What Smell Do Termites Hate?

Wondering what smell do termites hate? They are social and notorious insects that are popular as one of the most effective decomposers. Termites are known for damaging wooden structures, forestry, and crops.

Further, the damage can extend to synthetic products, paper products and household products. So, how can you take care of these damaging insects? You will be thinking of expensive treatments, chemical sprinkles etc.

What if we tell you that certain smells can repel them and help you stop the infestation? Find out here.

Let us start with the short answer and then dig deep with every interesting thing about the remedy. So, the question is, what smells do termites hate? The answer is plain and simple – termites absolutely hate the odor or smell of anything that is bitter in taste naturally.

For instance, a small amount of bitter gourd juice can work like magic if you put or sprinkle around a termites’ nest. Not only it will make them scatter away, but also stop any further infestation.

But, let us suggest the easier remedies that you can find almost anywhere and use them to control and ultimately stop termites from damaging your stuff. One of the common remedies is orange peel!

It is a fact that the orange peel shavings are widely used as a popular flavour food. In addition to that, orange peel shavings can also offer orange oil that is popular for many health benefits.

However, you should be careful because large amounts of orange oil can cause nausea and vomiting as well. Such adverse effects are much greater when it is utilized against the insect pests.

Orange oil is deadly to a number of insects, such as crickets, spiders, wasps, flies, ants, cockroaches, dust mites, and the subject of this article – termites! The reason behind orange oil being so dangerous to termites is essentially its smell.

Let’s dig deeper and know more about orange oil.

What is it?

Although orange oil has a strong smell of citrus, you should not treat it as fruit juice! Instead, you should know it as an extract from the orange peels, which is an insoluble substance in water.

A little history

California researchers during the year 1930, started to inject arsenic into the active dry wood termites infestations. They observed that while the initial application did not kill the termites, the toxic residue killed them eventually.

Arsenic is one of the most effective pesticides, which has a strong toxic residue that is harmful to many animals and humans. Therefore, they had to look for alternative methods.

With time, orange oil proved to be one of the best natural remedies. Today, it is marketed as an efficient insecticide and herbicide, with special effectiveness against the dry wood termites!

Apart from the tangy and bitter smell, what makes the orange oil so effective against termites?

How does it work?

Orange oil has d-limonene as its active ingredient; a chemical popular both as an effective insecticide and a proven weed killer. The d-limonene is an extremely effective insecticide against a large number of pests, such as mites, crickets, ants, mosquitoes, and flies.

Experts say that the orange oil can dissolve the exoskeleton of the termites that destroy the cell membranes of the insect and eventually kill it due to extensive and massive losses of protein and water.

The other options

As mentioned earlier, anything that smells bitter or tangy will repel termites. While the orange oil, is largely considered as the best natural remedy, there is just one more natural remedy that is widely available, and that is cinnamon.

The cinnamon oil, in addition to its bitter smell, is known for having another effect on the insect – a neurotoxic effect. This effect can repel termites effectively and stop the infestation.

There are other oil extracts, such as tea tree, garlic, and clove bud that can work as an effective termite repellent. The garlic oils and clove buds are as effective as the orange oil when it comes to killing termites. Among the new natural remedies, cedarwood is gaining popularity as a termite repellant.

Therefore, it can be safely concluded that termites hate the smell of anything bitter or tangy. So, if you have a termite problem in your house, you can fix it with these natural remedies.

What Smell Do Termites Hate? – Conclusion

The orange oil and all the other natural remedies mentioned here are known as a minimal toxic pesticide and are worth trying against the termites. They are easily available and are not lethal to animals and humans. You can repeat applications every time you see a new infestation occurring.

However, if the problem persists, you should reach out to experts and getting better solutions. Now that you know what smell termites hate don’t forget to keep these said things handy. As they say – precaution is better than cure!