Wednesday, July 20, 2005
The trade mark JIMO should strike fear into the hearts of all termites. I (Cora) used several tins plus one fumigating bomb to try and eliminate these pests from our apartment. This involved emptying out all wooden cupboards and painting every bit of wood to which I could get access with liquid JIMO. Anna came a couple of days to help. A faithful friend indeed, since the JIMO is very smelly and the chemicals make the eyes and throat smart. Finally, we used a fumigating bomb in the worst affected room, the one which Andrew used to have as a study. It was actually quite fun activating it and watching the white cloudy smoke begin to fill the room before retreating and shutting the door, having checked there were no gaps through which the stuff could escape. After this, we had to clean the room thoroughly, getting rid of the white residue on all the cupboards and surfaces.
Two days afterwards there was no sign of termite activity in that room. It seemed to have worked! We left for England hoping that the foul smell would be gone by the time we returned. Thanks to Anna’s visiting to open windows occasionally, it was much better, but not completely normal on our return. All our kitchen utensils smelled of it, and needed washing before use. I seemed to be tasting JIMO in things, including tea – ugh! What was good was to see hardly any sign of termite activity in the places where they had been active before. I say hardly any sign, because there is still some sign in some places. So round 2 of the battle will have to be entered at some point.
The worst time in terms of new infiltration has yet to come. In November, flying termites look for new homes. Last year we had a whole week of evening invasions from flying termites trying to burrow into furniture, beds and books. Some succeeded in eating through pages of a whole book. Those of you who know the story of The Very Hungry Caterpillar could substitute “Termite” for Caterpillar. This year we know we have to shut all doors and windows when the termites start flying, even if it gets very hot in the apartment. But before that we have to zap the places which are still showing signs of termite activity, otherwise they will fly from those inside the apartment and multiply the problem again.
Apparently, this problem is increasing in our state, and I have been told that the JIMO treatment only works for a while ( a few months). Some people have used diesel oil and claim this works permanently. Let’s wait and see.
Two days afterwards there was no sign of termite activity in that room. It seemed to have worked! We left for England hoping that the foul smell would be gone by the time we returned. Thanks to Anna’s visiting to open windows occasionally, it was much better, but not completely normal on our return. All our kitchen utensils smelled of it, and needed washing before use. I seemed to be tasting JIMO in things, including tea – ugh! What was good was to see hardly any sign of termite activity in the places where they had been active before. I say hardly any sign, because there is still some sign in some places. So round 2 of the battle will have to be entered at some point.
The worst time in terms of new infiltration has yet to come. In November, flying termites look for new homes. Last year we had a whole week of evening invasions from flying termites trying to burrow into furniture, beds and books. Some succeeded in eating through pages of a whole book. Those of you who know the story of The Very Hungry Caterpillar could substitute “Termite” for Caterpillar. This year we know we have to shut all doors and windows when the termites start flying, even if it gets very hot in the apartment. But before that we have to zap the places which are still showing signs of termite activity, otherwise they will fly from those inside the apartment and multiply the problem again.
Apparently, this problem is increasing in our state, and I have been told that the JIMO treatment only works for a while ( a few months). Some people have used diesel oil and claim this works permanently. Let’s wait and see.
# posted by Andrew and Cora @ 7:07:00 pm 
