Alternative Termite Prevention Methods

Overview

Objectives/Goals This experiment was designed to test whether or not certain odorous household items such as vanilla extract, various liquid air fresheners, catnip, hydrogen peroxide, rubbing alcohol, garlic, and lemons could effectively block a termite#s pheromone trail and/or deter the termites from home invasion. Methods/Materials The controls of this experiment were the pheromone mimicking inks of Bic and Papermate pens. The termites were placed on a paper mat that contained a four-inch circle of ink control and with a deterrent placed across the ink path. Results In summary, the data yielded that out of the ten materials used, catnip as well as lemon and rubbing alcohol, were effective three out of six trials in effectively deterring the termites to various degrees ranging from medium to strong reactions. Conclusions/Discussion In conclusion, the results support the hypothesis in that certain odorous household items deterred/blocked a termite#s pheromone trail. Catnip, lemons, and rubbing alcohol were effective in blocking the termite#s pheromone trail and deterring it from the ink pheromone trail.

Competition history

• CSEF 2006 Pharmacology/ Toxicology · Entry S1408

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

Related projects

Closest projects by meaning, across every fair and year in the corpus.

Browse more like this

• All Biomedical and Health Sciences projects
• CSEF Biomedical and Health Sciences projects
• Every CSEF 2006 project