EDITOR’S NOTE: The Denton Record-Chronicle bids John Cooper farewell with this column. Cooper is retiring from the county extension service after years of dedicated service. The Record-Chronicle has published Cooper’s column for 23 years. We wish Cooper well in his retirement.

John Cooper

Fire ants are responsible for more than $1.2 billion in economic losses in Texas each year. It now looks like we may never get rid of them entirely, but at least we have the tools we need to manage them in our own landscapes, and now is the time to apply them.

Proper timing of fire ant bait applications coincide with their highest breeding and feeding activity during the periods of April though May and September through Oc­t­ober. Two bait applications per year are usually enough, but four applications may be required with spinosad and hydramethylnon baits.

Baits containing hydramethylnon, fenoxycarb, abamec­tin, pyriproxyfen, spinosad, indoxacarb or methoprene will provide 70 percent to 90 percent control within two to 12 weeks. The baits are distributed through a broadcast spreader at the rate of 1 pound to 1 1/2 pounds per acre, or about a half-ounce per 1,000 square feet. Apply baits when the air temperature is 75 degrees to 90 degrees and the ground is dry, with no rain or heavy dew expected or irrigation applied within 24 hours after treatment.

Apply baits uniformly across the treatment area to ensure foraging worker ants have equal access to the bait. Individual mounds may be two to three months old before they are big enough to see. The beauty of baits is that they control all the mounds, including the ones you can’t see. If you only treat individual mounds, new mounds will always be “popping up out of nowhere.”

In high-traffic areas where control is desired within one or two days, treat individual mounds with products containing the active ingredients cyfluthrin, deltamethrin, carbaryl, acephate, permethrin, pyrethrins or rotenone. The brand Over’N Out, which contains indoxacarb, is a fast-acting broadcast bait that is effective for quick control of individual mounds. At least one “organic” material, d-limonene, a citrus oil extract, has been proven effective as a mound treatment when used according to label directions.

When using a broadcast bait and individual mound treatments in the same area, apply the bait three or four days before you treat individual mounds to allow assimilation of the baited control agent before you disrupt their feeding habits with a contact insecticide.

Until a few years ago, we could use fire ant baits only at the perimeter of the vegetable garden. Now, four baits, Extinguish (methoprene), Esteem (pyriproxyfin), Amdro (hydramethylnon) and Green Light Fire Ant Control with Conserve (spinosad) can be broadcast inside the garden.

If the bait is stale, it will surely fail. Buy only as much bait as you need at the time. Test the material by sprinkling fresh bait granules in front of foraging ants. If they pick it up, the bait will work. If they don’t, buy a fresh batch. Learn more at http://fireants.tamu.edu  .

JOHN COOPER is county extension agent — horticulture for the Denton County office of the Texas Cooperative Extension, the Texas A&M University System, U.S. Department of Agriculture and the County Commissioners Courts of Texas Cooperating.