Center ant management on colony management

Joe Barlie, Technical Service Lead
Bayer

Pest ant activity usually is observed by customers as the foraging activity of workers. pest management professionals (PMPs) respond and typically apply insecticide formulations that provide relief from that activity quickly. But are you really solving the problem by just managing foraging activity?

Ants are social insects, and statistics tell us the foraging workers we target are only about 5 percent to 10 percent of the colony population. Ant management should be centered on colony management. The workers you controlled yesterday will be replaced tomorrow if you limit your control efforts to just worker ants.

To help prevent this from happening, after performing the appropriate non-chemical controls, choose insecticides that:

• Contain active ingredients that will be transferred to colony members via social behavior.
• Target the queen(s) and brood with baits that are shared.
• Feature premium spray formulations that can survive tough outdoor environments.