Amdro® Kills Fire Ants Yard Treatment Bait
In This Review:
Next to learning how to identify fire ants, mounds and stings, the most important thing to understand about killing fire ants is that you have to stop the queen. As long as the queen produces new worker ants, the colony continues — no matter how many foraging worker ants you kill. That's why some prefer bait products versus contact killers to treat yards and kill visible and hidden fire ant mounds.
Amdro Kills Fire Ants Yard Treatment Bait is intended to treat full yards, killing fire ant mounds you see and those you don't. This product targets fire ant queens to ensure the entire colony dies. This bait works slowly on purpose, so it can reach the queen to do its work.
Performance: Kills fire ants, prevents queens from reproducing
Amdro Kills Fire Ants Yard Treatment Bait is designed especially for yards. Unlike common bait products, it offers a unique two-way killing action that combines bait with an insect growth regulator. The active ingredients are hydramethylnon, a highly effective bait killer, and (s)-methoprene, an insect growth regulator that interferes with the queen's ability to reproduce.
Like most effective bait products, Amdro Kills Fire Ants Yard Treatment Bait has delayed killing action. The bait attracts foraging ants, which haul the bait back to feed their colony. After the queen partakes of the tainted food supply, she loses the ability to reproduce. Without a supply of new worker ants, the colony starves and dies. It's not a fast process, but it's effective.
In addition to killing imported and native fire ants, this product takes care of other problem ants, including harvester ants and bigheaded ants. According to the label, the only ants it won't kill are carpenter ants and Pharoah ants.
Application: Treats visible and hidden mounds, without watering-in
Amdro Kills Fire Ants Yard Treatment Bait's zip-close resealable bag is one of our favorites. You won't need scissors or a knife to zip it open, but you will need something to cut the inner seal. The 2-pound bag has a plastic insert with holes, which works like a shaker top on a spice jar. It's easy to treat areas of your yard without a broadcast spreader. We also appreciate that you can offer the bag for recycling once it's empty.
Amdro's bait granules reflect the product's corn grit base: They look and smell like coarse cornmeal. As with all bait products, it's important to scatter the granules and never leave them in piles, which can attract curious pets, kids and unwelcome wildlife.
With Amdro Kills Fire Ants Yard Treatment Bait, you can choose the best application rate for your yard. For heavy infestations, broadcast the granules at a rate of 2 pounds per 2,000 square feet. For lighter infestations, you can cover twice the area: Use 2 pounds per 4,000 square feet. As with most products that kill fire ants, use these bait granules for lawns and ornamental areas only. Avoid vegetable gardens and areas near edible crops.
For best results, apply this yard treatment bait during peak fire ant season from spring through fall. During cooler months, fire ants go deeper and stay less active. But when soil temperatures rise above 60 degrees Fahrenheit, fire ant activity picks up. Treat in morning or late afternoon when foraging ants are most active to help ensure the bait gets back to the colony soon.
After application, do not water-in this product. Baits are most attractive to fire ants and most effective when the product stays dry. Similarly, don't apply Amdro Kills Fire Ants Yard Treatment Bait when the ground is soaking wet or when you expect heavy rains. Wait for a rain-free forecast to optimize your results.
While this yard treatment handles mounds you see and those you don't, Amdro recommends a two-step approach for maximum fire ant control. First, treat your yard with Amdro Kills Fire Ants Yard Treatment Bait. Then tackle individual fire ant mounds with Amdro Fire Ant Bait.
Pets and Children: Reenter treated areas after any dust settles
The label on our bag of Amdro Kills Fire Ants Yard Treatment Bait had instructions to keep people and pets out of treatment areas during application. But it didn't include any information on when it's okay for you and your pets to use your yard again. We went to the product's website to find an answer. According to the website, you and your pets can reenter treated areas as soon as any dust has settled.
Competition: Amdro® Kills Fire Ants Yard Treatment Bait vs. Over'n Out!® Advanced Fire Ant Killer
Amdro Kills Fire Ants Yard Treatment Bait and Over'n Out! Advanced Fire Ant Killer both make for easy lawn applications. But these products work in different ways. The Amdro bait product offers delayed killing action that helps ensure the bait makes it to the queen. Over'n Out! Advanced Fire Ant Killer is a fast-acting contact killer that kills fire ant mounds in 15 minutes and kills the queen in 24 hours.
You'll need to water-in the Over'n Out product right after application, but the Amdro bait needs to stay dry. That saves you a big step for full yard treatments, especially if you don't have a good irrigation system to water things in.
Both products come in bags, but we really like the 2-pound Amdro bag's easy-open zip-close top versus the nonresealable Over'n Out bag. Plus, the shaker insert makes perimeter applications and spot treatments quick and simple.
At $12.97 for the 2-pound shaker bag, Amdro Kills Fire Ants Yard Treatment Bait treats 4,000 square feet for about $3.25 for 1,000 square feet. An 11.5-pound, $19.99 bag of Over'n Out! Advanced Fire Ant Killer treats up to 5,000 square feet at about $4.00 per 1,000 square feet of your yard, so the Amdro product wins on price.
The Over'n Out product offers up to six months of residual protection against new fire ants and mounds, but the Amdro product promises season-long control. Combined with the bait's effectiveness and convenience, Amdro's lower price has extra appeal when treating your entire yard.
Conclusions:
Even though Amdro Kills Fire Ants Yard Treatment Bait takes longer to work, we appreciate the bait's reputation for reaching queens and killing colonies. With the added convenience of no watering-in, this effective fire ant bait checks all the boxes for a top yard treatment.
The opinions represented in this article are the author's. However, the author has been paid by the owner of this website, Central Garden & Pet Company.
