'Bugs News

We frequently get questions about the various borate products on the market to control insects around the home. These products are used to control ants , cockroaches and structural pests like carpenter ants , powderpost beetles and dry-rot fungi . General characteristics Borates offer a low toxicity alternative to conventional insecticides, but are slow acting and may take several weeks to be completely effective. Borates are also generally long lasting , if kept dry. And, borates are generally not used outdoors because of they are soluble in water . Borate is primarily an insect stomach poison and fungicide. Stomach poisons must be eaten by the pest to be effective. Borate Products Timbor and Bora Care (and a few others) are products for structural pest control (termites, carpenter ants and wood-boring beetles). Timbor is a powder of 98% disodium octaborate tetrahydrate, a sodium salt of boric acid, and Bora Care is a 40% solution of the same compound plus ethylene glycol . ...

Boric acid, or borate salt, is an excellent wood preservative , fungicide (kills rot fungi) and insecticide . It is very low toxicity, has low environmental impact and is relatively cheap. It is an ideal material for treating both hardwood and softwood against attack by fungi ( dry rot fungi ), and insects. The only real downside is that borate compounds are generally water soluble so must be used in dry environments or protected with a finish of some kind that seals them in the wood. Borates are available as dry powders ( TimBor and others) or as glycol-based liquid concentrates ( Bora Care and others). Glycol is intended to improve the penetration of borate into wood fibers but studies have not definitively demonstrated an advantage over simple water solutions. Glycol-based products are also somewhat more expensive than powder forms. Both TimBor and Bora Care should be applied to dry, unfinished wood surfaces with a pump sprayer or paint roller. Two coats are sometimes needed...