If you treat the entire area at the label rate it'll cost about $1.00 per thousand square feet and you will get 90 days control.  It will need to be watered in or put down prior to rain. If youhave excessive rain conditions you may not get the full 90 days.  If there are brakes in the treatment and a mound pops up, apply the Telstar to the mound as well as within a five foot diameter of the mound. (See Ant Products)

The Aventis Corporation has developed a new product that became available in January of 2002.  One application has the ability of one year control on fire ants. The product is called "Topchoice".  All of the extensive testing that has been done thus far has proven this product effective for a one year period for the control of fire ants.  It is a little slow at the onset taking four to five weeks to get a kill of existing colonies, but once control is achieved, will last for a year.

It is labeled only for professional use, so will have to be applied by a licensed applicator.  It is more expensive than most products, but for the amount of residual well worth while.  It contains the active ingredient Fippronil which is the same active as used in Termidor the new termite chemical that has proven so effective. For more information call us at 1-800-775 BUGS or 1-913-599-5990.

TOPCHOICE UPDATE (December 2002)

Since January of 2002 I have treated several hundred lawns with "Topchoice," Having guaranteed the results for 365 days I know exactly how effective it is. Take into account that in South Texas we have had an excess of 60 inches of rain, and some of the rain 20 inches at a time. Still, I was only called back for partial re-treatment on twenty lawns, and most of them were mounds in the mulch areas where the soil had been disturbed or in cracks in sidewalks and driveways. For the most part it has performed as advertised at least for 11 months.

Topchoice cannot be used in pastures. It adheres to the soil, so that if beds are weeded and raked throughout the summer you may get a break in the treatment causing new infestations. It takes five weeks to activate. I treat the existing mounds with Talstar liquid first for an immediate kill. If applied in the winter (December-February) one or two liquid spot treatments will be enough until the Topchoice activates. If done when ants are mating new mounds are beginning yet unseen, you will have to treat weekly until the Topchoice can take over. If you do not mind waiting of course this is unnecessar! y.

Although Topchoice is still labeled for professional use only, the manufacturers in their infinite wisdom and greed put on the consumer market a nearly identical product called "Over and Out." It works as well as Topchoice but must be applied on the entire lawn evenly at a rate of two pounds per thousand square feet. If you do it yourself make sure you have an accurate spreader. "Over and Out" sells for about $30.00 per ten pound bag or 5,000 square feet.

The original manufacturer of Frippronil, Aventis, sold all of their pest control chemicals to Bayer a month or so ago with the exception of Frippronil products, which were sold to B.A.S.F. They in turn registered back Termidor to Bayer, but it is as yet unclear what is happening to the balance of the frippronil products. I am sure they will remain about the same price but under whose name I do not know.

For more on fire ants, click here.

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