ANNUAL TERMITE ISSUE
Eits Formosan termite infestation.
APAPRM Bayer Environmental Science, local
pest management professionals and
state regulators work together to
help rid an area in North Carolina of
OACH
Dr. Mike Waldvogel of NCSU drills into an infested
tree cavity in preparation for Premise foaming for
control of Formosan termites. A NCDACS inspector
looks on.
In an effort to help rid southwestern North Carolina of Formosan
termites, Bayer Environmental
Science worked with termite experts
to make treatments to the affected
areas and allay the public’s fear about
this destructive pest.
“The Formosan termite causes
a lot of anxiety among the public,”
said Vince Parman, Bayer’s field
development and technical service
representative who worked on the
project. “People know that it’s a very
aggressive termite.”
In 2003, after discussions with
North Carolina State University
about the Formosan infestations, Parman volunteered to help control the
pests in whatever way possible.
“I was talking with Dr. Michael
Waldvogel at N.C. State University
and he told me that there was a known
Dead Formosan termites that
were killed by Premise foam
injection. These termites were
inside of the foam as it flowed
out of the tree after filling up the
interior voids.
NCDACS inspectors evaluate a tree that had just been
injected with Premise foam.
pocket of Formosan termites in
southwestern North Carolina located
in Spindale, Ruth and Forest City,”
Parman said. “Formosans had been
found along a stretch of railroad
track in the ties, inside a house and
commercial building, and along a
fairly significant stretch of trees they
had surveyed.
“The state of North Carolina was
a little bit unsure about what to do.
They knew they couldn’t eradicate
the situation but they also felt they
should do something,” he added.
That’s when Bayer stepped in and
offered assistance with the situation.
The company “essentially gave a
blanket offer to the North Carolina
Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (NCDACS),” to help
in whatever way it could, Parman
said. The manufacturer sponsored
Dr. Ed Freytag of the New Orleans
Termite and Mosquito Control
Board to travel to North Carolina to
treat the infested trees that contained
live Formosans.
While some of the railroad tracks
were treated with termite baits, Bayer
donated its liquid termiticide Premise, which was injected as a foam into
the infested trees. The product and
the foaming machine were supplied
by Bayer’s Clayton, N.C., Research
and Technical Training Center.
In addition to making the foam
injection treatment, Freytag trained
a number of NCDACS inspectors
and pest management professionals
about how to sample for such infestations, as well as treat them. “We
had several regional state inspectors
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February 2006 www.pctonline.com
