TIM-BOR® (disodium octaborate tetrahydrate: DOT, Na2B8O134H2O) and BORA-CARE® (40% DOT in ethylene glycol) are two borate products marketed for treating wood in use by brushing or spraying onto the wood surface. The active ingredients presumably diffuse into wood by the 10-15% existing wood moisture. Few data, however, are available to demonstrate the diffusion rate. Su & Scheffrahn (1991) suggested that diffusion rate of BORA-CAREä is quite slow but may be enhanced by the moisture brought in by termites into wood. As there is an increasing interest in using these products for remedial control of subterranean termites, there is a need to understand how do they behave. The object of this study is to examined the termiticidal effects of borate surface-treated wood against the Formosan subterranean termite, Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki, and the eastern subterranean termite, Reticulitermes flavipes (Koller).

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