By Ken Ige, Star-Bulletin
Concrete blocks off H-1 freeway in Pearl City.
Jean Uyeno of Waipahu has been mystified by the view out her bus window as she approaches home each day. Near the Urban Garden Center in Pearl City are concrete squares and what looks like a little city of doghouses. Peculiar site
tests pest killersUyeno may have been mystified for a good long time. Many of those blocks have been there as long as 18 years, says Ken Grace, an entomologist and professor at the College of Tropical Agriculture at the University of Hawaii-Manoa.
"It's a long-term test of termite control," said Grace. "It's one of six sites just like it all around the islands. The bases mimic the foundations of houses."
Each 2-1/2-foot concrete block is hollow in the middle and filled with sterile soil. Different types of pesticides are placed in the soil -- the ground underneath is shielded -- and they check periodically to see if termites have moved in. The findings are reported the pesticide industry.
It turns out that Pearl City's fairly dry soil keeps pesticides killing-fresh for three to five years. But in wet climates like Hilo, where there's also a site, pesticides lose their juice after a year or so.
They also test bait stations and how voraciously termites attack structure -- those are what the "doghouses" are for. If you have any questions about what pesticides might be right for your neighborhood, call 956-7076.
Burl Burlingame, Star-Bulletin.
