Best Management Practices:
Fire Ants
Fire Ant queens are larger than the Fire Ant workers are and have wings that can carry them up to 12 miles to establish new colonies. When disturbed, Fire Ants become aggressive and will sting and cause a painful pustules. Fire ants move often and start new colonies. An effective and easy application to control Fire Ants is the use of Fire Ant Baits. For Fire Ant Baits to be effective, ants must first be foraging, the ground must be dry and the bait not allowed to become wet. Baits should be applied late in the evening. Some recommended and excellent products are Ascend Fire Ant Bait, Award Fire Ant Bait, Max Force Fire FC Ant Bait and Extinguish Plus Fire Ant Bait.
Fire Ant Mound Drenching is an effective but a more labor-intensive manner to control Fire Ant. To drench a Fire Ant mound, mix one to two gallons of pesticide solution as a drench. A gallon of finished solution is required for most large Fire Ant mounds but 1/2 gallon may be used for smaller mounds. This ensures that you kill Fire Ants deep into the colony structure. Synthetic pyrethroids are safe when used in accordance with the product label. When treating Fire Ant mounds keep pets and children away from treated areas until dry. Excellent products to be mixed for mound drenching are Cynoff EC, Cyper TC, Bifen I/T, Demon Max, Prelude, Talstar P, and Tempo Ultra SC .
Granular treatments like Demand G, Talstar Xtra or DeltaGard G Granules may be applied with a granular spreader. These products should provide control as long as three months. TopChoice Fire Ant Control (a Restricted use product) gives most optimal long-term control and may be broadcast at any time of year but is most effective when used in the spring of the year.
Best Management Practices courtesy of
BES-TEX Supply, LLC P.O. Box 664 San Angelo, Texas 76902 325.653.1300
