Why baits fail

     While this site and many university studies show that baiting is the preferred method of ant control, many still believe that baits don't work. And in some cases they are right. The demands of the colony control the foraging habits of the ants, and in some instances the demands of the colony are far removed from food gathering. For instance; when the colony is just starting out the majority of ants will be assigned nest building jobs, and while you may see a trail of ants in your inspection area.
If you were to put out bait around them then they may just ignore it all or best circumstance only a few of the trailing ants will stop to investigate and collect the bait. But you won’t see the expected results of the trail stopping in their tracks to gorge on the bait. In this instance the few who are uneducated in the foraging habits of ants may proclaim that the baits don't work. Another instance of ants not feeding on baits may be when they are relocating the nest. Many ants go through a “budding” process of relocating or dividing of the nest due to many circumstances.
In this instance you will see ants carrying eggs, larva or even pupa stages.
The reason of this “budding” needs to be investigated and notes made to where they are coming from and where they are going to.

     For instance if the ants are trailing into a structure then they may be relocating their nest into a moisture area or getting out of a moisture soaked area in the soil. Either way, the fact that they are relocating into structure needs to be investigated further. This may lead to a significant increase in ant activity inside the structure.
In the case of “budding” you may get some good results with bait acceptance from these trails.

Since only a majority of ants will be carrying the sisterhood. Other ants still will be in charge and in the lookout for food items to feed the larva. Getting bait introduced along with the budding process will result in good results. But at the same time you may not get a “gorging” of the bait that you may expect. Again the demands of the colony will give you mixed results. Some PMP's will see this as a great opportunity to “nuke” the trail. Spraying pesticides on the trail and into the area they are trailing into. This will result in massive casualties but it may also result in the ants being locked into the structure and creating a major infestation inside. Many times ants may relocate or even nest mainly under siding and inside the wall voids without becoming a major infestation inside the structure. The will nest in the wall voids while continuing to forage on the outside for there needs.

Applying   indiscriminately pesticides around the perimeter may cause a increase of indoor ant activity.

How many times have you heard :

”I never had an ant problem before I called you out here”

Maybe the customer complained about crickets or another pest, and without doing a proper inspection you apply a pesticide around the perimeter thus creating a worse situation then they had before you came out.

     Bait acceptance is also dependent on other circumstances, the needs of the colony, when the nest is producing brood; the demands of protein are increased. If you only supply the ants with a sweet or grease bait then you will have mixed results. While the ants will still forage for sweets the demands of the colony still are protein needs. If you don't supply the protein then they will get it else ware. And that will be from the environment or from inside the structure. Supply them with all 3-4 types of bait, while removing as much competing food source as possible. Have homeowner keep pet food put way and clean trash cans, keeping sanitation levels high will help keep competing food sources to a minimum. Not supplying all types of bait and keeping competing food sources to a minimum will lead you to believe that the baits are the cause of failure to control ants.

Even if you are supplying all the bait types, one area of failure overlooked is maintaining to supply enough baits and placing them in the proper areas. When beginning a bait program, follow up is extremely important to the success.

Bait stations should be inspected one week after placement.

           If you find the stations empty then you need to supply them with more bait or increase the amount of bait stations around the perimeter. A typical 3-4 bedroom, 2500 sq. ft. home needs a minimum of 8-10 stations. The stations need to be clean and free from old bait. Rancid bait will contaminate new fresh bait placed in the stations. If you continue to just place new bait on top of old it will become a waste of time and money. Ants prefer fresh bait; not supplying them with proper amounts of fresh baits may result in baits failing to control ants.

       When using perimeter type bait stations or any other type of reusable station. After a few months remove all stations and replace with clean stations. As the stations remain in the ground over a period of time they may become exposed to elements that contaminate the bits.

 Don't waste money by taking that risk.

Read about ant case studies here to explore other areas where baits seemingly failed at first.

BAITS DON'T FAIL !!!!

We fail the baits. improper inspections, failure to look at the big picture,
rushing through treatments and other various actions cause ant control to be more difficult then most any other insect treatments.

Always remember:

 MOISTURE IS THE KEY!!!!!!