Recently, a reader wrote that she sprayed termites under her house with homemade colloidal silver. For a week, she sprayed the affected area several times, and the termites disappeared. Despite no sign of them, she’ll keep spraying every few days for several weeks in case they’ve laid eggs.
Is Silver Effective in Stopping Termites?
I’m not surprised that colloidal silver can stop termite infestations. The federal government investigated silver particles as a wood preservative back in the late 1990s and early 2000s in order to prevent termite infestations and mold contamination from wood.
They found that when ionic silver was pressure-treated into the wood as a wood preservative, it inhibited termite damage “with 100 percent termite mortality.”
The authors of one study on this topic explain why silver is so effective against these insects, even though silver has always been thought to kill only single-celled organisms like germs, viruses, and fungi.
How does silver water kill termites?
Termites’ digestive systems contain protozoa that help break down cellulose into carbohydrate molecules that can be easily metabolized. In termites, silver’s antimicrobial properties can destroy these organisms in the gut, disrupting the digestive cycle and resulting in their death.
Silver kills the bacteria in termites’ guts when they eat silver-treated wood. These bacteria are essential to the termites’ ability to process wood into nutrients that sustain their lives.
As an example, in the gut of a termite, microbes help break down cellulose, a major constituent of wood and other plant fibers, into carbohydrates and then into short-chain fatty acids.
As a result, if the wood is drenched in silver, and the termites eat it, it kills the bacteria in their tiny guts that convert food into nutrition. Without nutrition, they die.
Another study examined the use of silver against termites by treating different blocks of wood with five different concentrations of silver – 0.1 ppm, 1 ppm, 5 ppm, 10 ppm, and 15 ppm. The blocks of wood were then placed near various colonies of termites for two weeks.
Upon examining the treated blocks of wood and the termite colonies, the researchers found that the 15ppm block killed the most termites, the fastest. Indeed, it achieved a 100% kill rate within the first 9 days.
The lower concentrations also killed the termites, but it took longer. The 0.1 ppm (one-tenth of one ppm) concentration caused the least damage.
According to the researchers:
The study concluded that mycosynthesized silver nanoparticles protect wood against termites and wood-deteriorating fungi. Further studies should be undertaken to bring this approach to the commercial scale.
The authors of a study titled “Performance of New Silver-Based Wood Preservatives” concluded:
A study conducted independently by US Forest Products Laboratory (Madison, WI) found that… biocidal silver formulations repel termites. In soil and water environments, these products have low leaching propensities and work in almost all naturally occurring pH levels.
One study found that silver nanoparticles killed 100% of termites in just three days.
Last but not least, according to a white paper produced by the London Bullion Market Association (which tracks silver’s wide variety of commercial uses):
Researchers at the Department of Agriculture’s Forest Product Laboratory in Madison, Wisconsin, have found that silver-embedded treatments improve wood’s resistance to termites.
Termite bait traps and barrier treatments using silver are already being used in countries like India.
A silver-treated piece of wood in a plastic container with holes for termites to crawl through is usually buried in shallow holes around a wooden house’s perimeter.
Silver-embedded wood is quite popular in India for termite “bait traps” and “barrier treatments.” The traps must be buried in shallow holes around the perimeter of the wooden home. If termites enter the trap to eat the wood, the silver kills them. Thus, the traps function as an effective barrier against termites.
The use of silver-embedded wood for termite “bait traps” and “barrier treatments” is quite common in India. Silver traps are buried around the perimeter of wooden homes. When termites enter the trap to eat the wood, the silver kills them.
It is well known that silver is effective against termites.
In spite of the fact that silver has been studied for several decades as a replacement for toxic chemicals used in pressure-treating wood against termites, the cost – it is a precious metal, after all – has prevented it from being used more widely by the lumber industry, which has opted for less expensive copper chemical treatments instead.
If you have a small termite infestation in your home, you might consider spraying the affected area with colloidal silver several times a day, for about a week, like a lady I mentioned.
Maybe you’ll find that you’ve saved a lot of money on termite treatments, too!