Termite War Heats Up in Buena Park
Walter Ebeling, author, inventor, university professor and bug assassin, unveiled Wednesday his latest weapon in the never-ending war against termites and other creatures that can burrow into wood and destroy entire houses.
It’s called Thermal Pest Eradication, and it uses heat to literally melt termites away. Ebeling says it’s the most effective nontoxic way of killing drywood termites, carpenter ants and powderpost beetles. Along the way, the process knocks off other nuisances such as cockroaches, flies, fleas, ticks, spiders, moths and silverfish, he said.
On a small, ranch-style house here, Ebeling and Isothermics Inc., the company which owns the licensing rights to the process, demonstrated what officials described as an environmentally safe anti-pest method to a group of about 50 government representatives, pest exterminators and the owner of a termite infested condominium.
Using propane heaters and tenting to raise the temperature of the house to 150 degrees, Ebeling, a professor emeritus of entomology at UCLA, set out to cook more than 50 test termites. The heat melts a protective coating on a termite’s body and breaks down internal membranes.
“I’ve checked this out four times, and this thing works,” said Kenneth L. Bourgeois, one of the pest-exterminator representatives, as the four-hour process began. “They’re going to be crispy critters,” he said.
Sure enough. At the end of the demonstration, the termites were pronounced dead.
Michael R. Linford, president of Isothermics, proudly proclaimed that the process will “revolutionize the fumigation industry. . . . It’s the only proven nontoxic method of pest extermination for complete structures.”
Other nontoxic alternatives, such as electrocution and liquid nitrogen freezing of insects are not as effective on entire structures, industry experts said.
Isothermic officials said they are hoping that the state’s Structural Pest Control Board will certify the method as a primary extermination process.
Besides being nontoxic, the thermal method takes about a fourth of the time of chemical fumigation, said Isothermics spokesman Chris Wildermuth. Of the more than two dozen houses in which the method has been tested, no bug reinfestations have occurred, he said.
The heat does not affect the house or furnishings, but some objects, such as candles and cosmetics, should be removed, he said.
The thermal method can cost between 140% and 160% more than chemical fumigation, said James L. Marks, a representative from Orkin pest control. He said for a “single residence it’s cost-prohibitive.”
Isothermics officials disputed that figure, saying the cost is no more than 10% greater than chemical fumigations. Industry experts agree that the price will drop as the process becomes more widely accepted.
Ann Berck, a member of the Seaside Village Condominium Assn., said she was impressed with the demonstration and would recommend the thermal pest eradication method to her association. Association officials are seeking a nontoxic method because some residents of the 286-unit condominium are allergic to chemicals, she said.
