are doing with do-it-yourself pest-control, please, consult the specialists. They will help you, and make sure to prevent you from failing miserably.

Here you can learn more information about effective termite control remedies: Bora-Care, Boric acid, Borate, Fipronil, Chlorpyrifos, Chlordane, Borax, Timbor, Termidor, Terminator, Phantom, Lorsban, Biflex, Terro. You can choose different forms, such as – foam, liquid, powder.

How do you get rid of those termites?

So, microwave treatment for termites. What is it? Do you just turn on a microwave facing the termite nest’s location? The answer is, of course, no, and it would be weird if you though otherwise. As with other methods, this one requires special microwave termite control equipment.

Let’s say it would be called microwave emitter. What it does is, obviously, emit microwaves pointed and focused directly there, where you are pointing it to. Thus you need to definitely know where your enemy is and how much of it is there.

Now. Can you make the microwave emitter yourself (because it’s expensive)? The answer, is, surprisingly, yes. I’ve known people who built the microwave radiators themselves, and used them to kill of parasites in their garden.

The most notable impression, from their words, is when those cheeky insects explode on your sight. Hence, if you have sufficient knowledge of electronics and wave physics then yes, go on and try. It might work. Well, those are the positive sides then:

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  1. CAN be built yourself, though requires much knowledge n the subject.
  2. Works pretty fast, as the microwave radiation can heat up small amounts of water (inside the termites’ bodies) in a matter of seconds, if not milliseconds.
  3. Used most efficiently for wooden termites, can’t be used against subterraneans.
  4. Doesn’t harm the environment and/or you house.

And below are the cons:

  1. Expensive (if not built yourself).
  2. Requires pest-control training to manage properly.
  3. You have to know where the nest is, precisely. And the precision should be surgical, depending on the focus range of the hardware yo use.
So we advice you to think twice before actually using the microwave treatment methods. It can be useful in many cases, though it is not very popular for a reason. It’s bad cost to efficiency ratio cripples everything. There are many other, sometimes more efficient methods out there.

Here you can learn more information about termite bait systems: Advance, Green, CSIRO, Nemesis, Exterra, Firstline, Terminate. Also find out how to make baits by yourself and how to refill them?

Microwave termite treatment device

As stated above, you need to get the microwave emitter and everything that goes with it. It is a pretty high-end hardware, so, again, don’t wait for it to be cheap. The only cheapest method would be building everything yourself.

Though all the parts may be reverse-engineered from a kitchen microwave and assembled in a form of anti-termite microwave device.

Photo 4Also, you should expect the need of batteries (and/or a large battery) or the high use of electricity, depending on your situation.

In any case, you are still using a mobile microwave with some adjustments. And they need power to run.

We recommend using the best possible hardware elements for the microwave emitter, or otherwise you won’t see any effect on the infestation. Again, if you are going with this method – be sure to go “all in” if you can. Especially if it is urgent.

How does this thing work?

You might ask this question. “How does it work?” And it would be a good one indeed. So, it is all physics. You see, microwaves are a miracle. Your simple kitchen microwave is a miracle. When you turn the switch on it or push the button to start the heating process, a load of microwaves are focused and transmitted through your food.

And what do they do, you may also ask? It’s simple. Microwave radiation heats up water. In fact, if you put something that is around 99 to a 100 percent water, and doesn’t weight much, then all the water, when subjected to microwave radiation, will turn into plasma, another mechanical form of any element in the Periodical table.

It is, physically speaking, ionized gas of a very high temperature. In that case, ionized steam. A bright example is grape put inside the microwave. Then why does it work on insects as well? Because insects are just like grapes.

They consist mostly of liquids. And when you use the microwave radiation emitter, it heats them up their liquids get very close to turning into plasma, which is lethal for the said insect.

Thus, when you use the radiation emitter on, let’s say, a wall full of termites, just this happens to them, and their population is drastically, if not fully killed off. Now, as with most of the waves, microwaves can be easily stopped by rigid materials, such as, again, walls.

So because their power is drastically decreased the microwave treatment may take more than expected. So when it is pretty simple to use from the effective point of view, but don’t let this trick you – it is still a high-technological equipment and has to be treated alike.

Here you can learn more information about effective treatment method called tenting (fumigation): dangers for termites, preparing for fumigation and cleaning after, how long does this procedure last?

Effectiveness

Photo 5So, considering how this equipment works, it is safe to say – mostly, the method works very fast.

But, as always, everything depends on the circumstances.

You won’t deal with tens of thousands of termites inside your walls in a matter of hours, but you can kill less than 10 thousand termites pretty fast.

Also it’s effectiveness depends on how precise you located the nest. This is also the main reason for trusting professionals this work. But when everything is treated correctly, “precisely following the manual”, if it is done – it’s done once and for all.

Warning: if you are planning to use the microwave treatment on subterranean termites you can forget about this. The method is only feasible for wooden termites. Mostly because, as stated, microwave radiation’s effectiveness begins to fall the deeper it has to act. When most wooden wall termites live relatively close to the upper layers of wood, sometimes even touching the paintwork, the subterraneans prefer to live very deep in the ground.

Learn more about subterranean termites: signs of their activity; best methods of treatment and DIY methods. Eastern subterranean termites and their tunnels and tubes with photo.

Useful articles

If you interested in more information of termites we recommend you to read the following articles:

Helpful video

Termites killed with microwave device:

Conclusion

Photo 6You’ve just read about the microwave treatment method, and you now know a lot more not only about the method itself, but about the microwave physics and more.

When we round everything up, remember: termite infestations need to be dealt with anyway – it’s a requirement.

Not dealing with the infestation in time will result in some very bad things, including money loss.

Hence any possible manner of dealing with termites is still better than nothing. If your situation needs it – choose microwave treatment.

Though if you don’t get infestations too often/you are on budget/don’t have too many termites infesting the house, consider something like baiting systems or even basic repellents.

And, finally, remember this: everything is always up to you – whether you will just give pest-control all the work, or deal with it yourself. No one restricts you from doing everything on your own. Be careful and responsible. And thank You for reading!

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