Borate chemicals are sprayed onto new wood to ward off termites and other insects. It is an easy job and borate products are not new - Europeans, and folks down under in New Zealand and Australia have been using borates with great success for nearly 50 years. Back in 1990, the Australians treated 12 million cubic feet of lumber with borates!

Wood preservatives with boron are sold by a couple of companies. Other manufacturers of borate products register them as pesticides. Borate products are helpful in repelling all sorts of insects from wood.

To kill carpenter bees, use an insecticide that is either liquid or powder. All the chemicals listed on this page will eliminate carpenter bees if used correctly. There are also dusts that get rid of carpenter bees.

Carpenter bees make holes in wood for their nests. Repairing carpenter bee damage is pretty simple. Gather the right tools: cork, dowels, latex wood filler and caulk. These can all be used to fill the holes.

Carpenter bees seem dangerous, but are mostly not. Carpenter bees are dangerous to the wood on your house. If you don't want to kill carpenter bees, you might focus on carpenter bee control methods.

Termite control comes in many methods. Colony elimination systems or baiting systems became popular in 1995. Barrier chemical methods are still being used, however, to treat many houses, especially new ones. Find out which method or methods are right for your house.

The following is a listing of the four companies that are currently marketing total termite colony elimination baiting systems. DowElanco introduced the first colony elimination system in 1995. The three new players will enjoy success if their systems are effective at killing the worker termites.

Borate chemicals are placed on wood to repel termites and they do an excellent job. Buy these boron-based products at any of the following companies.

New termite baiting systems have created huge interest among pest control professionals and homeowners. Will they put a complete end to termites? I don't think so. What they offer is the potential for total colony elimination.

Carpenter ants don't eat wood like termites, but they do pose a threat to our homes. Carpenter ants will bite through wood to make their nests and eat the food in our houses. Carpenter ants also spread their nests out and can be hard to find. Read about the habits of these pests to learn how to get rid of carpenter ants.