[GSBN] Termites[GSBN Digest, Vol 36, Issue 12]

[Rob Tom]

On Fri, 18 Apr 2014 13:00:00 -0400, <gsbn-request at sustainablesources.com>  
wrote:

> Date: Thu, 17 Apr 2014 20:30:53 -0700
> From: Misha Rauchwerger <misha.rauchwerger at gmail.com>
>
> I thought I'd debunk the idea that straw bale and cob homes are immune to
> termites.  As of yesterday, termites began erupting (literally little
> volcanoes) out of a wooden bench on a cob base in the cob house, and  
> from a dead-man in the cob wall, and I'm finding them on the floor the  
> straw bale house too.  There's something going on with their life-cycle  
> for them to be  appearing at the same time in both places.
>


The above strikes me as being like saying:

"I thought I'd like to debunk the idea that a diet consisting of less meat  
and more organically-grown fruit and vegetables is conducive to better  
health and long life.

The other day, a Northern Californian Buddhist lay-preacher that I knew  
walked into a Hell's Angels clubhouse, sought out the meanest-looking  
muffo, sat on his lap and started serenading him with Boy George tunes  
 from the 1980s.

The head of the trauma unit at the local hospital says that the NCBL-P has  
a 10% chance of surviving past the end of the week."

If one took the "wooden bench on a cob base" and the "(timber) dead-man"  
details ( read: "Conditions that are amenable to wood rot + provision of  
direct, protected access to delectable food source for termites) and put  
them into a house made with glass and steel walls in termite country, I'd  
be willing to wager a large box of doughnuts that that home would also see  
eruptions of termites at this time of year.

Best remedy to get rid of termites:  Get rid of the details mentioned  
above and implement mechanical termite barrier strategies.

(This, from a person who lives in a climate where we do not (yet) have  
termites thanks to our cold winters. But that may change in the very near  
future .)




-- 
=== * ===
Rob Tom  .  .  .  T60BU
Kanata, Ontario, Canada

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