Watch: Man torches termite swarms with DIY flamethrower

'Don't try this at home'

Termite swarms were no match for this Louisiana man's DIY flamethrower.

If you’ve ever experienced a swarm of Formosan termites in late May and early June, you know how quickly the light-addicted critters get out of hand.

"They’re once- or twice-a-year creepy crawlies that make the entire region just panic for a couple of hours," explained Kenny Bellau of Slidell, Louisiana. "They get in every crack and crevice, they find their way inside, and everyone, the text messages must go up like crazy because everyone messages each other saying, ‘Turn your lights off!’"

When one of those seasonal swarms arrived in Bellau’s backyard recently, he decided to have a little fun and take out some termites at the same time.

In a video he posted on social media, Bellau filmed himself first approaching the bugs with an electric bug zapper. After about a minute of unsuccessful swatting, he reached for "something a little more lethal."

Using a blowtorch and a can of starter fluid, Bellau got to work eradicating "thousands" of swarming pests with massive flames, "but within two seconds, all their buddies replaced them over my head."

"It wasn’t doing anything to help at all," he said.

Still, his video got a lot of laughs on the internet – but no one was smiling at his local fire department.

"My local fire department wasn’t very happy with me," he said. "Don’t try this at home. It’s not effective. It doesn’t work."