Cockroaches are most bothersome pests that are hard to kill and that multiply rapidly. Boric acid has been used for years to remove this threat successfully. You just need to place boric acid or a boric acid bait at the place frequented by cockroaches to kill these irritating pests. The information about boric acid, its effect on cockroaches, how to make a cockroach bait using boric acid and boric acid where to buy are discussed below.
What is Boric Acid?
Boric acid is also known as boracic acid or Acidum boricum or orthoboric acid or hydrogen borate. It’s a low toxicity mineral that has fungicidal, herbicidal and insecticidal properties. It’s a white powder with a chemical formula H3BO3. Boric acid contains boron and for humans its a Category III toxin. It’s fatal for children in dosage of 5-6grams whereas for adults it’s fatal in dosage of 15 to 20gram. Thus, it should be handled with care and kept at a place that’s out of reach of children.
Boric Acid – Effects on Cockroaches
A study concluded that boric acid destroys the stomach lining of cockroaches causing them to die due to starvation. Boric acid is usually ingested by cockroaches when they preen themselves after walking through the boric acid. There’s a popular belief that boric acid is responsible for desiccation of the exoskeleton of cockroaches that walk through it.
Baiting the Cockroaches with Boric Acid
The cockroaches need to ingest the boric acid by coming in contact with it. This can be done by spreading a thin layer of boric acid that’s invisible to eyes on the paths that are usually used by cockroaches. The layers need to be very thin else the cockroaches may bypass them. They can also be forced to walk through a thin layer of boric acid to access a treat or by placing boric acid baits.
Cockroach Balls with Boric Acid
It’s an effective bait for cockroaches that are simple to make and need household items used daily. Fresh onion is an important constituent of this bait since it attracts cockroaches even when it starts to decompose. It only needs a preparation time of 15 minutes and the time for it to dry. The ingredients required are one medium onion, 200gm boric acid, 1/4 teaspoonful of salt, 100ml milk and 1 cup flour.
The recipe involves mixing the finely chopped onion with salt, boric acid and flour. Milk is added to the mixture to create a pie crust consistency dough. The dough can be used to make small balls of 1 to 2cms then the balls are placed on a wax paper for getting dry.
The boric acid, onion balls are inedible and they can be placed under the furniture’s or stoves, behind the fridge, dishwasher and flower pots, around garbage, along floorboards and in the corners of the house. Boric acid can be easily bought online or from your local store, grocery store, pharmacy and drug stores. In addition, you can buy boric acid from the pool supply store.