Great Ad On Service! Fire Ant Treatment

[Larkspur Garden]

For those of you that live in fire ant zones, you know how hellacious they can be! (especially whrn you run over ther mound with a lawn mower) In the nursery industry, fireants are a no-no. We treat the landscape areas as well as growing areas 4 times a year with a granular application of Amdro.(the best I have and most effective I have seen on the market)You can buy it in big bags as well as small bags. Fire ants are a horrendous nusence and home-owners try all kinds of things, usually not environmentally safe or nothing but wives tales (pouring gas, herbicide, or any other chemical they cen get them hands on into the mound or my favorite-grits. Boiling water just causes them to move. The actual mound is basically an incubation area. The worker ants can move larvae above ground or below ground depending on the temperature in order to provide optimal conditions for growth. The actual colony lives underground usually in a four to five feet radius (maybe more) so it is important to treat the surrounding area, not just the mound. the herbicide can be put out with a small broadcast spreader and it usually takes about two weeks to kill a colony. The few that survive will eventually die because they have already fed the poison to the queen (their only reason for living) and killed her. Try it! Your customers will love you for it!
Larkspur

[bobkessler]

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Fire Ant Nightmare
Our company in Florida considered a fire ant complaint an emergency and tried to respond the same day if it at all possible. Amdro was one of the first, and most effective product to enter the market around 1980. Since then there have been several new products. The key is to use what works for you. We now know that some fire ant colonies have multiple queens, and these are much more difficult to eradicate.

[Ric]

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Here is a copy & paste of a post I made in an other forum.

Texas A & M developed a Fire Ant Program called the "Texas Two Step" I have found it to be very successful. Sorry I don't have there website URL but you may find via search engine.

STEP #1 Ant baits are applied over the entire property to be treated. If the weather is between 70-90 degrees worker ants carry the bait back to the nest and into the food chain. If the weather is not between 70-90 degrees then the colony will be inactive. Monogyne colonies (single Queen) (reddish color) will be easier to control than Pologyne colonies (20-60 Queens)(orangish-brown color) and may require more treatment. It is important to remember that after mating Queens can fly 12 miles and their nests do not become visible for up to 3-4 months. Baits are effective during this time. Baits containing Hydramethylnon work in 1-5 weeks and kill all members of the colony. Baits containing Fenoxycarb or Abamectin stop egg production and take 5-10 weeks to kill all members of the colony.

STEP#2a Spot treat all visible mounds 2-3 days after appling bait and keep customer happy

Step# 2b Apply general insecticide treatment to stop forging ants and keep customer happy


It costs about $15.00 to treat an acre with baits. Studies have shown that early summer application give control for up to a year on treated areas over an acre. The larger the area treated the longer the control. Once control is gained it can be maintained with bait treatments every three months on smaller properties