I've seen these sorts of baits too.  Way back, there was a court case where various groups once claimed that a retail bait system was not working properly.  They kept selling them, but put a little warning on the box about how they weren't the same as a professional treatment.  The ones I bought said "Not recommended for sole protection against termites, and for active infestations get a professional inspection".  Companies don't put things like that on their products unless they are forced to or need to so as to avoid liability.  Even if the bait system was 95% foolproof, that warning might still be valid.  Baits don't make barriers.

Baiting has a long history, I began work on them in the mid 1980s and some work had been done a decade before that.

How big does a piece of wood have to be before your termites will be likely to find and eat it? Mostly a lot bigger than the little bits that are sold. You can overcome this by using a large number, but even with the best systems on the market you often have only one in ten being eaten. That's why people tend to fork out for the professionals. Exterra and Sentricon have the bulk of the market.

Let's say you've hand your house professionally inspected, so you're fairly sure termites aren't ripping into it yet. You could place your own baits around it as an early warning system. These can be just bits of tasty wood. If you put each one under a big paver, the squirrels won't touch them and the termites will be more likely to find them (thermal shadow effect). Cheaper than retail products. When termites attack, do not disturb them any more than necessary and call in the professionals. (You might try the old bait box method before you call them to build up a big feeding group that can be more easily poisoned)

Unless you can afford to bet the whole house, it is usually better dollar sense to have a professional service and do an annual inspection. That way you'll find them before any major damage is done. 

If you already have termites attacking, thenjust like the Spectracide bait label suggests, lmost people will call a professional. Look to the best way to spend your bucks.

If you are not afraid of soil poisons, then a trenched-and-backfilled perimeter spray of non-repellent poion may do what you want for less than a commercial baiting setup and you'll have the advantage of an ongoing barrier.  That way the next colony that comes along and tries will have something there to stop it.