Fire Ant Webinar on Fall Baiting- September 4, 2013

A colleague of mine- Molly Keck from San Antonio- will be giving a fire ant webinar on next week that will discuss why baiting for fire ants in the fall makes sense. 

 

Seminar: Fall – A Good Time to Control Fire Ants with Bait

Date: Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Time: 1PM (Central)

More information can be found at Fall a Good Time to Control Fire Ants with Bait including how to connect to the webinar.  On Sept.  4, participants can use this link to connect to the webinar.

The Don’t Bug Me Webinar Series, which began earlier this year, included five webinars discussing fire ants, tramp ants and bed bugs.  Links to view these archived webinars can be found here.
The webinars are sponsored by eXtension and the Alabama Cooperative Extension System.  They are coordinated by the Imported Fire Ant eXtension Community of Practice.
As upcoming webinars approach, watch eXtension’s Don’t be Bugged Webinar Series page for more information on that particular webinar.

Do you have fire ants?

Well...boogers! I was halfway done with my post and Mozilla crashed and my entry disappeared. Oh well, I guess I'll have to start my witty banter again.

It rained. In Austin, it rained. It even rained at my house in Manor which NEVER happens even when it rains in Austin, Round Rock, Pflugerville, etc. etc. I think that Manor has some weird Bermuda Triangle thing with weather so it never rains there...it all just goes around us.

Anyway, along with my plants gurgling with relief from being watered (I've been promoting natural selection in my yard....whatever survives without a lot of watering gets to, well, survive) I've noticed some fire ant activity. The mountain laurel is blooming, the fire ants are becoming active...all we need is for bluebonnets to crop up and it will officially be spring in Central Texas.

So what are your option for managing fire ants?
1. Broadcast bait over your yard.
Fire ant baits are a defatted corn cob grit coated in soybean oil that has the active ingredient- what kills the fire ants- dissolved in it. Most baits are put out at a very small rate (1-1.5 pounds per acre) and should be broadcast using a hand held spreader. Of course, people often feel like they haven't put out enough bait when they apply it properly, so they wind up putting out more bait until it looks like it snowed. Please be sure to read the product label to apply bait at the proper rate and with the proper equipment.

2. Broadcast a contact insecticide over your entire yard.
These products typically come in a granular form that needs to be watered into the soil once it's been applied. Many people get these products confused with baits, so again, read the product label for proper application instructions. With these products, the chemical is watered into the soil and the fire ants come into contact with the active ingredient when they excavate the soil to make tunnels and the mound.

3. Treat mound individually with the method of your choosing.
There are numerous products labelled for treating fire ant mounds. There are also numerous "home remedies" for treating fire ants. While some of these might actually work (like boiling water), many do not. Some home remedies may cause the fire ants to abandon the mound, but usually a new mound pops up 1-2 feet away. So, if you choose to treat individual mounds, choose your method wisely. Also, understand that treating fire ant mounds individually can be more time consuming, more costly and place more chemicals into the environment than broadcast baiting.

4. Two step- broadcast bait and follow up with individual mound treatments for mounds in sensitive areas.
Since many fire ant baits take anywhere from 2-6 weeks to see results, you may want to utilize the strategy of broadcasting a bait followed by individual mound treatments. Instead of treating all fire ant mounds, you can target mounds that are in sensitive areas (near animal kennels or where children play) or that need to be taken care of quickly.

For more information on these treatment methods you can read the publication Fire Ant Control The Two-Step Method and Other Approaches.

Red Imported Fire Ants...are they active?

I've been receiving numerous calls lately about fire ants. Yes, the mounds have been popping up, especially after the rain we had recently. People have been using fire ant bait, but are frustrated that the fire ants are not dying. So what could be the problem? First of all, check your fire ant bait. Since bait is a food item, albeit for the ants and not us, it can go rancid. Smell the bait to see if it has gone bad. Fresh bait should either have no smell or a light, slightly nutty corn-like smell. If the bait is rancid you will most certainly know....it smells....bad. If the bait is rancid, you should buy new bait and dispose properly of the old, rancid bait. Secondly, before you broadcast bait, you need to make sure that the fire ants are actively foraging for food. Many times, they may be active excavating their mound, but the won't be picking up food. To check if fire ants are foraging, place a small amount of bait, a piece of hotdog (the cheaper the brand, the better) or a potato chip near a mound. Leave the food item for 15-30 minutes, then come back to see if the ants are picking up the food and taking it back to the mound. If they are, you're good to go forward with your baiting. Lastly, be patient when using baits. Depending on which bait you use, it can take several days to several weeks to see results.