Sometimes the drench does not kill all fire ants in a treated colony. The surviving ants will construct small mounds within 10 to 15 feet of the parent colony. Several days after the application, search the area around the treated colony for new mounds and treat them with the insecticide drench. Keep children and pets away from the treated area until it is dry. Ant baits also can be used to treat individual mounds.
Baits are insecticides that have been mixed with ant attractants.
Worker ants carry particles of the bait back to the mound and feed them to the queen. Although the insecticide kills the queen, workers may be active inside the mound for several weeks before the colony finally disappears. Baits are fairly slow acting but easier to apply than mound drenches. Therefore, they are best used in situations where many mounds must be treated, when water for mixing mound drenches is difficult or impossible to obtain, or when the risk of human contact is low and there is no urgent need to eliminate the infestation. The active ingredients in ant baits are rapidly degraded by high temperature, high humidity, and intense sunlight.