First of all we live in FL. Are the perimiter termite traps worth the cost? The hype is that the termites (all blind from what I'm told) will bump in to them during their random under ground wanderings looking for a house to eat. After finding them, they will feast and return the poison to their colony and will be killed off. This is the Reader;s Digest version, but what we have been told. Any experts out there that care to contribute their two cents worth on the subject? Thanks folks

I'd just posted a similar note in the Zoology section for some one in NC. Our cousins in New Orleans gave us the same story about how the Termites bring the poison back to the queen.
They'd purchased an older home that had been damaged and spent lots of bucks to fix it up again. They're also talking of an asian termite in port cities that is really taking a liking to North American trees species.
They didn't speak of the cost of the traps but it seems to be a pay me now for traps or pay me later for repairs. Good luck.

In the Trap a plank of untreated wood is placed. After a month or so the Exterminator returns, checks the wood and if it is infested with termites he replaces the wood with a hormone/chemical thingy which is NOT a pesticide, meaning it is not a bug killer, it is a chemical which renders the termite sterile by throwing a wrench into their molt cycle, Unable to molt they are unable to reach sexual maturity and therefore are unable to have baby termites.

There is no way to kill all of the termites (in fact exterminators are turning from the method of killing all things to finding way to reduce their numbers and manage them – this is a giant leap in the ecological sense since the lowly termite does perform a huge service in the scheme of things and should not be completely wiped out.)

The idea is no longer to completely remove the termite, but to reduce its numbers in the area so one can keep up with the repairs and with interior methods of preventing infestation of the house. Which means instead of replacing a whole wall you may end up only having to replace a single stud or beam as time wears on.

Thus by its intent it is highly efficient and does exactly as it is suppose to do, reduce the termite population in a specific area to reduce the over all cost of damage repair.

The traps also allow tracking of colonies, a census if you will and have been used in building a data base of where the termite population is highest to promote stricter building codes in areas where the termite lives. Local building codes may already reflect a block by block difference in minor code variation all aimed at reducing the possibility of termite infestation in the house.