AU2002100540B4 - Combination above ground termite monitoring and treatment station with observation window - Google Patents

Description

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 INNOVATION PATENT SPECIFICATION Name of Applicant: Address for Service: Invention Title: Ion Leslie Staunton CULLEN CO Patent Trade Mark Attorneys, 239 George Street Brisbane QId 4000 Australia Combination Above Ground Termite Monitoring and Treatment Station with Observation Window This invention is described in the following statement: The present invention relates generally to termite monitoring and treatment stations and, in particular, to subterranean termite monitoring and treatment stations.

In order to eliminate subterranean termites which secrete their nests underground, in trees and other places, pest control technicians have often resorted to placing "baits" consisting of moist cellulose material attractive to termites, in positions under and around buildings and other structures, the purpose of which is to entice termite activity in large numbers to a site that can be checked. If termites can be aggregated in sufficient numbers, a slow action insecticidal dust is usually introduced into the activity with great care so as not to disturb them. Particles of the dust are then carried on the workers' bodies all the way back to wherever the nest is situated, contaminating the food fed to the queen and others to result in the total demise of that colony.

These "baits" are also called monitoring stations. They can be as simple as wooden pegs or timber attractive to termites placed in contact with the ground. More sophisticated monitoring stations are currently constructed in plastics and for "bait", contain wood, foam or corrugated cardboard, or any combination thereof. The current designs of monitors are for setting substantially below ground and are checked once or twice per annum, usually by a pest management technician who has to open a locking mechanism in order to see inside. Smaller sized monitoring stations that attract termite activity need to be supplemented by an additional and larger bait station to increase the numbers of termites at the site before dusting can be done with any confidence of success.

Termites in the larger monitoring stations currently on the market are difficult to treat with the dust because, being set in the ground, the technician can only work from above the station and, finding if termites are present involves removing some of the bait material. This often disturbs the termites sufficiently for them to seal off the single entry point from the nest into the monitoring station, sacrificing those termites still in the station. These dusted termites are thereby denied return to the nest and the colony survives to continue foraging and feeding in other directions and areas. The more termites dusted, the higher the probability of success.

Thus, the aforementioned prior art monitoring stations suffer from the deficiency that they provide no means of readily determining the presence of termites within the station and to then treat sufficient numbers of termites without disturbing the bait material.

United States Patent Number 5,899,018 (Gordon et al.) discloses a combination monitoring and treatment station device which overcomes the deficiency associated with the previously mentioned prior art monitoring stations of having no means of readily determining the presence of termites within the station without disturbing the bait material. The Gordon et al. device includes a hollow tubular housing having an upper end and a lower end. The housing has lo an interior and an opening in the lower end which leads to the interior of the housing and which is supposed to allow termites to detect bait in the housing and to enter the interior of the housing when the device is partially implanted into the ground with the lower end below and the upper end slightly above ground. The upper end of the housing includes an opening and a transparent cover which frictionally slides into the interior of the housing at the top of the upper end. The transparent cover allows a user to view the interior of the housing and determine whether bait contained within the housing has attracted termites into the housing without having to disturb the bait. If termite activity is detected within the housing a user can then remove the transparent cover and place poison bait into the upper region of the interior of the housing through the opening in the upper end thereof.

The provision of the transparent cover in the Gordon et al. device overcomes the previously noted deficiency of the other prior art termite monitoring stations by enabling a user to detect the presence of termites without disturbing the bait. However, since subterranean termites usually forage quite close to the surface for food it is highly probable with the Gordon et al. device that termites may not detect and be able to access the bait contained in the housing of the device if the bottom opening is located too far below the surface. Thus, the bottom opening of the Gordon et al. device can render the device completely ineffective since the side walls of the housing will effectively shield the bait from being detected by the termites foraging in the ground above the bottom opening of the housing.

The method disclosed in Gordon et al. of using the device to treat subterranean termites with poison by removing the transparent cover from the device and then placing a poisoned bait into the upper region of the interior of the housing suffers from the deficiency that, contrary to what is stated in Gordon et al., the termites may still be disturbed by this activity by a sufficient amount so that they seal off their nest from the device with the result that only a small number if any of the termites which have been exposed to the poison are able to transport the poison back to their nest. If none or only a small number of termites survive to carry the poison back to their nest there will be only a small probability of food which is fed to the queen and other termites becoming contaminated with the poison and the entire colony subsequently dying off.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a combination termite monitoring and treatment station, and a method of using the station to monitor and treat termites which overcome, or at least ameliorate, one or more of the deficiencies of the prior art, or provide the consumer with a useful or commercial choice.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein, by way of illustration and example, an embodiment of the present invention is disclosed.

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a combination termite monitoring and treatment station including a hollow and postlike housing for housing a termite bait therein, the housing including an observation window in a section thereof so that a user is able to visually inspect the interior of the housing through the window and determine whether there has been termite activity within the housing, and a termite access opening in a section of the side of the housing which is spaced lengthwise along the housing from the window, the opening being dimensioned such that termites are able to enter the housing through the opening to access the bait which extends between the opening and the window.

3o The presence of the termite access opening in the side of the housing greatly increases the probability of termites detecting and accessing the bait in the housing compared with the situation that would exist if there was only a solitary bottom opening as per the Gordon et al device. This increased probability of detecting and accessing the bait means that the termite monitoring and treatment station according to the present invention is much more effective than the Gordon et al. device in monitoring and treating subterranean termites.

The termite access opening or openings in the side of the housing may be a/are slot(s) or alare circular hole(s).

According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of using the combination termite monitoring and treatment station according to the first aspect of the present invention to detect the presence of subterranean termites and to treat the termites, the method including the steps of: partially burying the housing in the ground so that the termite access opening is located below ground, the window is located above ground, and the bait extends above ground; (ii) visually inspecting the interior of the housing through the observation window to determine whether there has been any termite activity within the housing; and (iii) introducing an insecticide into the interior of the housing through an opening in a section of the side of the housing which is both above and adjacent to the ground so that termites in the housing are treated with the insecticide.

Although the termites may still be sufficiently disturbed by employing the above method to cause them to seal off their nest from the station, there is a much greater chance of a significant number of termites within the housing being exposed to the insecticide and making their way back to their nest. This is because virtually all of the termites in the housing would need to traverse across the region inside the housing which has been treated with the insecticide in order to make their way back to the nest.

In order that the invention may be more fully understood and put into practice, an embodiment thereof will now be described with reference to the 3o accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a front elevation of a combination termite monitoring and treatment station according to an embodiment of the present invention; and Figure 2 is a front elevation of a corrugated cardboard bait which forms part of the termite monitoring and treatment station illustrated in Figure 1.

Referring to the drawings, a combination termite monitoring and treatment station 10 embodying the present invention comprises a hollow, weatherproof and post-like housing 11 and a termite bait 12 which is housed therein. The housing 11 includes a small observation window 13 in a section thereof which is adjacent an end of the housing 11, and a plurality of termite access openings 14 in a section of the side of the housing 11 which is spaced lengthwise along the housing 11 from the window 13 and adjacent to the other end of the housing 11. A user is able to visually inspect the interior of the housing 11 through the window 13 and determine whether there has been termite activity within the housing 11. The termite access openings 14 are dimensioned so that termites are able to enter the housing 11 through the openings 14 to access the bait 12 which extends between the openings 14 and the window 13.

The bait 12 is a cellulose material which is attractive to and edible by termites.

The various components of the station 10 except for the bait 12 would typically be made from UV light resistant plastics. For example, the housing 11 may be constructed from 90mm diameter PVC stormwater pipe 15 with a coupling 16 to join a small band 17 of clear acrylic that provides viewing access through to the bait 12 which sits just below a close fitting plastic lid 18. The openings 14 may be circular holes which are arranged into a plurality of lines extending longitudinally along the housing 11. Alternatively, the openings 14 may be slots which are about 7mm wide and 200mm long extending longitudinally along the housing 11. A lower end 19 of the stormwater pipe 15 is open. The total height of the illustrated station 10 is 800mm but could be longer. For manufacture in large numbers, the plastic housing 11 could be injection moulded to include the window 13 as an integral part thereof, and may optionally have the removable lid 18.

The bait 12 consists of rolled-up corrugated cardboard. Corrugated cardboard has been used for decades with great success as a termite attractant.

Strips or chips of wood, with or without a foam or gel that may be purported to add to the attractiveness of the wood to termites, could also be used as the bait 12. Corrugated cardboard has the advantage over various other types of bait in that it is comparatively inexpensive.

The station 10 is partially buried in the ground so that the housing 11 is upstanding as illustrated in Figure 1 with the section thereof including the termite access openings 14 below ground and the observation window 13 above ground. After detecting the presence of the bait 12 housed within the housing 11 of the station 10, termites will enter the interior of the housing 11 through the openings 14 to gain access to the bait 12. After finding the station 10 and entering the interior of the housing 11, the termites will, within weeks, have traversed to the top of the interior of the housing 11 and packed a combination of mud and regurgitated cardboard around the viewing window 13 in order to block io out the light from the interior of the housing 11. This is what termites always do.

The mud in the window 13 will be seen by a user and recognised as the indicator that termites are active and are ready for treatment.

After determining that there has been termite activity within the housing 11, a user then opens a small hole in a section of the station 10 which is just above ground level. The user then puffs in some insecticidal dust into the interior of the housing 11 through the hole, closes the hole, and then leaves the undisturbed termites to continue working, knowing that the termites above the hole will have to traverse through the treatment area, picking up insecticidal dust particles on their way back to the nest to contaminate the rest of the termite colony.

The size of the housing 11 is not critical however the volume thereof is preferably sufficient to house thousands of termite workers and soldiers to ensure that once treated, enough insecticidal dust gets back to the colony. When the station 10 is installed, the height of the portion of the housing 11 which is above ground level should preferably be such that a user (which may for example be a homeowner) can see through the observation window 13 while walking past, hosing or working in their garden. Also, the amount by which the bait 12 extends above ground level should be sufficient 500mm or more) to draw large numbers of termites well up out of the ground. The depth of the portion of the housing 11 which is below ground level should be sufficient to provide stability to hold the station 10 upright against minor bumps and knocks. Moreover, since termites will typically enter through holes greater than 3mm wide ranging from 200mm 300 mm below soil level up almost to the surface, the portion of the housing 11 which is below ground level will typically need to be buried to a depth of about 300mm so that the openings 14 are within the aforementioned depth range.

Termite monitoring and treatment stations embodying the present invention can be installed by anyone who can dig a 300mm deep hole. This means homeowners without training, can purchase, install and monitor these stations, calling in a local licensed pest management technician only when or if termite activity appears in the observation window.

Because the combination termite monitoring and treatment station according to the present invention is designed to have a portion thereof which is substantially above the ground level, with an observation window near the top and with sufficient volume to aggregate a large enough number of termites to provide a high probability of successful treatment, the station becomes a monitor that anyone can check as often as they wish. The dust treatment can be applied at ground level without risk of disturbing the termites which overcomes the previously discussed deficiencies of the prior art.

The termite monitoring and control station can be used to monitor and treat a colony of termites which are known to be attacking a structure such as a building. Alternatively, the termite monitoring and control station may be used to monitor and treat termites which are in the vicinity of a structure but which are not actually attacking the structure.

Claims (4)

1. A combination termite monitoring and treatment station including a hollow and post-like housing for housing a termite bait therein, the housing including an observation window in a section thereof so that a user is able to visually inspect the interior of the housing through the window and determine whether there has been termite activity within the housing, and a termite access opening in a section of the side of the housing which is spaced lengthwise along the housing from the window, the opening being dimensioned such that termites are able to enter the housing through the opening to access the bait which extends between the opening and the window.

2. The combination termite monitoring and treatment station of claim 1, wherein the termite access opening or openings is a/are slot(s).

3. The combination termite monitoring and treatment station of claim 1, wherein the termite access opening or openings is a/are circular hole(s).

4. A combination termite monitoring and treatment station substantially as herein described with reference to the drawings. A method of using the combination termite monitoring and treatment station of any one of the preceding claims to detect the presence of subterranean termites and to treat the termites, the method including the steps of: partially burying the housing in the ground so that the termite access opening is located below ground, the window is located above ground, and the bait extends above ground; (ii) visually inspecting the interior of the housing through the observation window to determine whether there has been any termite activity within the housing; and (iii) introducing an insecticide into the interior of the housing through an opening in a section of the side of the housing which is both above and adjacent to the ground so that the termites in the housing are treated with the insecticide. DATED this 2 nd day of May 2003 Ion Leslie Staunton By his Patent Attorneys CULLEN CO.