Product Education   |   July 15, 2021

Bora-Care: How Does it Work?

new construction termite pretreatment

 

How does Bora-Care® Work?

Bora Care works via its active ingredient, borate salt. Borate salts work by taking advantage of a unique feature in the biology of termites, ants and other insects. If ingested by ants, beetles or termites, the insect becomes unable to extract nutrition from its food and starves to death. And because of this unique mode of action, insects cannot develop a resistance, ever. Bora-Care works differently than most other insecticides, termiticides and even other borate products on the market today. For starters, it isn’t applied to the soil but to the structure itself. Secondly, it isn’t just a repellent or a bait but a little bit of each. Bora-Care’s unique patented blend of glycols in combination with a borate salt provides results that are hard to beat. As soon as beetles and ants attempt to consume treated wood they die. Subterranean termites won’t even try to eat treated wood and if they attempt to build a tube on treated wood, the termites start to die. This alerts the termite colony and they abandon the wood. 

 

Treat the Wood, not the Soil

Bora-Care is applied directly onto wood surfaces. Because the active ingredient in Bora-Care is a mineral salt, it doesn’t break down over time, so it remains in the wood for the life of the wood, providing long-term protection. By keeping the wood sealed or protected from moisture, as in the wall voids of a structure, you eliminate the need for retreatment. Soil treatments are not only more difficult to apply; they lose their effectiveness over time. Then a costly retreatment becomes necessary. Unlike soil treatments, Bora-Care is not pumped into the ground and poses no threat to lakes, rivers, aquifers or the environment. Bora-Care can even be used on lakeside homes where soil termiticides may be prohibited. Bora-Care has shown no compatibility issues with any type of plumbing pipes, and will not corrode metal fasteners, fittings or nails. Bora-Care’s active ingredient is a natural mineral salt called Disodium Octaborate Tetrahydrate (DOT) which contains the element boron. Boron is an element (chemical symbol B) on the periodic table that is already present in the environment – not only in the ecosystems outside of your home – but also in many of the products you use inside such as soaps and cosmetics. Boron is also found in many of the vegetables we eat.

 

Where can Bora-Care be used, and how is Bora-Care applied?

Bora Care is applied as a termite pretreatment for new construction sites, and is applied directly to wood,  with a portable backpack sprayer or tank sprayer.