A20380A - Advion Fire Ant Bait - Insecticide - 2lb

OVERVIEW: That's right, "European" Fire Ants (Myrmica Rubra). I live in the NE US and they are an invasive species that is slowly becoming more and more of a problem, much like it's southern cousin. Never heard of them before 4 years ago, when I was stung dozens of times standing on a patio stone. I also have experience with the Southern variety as my mom lived in Florida. Some drainage work was done on my property 6 years ago and loads of top soil was brought in by the company to re-seed. I suspect this top soil was the source of the Fire ants as I had never seen them before then. The University of Maine conducted an in depth study. They specifically recommended this product (Advion) as the most effective treatment. THE ENEMY: These ants are not as aggressive as their southern cousins from S. America. Same size 3-4mm. Reddish to dark brown. They are not as fast and don't swarm as quickly. The individual sting is about as painful as their cousins, they'll just likely be less of them on you at once. They also don't build mounds of any kind which makes them harder to spot initially...until someone gets stung. Each individual colony can number in the 10s of thousands, have up to 100 queens that can live for up to15 years and utilize multiple nest sites with dozens of entrances. All this gives the ants tremendous flexibility and survivability to most measures. Left unchecked....they will take over large portions of a yard making it unusable...just like their cousins in the south. THE SITUATION: My yard was getting pretty infested with about 15-18 individual nests that I identified over a total of around 2000 sq/ft. Again, no mound of any kind makes it hard to detect until you learn what to look for. Look for the ants themselves and follow there foraging trails to nest and mark with sticks/stakes. For about 3 years I was trying other brands and homemade boric acid bait with limited to no success. Every year they were expanding. I then came across the UMaine articles recommending this product. After 2 days.....I no longer can find a single nest of Fire ants. They appear to have been completely eradicated. All the native, small brown ants, the ones that make little sand hills...seem to have been unaffected. This proves it's target use on Fire ants. The fact it only targets Fire ants (or other ants like them maybe) may be pro or a con depending on your situation. HOW TO APPLY: There two ways to apply this product. Broadcast or spot targeting each nest. Make sure it will not rain for 24 hours the day of application. The product is lightweight, bright yellow granules. Softish material the ants can easily grasp and move. I recommend the 2 pound jug for the money. I first used my Scotts seed spreader on setting 2 to cover the heavily nested areas evenly. Used about half the jug. I marked all of the identified nests I could find with tall bamboo stakes so I could easily monitor the results (see pic..notice deer tracks, lol). The next day, instead of seeing hundreds of workers foraging...I saw zero activity on 80% of the nests(see pic of nest w/no ants). I then looked VERY thoroughly for remaining nests. I found 5-6 more that were still active as they were outside of the initial targeted area of the spreader or were on the boarders and didn't get enough product. I applied just 1/2 teaspoon around each nest in a couple of small piles (see pic w/product). Because the granules are bright yellow, you can actually see the ants immediately pick up the stuff and start carrying it back to mom and the rest of the brood (see video). Very satisfying to see it work so fast. Little yellow dots moving down the holes..."look what I found Mom!" THE RESULT: The day after targeting individual nests after the initial broadcasting...I saw no ants. After 4 days....still no sign of any Fire Ants, ANYWHERE on my property! Now, I have no doubts there are some nests just off my property and they will be back in the future. It's probably inevitable. But I'll be ready to attack the nests as they come. The rest of the jug I have should last a few seasons as long as it doesn't expire. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! My yard is now completely usable again with no fear of pets, children or adults getting stung. Well worth the price in my opinion considering it will cost hundreds, possibly thousands to have it done professionally. Good luck folks!!

After spending the summer trying to kill ants in my garden using a variety of products, i am sharing the a list of the things I wish I had known from the beginning. 1. There are different kinds of ants - red ants, black ants, fire ants, carpenter ants… you have to have a rough idea of what type of ant you are dealing with before you start. This will make more sense later. 2. Ant baits contain two key products - the poison itself (e. Borax) and the rest of the foodstuff it contains to attract the ants (sweet or grease/protein based). Black ants like sweet based products, fire ants like protein based. That is why you see so many different types of bait of the market - you have to pick the right type for your ant problem. Terro contains borax and is sweet, so great for black ants, not so good for red ants or fire ants. THIS IS CRITICALLY IMPORTANT. 3. A colony will only die one the queen dies. That’s why bait are a better long term fix than sprays. A spray kills the ants you see, not the queen. For every one you kill there’s probably a hundred hiding siomewhere. 4. Queen ants live for up to 15 years, so don’t think that the problem will go away come winter. They will be back the following year in even bigger numbers. Tackle them as soon as you see them. 5. Ant baits take time to work as they are deliberately designed not to kill ants instantly. The worker ants eat the bait and take it back to the queen. It can take up to three weeks to kill a colony using bait. It depends on both the size of the colony and the maturity of the colony. A big colony takes longer than a small one - there are so many ants and you need to replace the bait regularly. 6. Queens ants don’t eat for the first month after establishing a colony - so all that time you’ve been trying to kill the queens … turns out that you’ve only been killing the worker ants. You need to keep putting down bait until all the ants are gone. 7. If using a bait outdoors, moisture like dew can stop the product from working. I had thought that this wouldn’t be an issue with Terro as it was container, but it seems like it was less effective when it was humid or damp outside. 8. Several types of ant have more than one queen. This was an eye opener for me. This is important because one queen dies, you can be pretty sure that there are several others ready to move the colony to a new location a few feet away from the nest you’ve tackled. At least six times this summer I would go back and find another new nest a couple of feet away from the original problem. 9. If you are losing patience and decide to try and kill the colony with insecticide spray or a dehydration powder, focus on the flying ants. Those are the typically the ones that are going to set up a new colony. Spray into all the cracks and crevices, then sit and wait for 20-30 minutes. You will see the surviving ants crawl out from their hiding space once they think the danger has passed. This is when the flying ants emerge in droves. 10. The reviews for ant products are highly dependent on the any type (fire, black, carpenter), the bait poison, the food product in the bait (sweet, protein), the location of the reviewer (USA has different ants from Europe), the location of the reviewer (dry, damp), the location of the ants (indoor, outdoor) and the reviewer’s level of patience (baits take time). Do your research before you start and it will save you monkey, time and your sanity! Finally this product worked amazingly for red and brown ants, I could literally see them carrying it away. It’s not so good for fast, black ants who I think prefer sweet products. I will 100% buy this again to keep the ants under control.

Bought it last year and kept all the ant mounds at bay most of the summer. Just bought it again this spring because it worked so well. Only had to reapply one time to a mound about 24" round and a foot high.

Excellent product and excellent customer service, I had a slight issue with the product and had an instant reply and was sorted within 24 hours.

I sprinkled it on my daughter’s yard and literally watched the ants drag the pellets down the entrance holes into their nests. Within days the ants were gone. Amazing results.