On Thu, 25 Sep 2003 05:20:51 GMT, Elliot Richmond
opined:

This is probably good stuff. A&M should know, and being an Aggie Ex, I
tend to trust 'em. Nevertheless, the use, over use, and misuse of the
word "organic" drives me crazy. What does organic mean used in this
context? The stuff is a toxic chemical, for pete's sake. By the same
logic as is presented on the website, botulin is organic.

Organic is anything carbon containing. The term organic when used in gardening
situations means natural, not a synthetic. Because something is natural does
not mean it is non-toxic, it means it is naturally occurring in the land, water,
air...

This reminds me of something I heard on television the other day
"contains no chemicals, only natural ingredients."

They should have said no synthetic ingredients. There are very strong natural
pesticides, I've used them. Pyrethrum, d-limonine, Neem, and many of the
smothering, contact poisons like insecticidal soap. These are also toxic to all
insects, for the most part, but are virtually non toxic to humans and break down
so quickly they have a great deal less of an impact on the soil biota.

By the way, since this is a bait, I think the treatment described in
this original post was incorrect. The correct application of bait type
controls is to broadcast it (as is suggested on the website) or to
sprinkle it *around* (not on) the mound. Sprinkled around or
broadcast, the ants will come out and pick up the bait. This
preferentially targets imported fire ants, because they are aggressive
foragers. Substances sprinkled on the mound are not recognized as
potential food source by the ants. Instead, they just abandon the
mound and move to one of their other mounds.

Elliot Richmond
Freelance Science Writer and Editor

You are correct, and these baits have either a slow acting growth hormone which
prevents the ants from reproduction when eventually reaching the queen(s) in a
nest. The outer bait is generally a soy product which ants enjoy. The ingest
it, and literally regurgitate it on down into the nest where it is eventually
fed to the queen. When she dies, all the other ants in the nest perish. Eggs
are not tended to and those die as well. That's why the baits take time to kill
the mound. It's my preferred method. In the house is a different story. I
vacuum as many as I can see and put boric acid in the carpet using D.E. to carry
it and make it a bit more effective.

Victoria