Released June 16, 2008
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- On a typical day we have been, because of the season, been getting lots of calls about fire ants.
There is a two step method. One, you do a broadcast, where you treat the entire area. Then, in a week you come back and you can do individual mound treatments. For mound treatments you can just read the label and see if it’s a tablespoon or teaspoon, whatever the label recommends for a mound treatment. You just get that utensil and sprinkle it around the mound.
You can also, if you’re doing a broadcast and you are a homeowner, it’s real easy, you don’t have to have big equipment, even Wal-Mart and some of our box stores and all of our garden centers have little hand spreaders. You just measure out how much the label says put it in your hand spreader and walk your yard just like you’d be putting out fertilizer or anything of that nature.
If you have big areas, you can always use the drop seeders that you normally do in your yard situation. If you are in a big situation like a pasture, if you are in a one or two acre lot there are spreaders that you can attach to the back of your ATV and drive up and down.
So once you know that you are going to do a broadcast and this is the area you are going to treat, you can go out there and put little hot dogs next to the mound and come back fifteen minutes later and check to see if your hot dog is totally covered with ants. If they totally covered on the hot dog they are active enough to pick up what ever product it is you are applying.
There are lots of products out there and sometimes it can be overwhelming because you are wondering what’s good, what’s not good…there is just so much out there. There are certain products out there that need to be watered in, some of them can’t have rain or water on them for 24 hours. So you have to read your label and know, not only what the product is, but how to use it.
So when you go to the store it is real important when you go to the store to know what kind of product you want to get. For example, there is a bait you broadcast it out, and then what happens is they go out and forage for the food, they take it down to the bottom of the mound, they actually eat the bait, they have to process it, and that is what kills the queen.
Now a contact insecticide is much faster, and there are going to be different dustings or drenches you can put on the actual mound, and those are going to be an instant kill as far as the workers and getting a kill-back. So, it’s kind of nice that we have the two different kinds of products because if you have an activity or you are going to be using your back yard, or you want to be able to walk in the yard it is nice to be able to have that option where you can get a quick kill and then go back with a bait where you can have some long term having some affect.
You choose your product -- your product to tackle the fire ants with, and you figure out how you want to apply it and choose the proper application tool.
Related Links
- Red Imported Fire Ants, http://www.aragriculture.org/insects/fireants/default.htm
- Fire Ant Control in Two Easy Steps - FSA7036, http://www.uaex.edu/Other_Areas/publications/PDF/FSA-7036.pdf
- Fire Ant Abatement - FSA7051, http://www.uaex.edu/Other_Areas/publications/PDF/FSA-7051.pdf
- Managing Imported Fire Ants in Urban Areas - MP426, http://www.uaex.edu/Other_Areas/publications/PDF/MP426.pdf
- Twenty Questions About Fire Ants - FSA7052, http://www.uaex.edu/Other_Areas/publications/PDF/FSA-7052.pdf
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http://www.uaex.edu/news/june2008/0616FireAnt_video_lores.htm
