LFA Treatment Companies

[leilanidude]

Any good ones?

Used to use LFA Land Maintenance, but they now require payment in advance and that you give them a credit card to have on file. Like I trust a little company to keep that safe? They won't even let you pay at time of service anymore.

[ElysianWort]

One thing for sure: We have had a very, VERY wet couple of months. I noticed rain EVERY day in October in HA except for the 30th and 31st.

Fire ants LOVE the rain. They seem to really proliferate during moist times. I cannot wait for a little drought. That is when I can somewhat get the LFA under control. Too much rain and you cannot: control them with Amdro, Tango or anything else that I know of. It simply washes away the bait. We all know I hate using pesticides but it's even worse when the weather renders them ineffective. I liked Siesta brand best because of it's non-toxicity. Can't find it anymore though.

Anyway, I'm wondering if the companies that do treatments can find away around the weather issues or are you simply wasting your money if you hire them to treat during rainy times.

Some people are using a little curved PVC device to put bait in but even though it keeps the bait dry from direct rain it doesn't work well because the humidity in the air makes the bait wet anyway and it will mold within a day and the ants become disinterested in the bait.

[dan d]

Put extinguish out every 10 days in no rain day. Had a 1/4 inch of dead lfa,s in hot tub lower area. Tango once a month, pnut butter 1 month powdered beef liver the next mo.

Get a good pumper. Recipie on ant lab do it your self,spray lower trees as the lfa likes verticle. U dont need a service. Wear a tyvek suit ,non hot day or in the morn


HPP

[kalianna]

dan d, please say more about the beef liver. Our LFA are gone after a year of Tango technique but do we have to do this forever since our neighbors don' treat?

[hilodiver]

The best advice I can give is to attend the Hawaii Ant Lab's free training. You can also download lots of information and instructions from their website. I've been using the gel bait with Provaunt and beef liver with excellent results. I also use Probait on the ground. The supplies aren't cheap and you'll need a quality sprayer to reach up into the trees. I probably wiped out about 90% of my ants on the first treatment!

Aloha!

[My 2 cents]

Kalianna, even if your neighbors do treat you will still have to do maintenance. LFAs will hitchhike on cars, animals, wind, etc. They are now a fact of life. The good news is that once you get them under control the maintenance becomes lees frequent. About every 6 - 9 months, give or take, depending on conditions.

I like the concept of Tango, but I did the program for 6 months and saw no results. One treatment with Avaunt in the gel bait mixture and they were gone the next day. When they came back after about 3 months I treated again. Subsequent treatings have become necessary less frequently.

I compared the labels of Avaunt and Provaunt and they appear to be the same. Provaunt is approved for use with the gel-bait mixture and it is cheaper so I will try it next time around. I expect to see the same results.

The ants do "learn" so it's a good idea to change the attractant (peanut butter, beef liver, etc.) from treatment to treatment.

[ElysianWort]

I could probably find it but can you guys post where to find and buy Avaunt or Provaunt?

[My 2 cents]

BEI for sure, and I think they have the best price. They also will give you the Hawaii Ant Lab info with the gel-bait recipe and instructions.

Helpful tips:

A little goes a long way. One drop every 2' - 4' is plenty. Be aware that it will stain. In the house I put a drop on 2" squares of blue masking tape, or tin foil in non-windy areas like under cabinets.

[ElysianWort]

Thanks. Have a beautiful day! []

[eigoya]

Where do u get the desiccated liver? Also, would peanut protein powder do the same or dog food?