Our Fire Ant Bait

Assurance Fire Ant Bait

Fire ant control is more effective when it targets the entire colony rather than just addressing mounds that are visible on a property. That is one reason why professional fire ant control programs often include bait products like Assurance Fire Ant Bait.

At Fire Ant Specialists, we use proven treatment methods to help reduce fire ant activity across an entire property. Broadcast bait applications are one tool we use to accomplish this goal.

Fire ant baits don’t just eliminate what you see on the surface. Instead, these products rely on worker ants to collect and distribute the bait throughout the colony and directly to the queen. This allows us to address entire colonies, including the queen.

What is Assurance Fire Ant Bait?

Assurance Fire Ant Bait is a professional fire ant bait product that can be used to help control imported fire ants on a variety of labeled sites. The product is applied using broadcast treatment methods.

Fire ant baits are often used in areas where activity is widespread. This can include residential properties, commercial landscapes, parks and recreation facilities, institutions, athletic fields, golf courses, industrial sites, pastures, and more. Fire ants often have multiple colonies present on a single property, so broadcast applications can provide coverage that goes beyond treating visible mounds.

Many professional fire ant control programs include bait applications to help manage fire ant populations over time.

Sites Where Assurance Fire Ant Bait Can Be Applied

Assurance Fire Ant Bait is labeled for use on more sites than most professional fire ant control products. This versatility is one reason Assurance Fire Ant Bait has become such a popular product. It can be used on lawns and landscapes around the home including flower beds, shrubs and trees. Assurance is also labeled for use on golf courses, commercial nurseries, sod farms, parks, zoos, airports, roadsides, cemeteries, athletic fields, school grounds and the area perimeter of buildings.

The bait can be applied around barns, kennels, poultry houses, swine operations, dairies, electrical boxes, phone boxes, pump houses, pastures, rangeland, citrus, cropland and forestry areas.

Assurance Fire Ant Bait is labeled for use in much of the fire ant country in the south. Included are Texas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma and other states where listed on the product label.

How Assurance Fire Ant Bait Works

Assurance Fire Ant Bait controls fire ants where they live, eat, breed and where the queen lies in wait to continue the cycle of fire ant problems. The active ingredient in Assurance Fire Ant Bait is S- Methoprene, which is an insect growth regulator or IGR that affects fire ants. Foraging worker ants take the bait back to the mound and share it with other ants in the colony.

Eventually the bait travels through the colony and is fed to the queen. Instead of immediately killing ants like a conventional insecticide, S-Methoprene forces the queen to stop producing replacement worker ants.

In time, all of the workers will die off and without replacement ants the colony will begin to dwindle. The queen will soon die and the colony will be eliminated.

Since IGR’s require time for the colony to pass through its life cycle, they work slower than conventional contact insecticides. You may begin to see reduction in the colony in as little as three weeks. However, it may take eight to ten weeks to see complete elimination. The trade off is you will likely not have to deal with colony relocation or resurgence as you might with other faster acting fire ant products.

Broadcast Treatments For Fire Ant Control

Many fire ant baits can be applied using broadcast application methods. This is beneficial because fire ants typically live in more than one mound on a property.

If you only treat the mounds you see, other colonies will continue to grow and create new mounds. Broadcast applications allow us to distribute bait over a large area instead of focusing on individual mounds.

We commonly use broadcast applications for:

• Residential neighborhoods
• Commercial accounts
• Parks and recreational areas
• Sports fields
• Schools
• Apartment complexes
• Industrial properties
• Pastures
• Agriculture acreage
• Large landscaped areas

Broadcasting fire ant bait helps eliminate ants all over your property, instead of just those in visible mounds.

Use Areas For Fire Ant Baits

Fire ant baits can be used in many different environments.

Typical use areas include:

• Residential lawns
• Commercial landscapes
• Parks
• Recreational facilities
• Athletic fields
• Institutions
• Golf courses
• Industrial areas
• Utility right-of-ways
• Pastures
• Agriculture
• Road right-of-ways

Fire ant treatment requirements will vary from property to property. That is why professional application is important; it ensures the product is used according to the label and with best management practices in mind.

Professional Fire Ant Control Programs

Simply choosing the right fire ant treatment product isn’t enough to guarantee success. Factors such as timing, weather, application rates, and current ant activity can influence how well a product works.

For instance, fire ants need to be actively foraging for fire ant bait to be effective. If the bait is applied when ants are not actively looking for food, the results may be diminished. Weather conditions like rain, temperature, and even the time of year can influence bait performance.

This is why professional fire ant control programs are designed around your property. By understanding how these variables impact treatments, our technicians can provide services that work with your environment instead of against it.

At Fire Ant Specialists, we also look at your property from a broad perspective. Making evaluations before we treat your property helps us identify areas of concern you may have missed and ensure we aren’t focusing solely on individual mounds.

Colony Level Control vs Individual Mounds

There are many reasons professional pest control companies continue to use bait products when managing fire ants. One reason is that bait can help control entire colonies instead of just individual ants.

If you only kill the ants that are on the surface, the rest of the colony will remain active and continue to produce ants. It is also possible for a mound to appear inactive when underground portions of the colony are alive and well.

When you target an entire colony, you put more focus on controlling the ants within the nest. Since the queen is responsible for creating new worker ants, targeting her and her ability to reproduce can help you achieve longer-lasting results.

Colony-level control is especially important for larger properties containing multiple colonies.

Fire Ant Control is Ongoing

Contrary to popular belief, you can’t just apply fire ant bait once and expect all of the ants to go away. Fire ants can rebound from treatments over time.

New queens can start nearby mounds or new areas of your property. Because of this, some property owners see the best results by using a fire ant maintenance program.

Fire Ant Specialists’ programs often include property inspections and bait applications to provide broad-spectrum coverage. When active mounds are identified on the property, we may include mound treatments as needed.

Fire Ant Specialists Has A Unique Approach To Fire Ant Control

Fire Ant Specialists can manage your fire ant problems, not just your visible fire ant mounds. Broadcast bait applications using products like Assurance Fire Ant Bait allow us to treat your entire property instead of focusing on individual mounds.

Fire ant baits are designed to be collected by worker ants so we can distribute the product throughout the entire colony. Focusing on colony-level control helps us provide better long-term results for your property.

Instead of relying on homeowners to select the right product and apply it correctly, let the professionals help you manage your fire ant problems. Fire Ant Specialists offers professional fire ant control services in residential and commercial properties for multiple reasons. Contact us today to learn how our fire ant treatment services can help you enjoy a property free from fire ants.