White ant phobia

[Proarbor]

I am constantly amazed by the reaction of people to white ants in trees. No matter how you try to explain to them that white ants live naturaly in soil in most areas (1 property in four in South Australia) they just cant get past the visual shock of seing the little buggers. In most cases this leads to the un-neccesary removal of reasonably sound trees. Try telling someone that just because their tree has white ants does not mean it is unsound and see what reaction you get. Another poorly understood fact is that by cutting down the tree you are not getting rid of the white ants, just there food source.Being as the queen is in the lowest past of the nest (normaly under the tree in the soil) removing the tree is not going to kill the nest, but will start them on a coquest for another food source, unfortunate if your house is the next closest woody object! I believe that this is one place the arboricultural comunity needs to educate the general public, consultation to establish the soundness of the tree, bring in trusted (not fear-monger) pest control company to treat ants, prune tree many more times in the future instead of remove once.

Thoughts please !

 

[Guy Meilleur]

Originally posted by Proarbor
I am constantly amazed by the reaction of people to white ants in trees. the arboricultural comunity needs to educate the general public, consultation to establish the soundness of the tree,

Black and brown ants are seen as the enemy too; termitophobia is a subset of insectophobia, a subset of xenophobia.

Best tool to educate is extension bulletins. they are free for the downloading or pick up hard copy. It's harder to disbelieve info in a bulletin from a government agency than from some guy who cuts trees.

For the more involved client, simply digging out the termites while they watch will show them that they are only active in dead wood.

I find them all the time while doing risk consults. Tree guys who do not want to excavate for godknows what reason are keeping themselves and their clients blind and more prone to phobias.

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

Originally posted by Proarbor
Another poorly understood fact is that by cutting down the tree you are not getting rid of the white ants, just there food source.Being as the queen is in the lowest past of the nest (normaly under the tree in the soil) removing the tree is not going to kill the nest, but will start them on a coquest for another food source, unfortunate if your house is the next closest woody object!

Ants, in fact all gods creatures, tend to coninize in areas that have conditions they favor. So if your house is free of moisture and decay, the ants won't be interested, and if it does have moist decaying wood, it won't matter how many trees you have to lure them away.

You are correct in suggesting the money allocated for tree removal would be better spent sealing around the house, improving drainage, fixing roof leaks, replacing rotted boards and painting.

 

[a_lopa]

ants cant live in sunlight therefore grinding the stump is a good option IMO

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

Originally posted by aussie_lopa
ants cant live in sunlight therefore grinding the stump is a good option IMO

So you recommend removing the tree and grinding the stump because there are ants?????

 

[a_lopa]

in some cases yes, mike mr god

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

You must really hate ants, LOL.

Where I live there are ants all over, you can't go ten feet out side without there being some somewhere. We have worked out a deal with them though, we don't bother them, they don't bother us.

I saw a nature show where there were some ants down by you that sting like a bee, only it kills you, jump twenty feet, and enough of them can carry off a car. If you have them around, I guess you gotta cut down all your trees.

 

[a_lopa]

if they are worried about a possible home ill delete it,even though ants will go along way ,who am i to say they wont eat there walls to bits,i got to eat and i dont like cheap eats

 

[Guy Meilleur]

Originally posted by aussie_lopa
ants will go along way ,who am i to say they wont eat there walls to bits,i got to eat and i dont like cheap eats

Please keep this thinking in australia or preferably further down under, like Antarctica. Pig out on expensive eats all you want, but if you get them by catering to fear over harmless creatures you may someday choke and go the way of Mama Cass.

For you to sell the service of ridding landscapes of insects, you'll need to scrape the site down to bedrock.

 

[a_lopa]

Originally posted by Proarbor
Let me guess Aussie_lopa if a trees to high and must be dangerous by your clients standards then you lop, top and/or head back to what your clients deem an acceptable safe height, before the eppys start landing on thier heads. Would that be right Aussie_lopa?:angel:

not at all pro,
i will remove a decaying euc well before lopping my man.i know how far behind you are by your remarks black jedi

 

[Guy Meilleur]

Flame out

Gentlemen,

Are there ants in au so evil that areas muct be deforested to get rid of them? We have no such thing in the states.

As for the battle, can it go off topic?

 

[Proarbor]

Sorry guy it is getting a bit much. Aussie if you have been to burnley how about you represent your industry and act like it. I dont mean to critisise you but how can you expect these guys to respect you when you make statements like you have been making. You complain that they dont need your info? why dont you be what your training has given you and ditch the cr"p? maybe people will take you seriously then and people wont find the need to jump on you. Think about it.:Eye:

 

[Guy Meilleur]

Originally posted by aussie_lopa
statements like what?

"recommend removing the tree and grinding the stump because there are ants...if they are worried about a possible home ill delete it,
who am i to say they wont eat there walls to bits,i got to eat and i dont like cheap eats

they cant come back on me saying the termites came from the stump"

like the above. If you don't know that termites do not nest in tree or that termites and ants do not hurt trees, then you either need to learn more about insects, or tell us how au insects are different. (If you have Formosan termites, they can be controlled with fungus.)

If you know all that and you still sell tree removal as a means of keeping people safe from insects then you're practicing the lowest form of hack work which is fear-mongering.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Civil discource please gentlemen.

I realize I've not been around much, but that does not give you leave to flame each other.

Yes Pro, I don't agree with Loppa's ideilogy, but slaping him in the head and spitting in his face whilst yelling at 90 db will not help change his outlook.

 

[Proarbor]

Sorry John, I will try to go about things differently in the future:blush:

 

[a_lopa]

no just providing a service Guy,people constantly ask me will they live in the stump as if im going to say no,im not god!ants will travel long distances and i tell them that getting rid of there particular stump its only eliminating not stopping most want the stump gone anyhow. you and mr pro arbor havnt got any constructive points,just pig headed ego tripping.

 

[Guy Meilleur]

lopa I very much agree with you that removing dead stumps with a stump grinder is much more efficient and preferable in the urban landscape than letting termites do the job.

And I am glad to see that you are not advocating the removal of living trees for the purpose of removing insect habitat. I'm sorry if I misread your earlier post.

O and I liked your pictures of the gums and eucalyptus down there. It'd be neat to learn more about how you manage those trees and their amazing growth rates.

 

[a_lopa]

Well i will say sorry guy,maybe i could be clearer at times i dont push anyone to have anything removed only suggest it on some occasions when i can see its going to cost them double not far down the track.eg a blue gum planted beside a house isnt a long term prospect.alot of trees down here you have to be cruel to be kind things grow big that quik that reducing sometimes is ridiculous.if i get asked to top eucs i make them sign a legal document that they will maintain the trees after telling them its a no go,sometimes it gets to the point that there not my trees and they simply want this done,what can you do.when i first started trees topping was a common thing,polarding, now it is collars.i prefer to use a bit of everything after ive judged alot of diffrent variables

 

[a_lopa]

you should get to see a little managment in the next few weeks

 

[Proarbor]

Sorry about yesterday Aussie, I was a little fired up about the subjuct as i have just been cut off by a hacker with no training scaring my previous client into going with his removal recomendations. In the future I will make sure that I dont jump on anyone for a slightly different point of view or making an un-explained answer.

Sorry once again.

:Monkey: