Tips and Tricks: Why you should bait ants

By Dr. Bob Cartwright
Technical Manager, Syngenta Professional Pest Management

When ant infestations become a problem, pest management professionals (PMPs) can control them through baiting practices. While there are other ways to manage ants, baiting provides PMPs with multiple advantages that you can’t find when using other applications, including:

• Baits work well when targeting a specific pest, such as ants, and can be applied as spot or crack-and-crevice treatments.

• Baits can be used in sensitive spaces, such as food-handling areas and around electrical equipment.

• Baits can help control ants when nests and foraging areas are inaccessible.

If you choose to adopt a baiting program, the following tips will help you provide the best results for your customers:

• Map out foraging trails. To learn where to best apply the bait, do a thorough inspection to identify where ants are foraging. Once you have applied the bait, be sure to check back frequently to see whether more bait is needed.

• Keep it clean. Remove other food sources to decrease the chance of competition between the bait and natural food sources.

• Use a palatable bait. Using highly attractive bait is critical to successfully controlling foragers and their nestmates.

• Ensure easy transferability. Some gel baits are overly gooey and are difficult for ants to transfer throughout the colony, for example.