Sydney pest manager Peter Booth trials the new Goliath Liquid Ant Bait from BASF.
Controlling nuisance ants provides pest managers with an opportunity to broaden their business and provide an add- on service to their existing clients.
Ant control products can come in various formulations. Some come in a ready-to-use form, like baits for example, while others need to be mixed and diluted before being sprayed.
Sprayed products depend on good coverage and ant contact in order to achieve control and also have limitations on their use indoors or in food preparation areas.
Baits on the other hand can be targeted to where ants are tracking and congregating because they use an attractant. One highly effective ant bait is Goliath Liquid Ant Bait from BASF.
Based on the active ingredient fipronil, Goliath Liquid Ant Bait utilises the well-known ‘Transfer Effect’ to obtain ant colony control.
Peter Booth, from Buzz Off Termites and Pest Management in Sydney, has been using Goliath Liquid Ant Bait with great success.
“I don’t switch products very readily,” said Mr Booth. “I like to stick to using products that I know work well. But I had been told about Goliath Liquid Ant Bait and decided to trial it.
“Because it was a BASF product I had no problem to give it a go. I had successfully used Termidor liquid for many years and thought it was a great product. That gave me confidence that Goliath Liquid Ant Bait effectiveness and quality would be just like other BASF products.
Mr Booth had a problem site where there were massive numbers of small black house ants. “I thought this would be the ideal site to try the Goliath Liquid Ant Bait,” he said.
“I always use non-repellent products when treating ants. As part of the control plan we first applied Termidor to the outside of the building. We then went into the building with a tube of Goliath Liquid Ant Bait to apply some spots near where the ants were gathering.
“I wanted to make a direct comparison with the current gel product I had been using, particularly to compare their palatability.
“I applied a few drops of Goliath Liquid Ant Bait near where the ants were tracking. In just a very short time there were masses of ants feeding on the Goliath. There were many more ants feeding on the Goliath than the gel product I was currently using.”
Mr Booth also said Goliath Liquid Ant Bait was easy to use. “It was easy to apply, and when I applied it to vertical surfaces the drops just stayed in place and did not run.
“It was immediately obvious that the Goliath Liquid Ant Bait had greater palatability and attraction. I showed the client how attractive it was and he was impressed.”
Mr Booth waited about ten days before phoning the client to check on the results. The client reported that the ants had disappeared and the Goliath Liquid Ant Bait had done a terrific job.
“I have been using Goliath Liquid Ant Bait for quite a while now with excellent results. With ant jobs you really need to avoid callbacks otherwise your profit on that job can disappear.”
According to Dr David Elmouttie, technical specialist for BASF, “Goliath Liquid Ant Bait is a sugar rich ant bait designed to be highly attractive to carbohydrate feeding ants. The high palatability formulation has been specifically developed as a liquid, rather than a gel, building on research confirming the feeding preferences of worker ants to liquids.
“The relatively low concentration of fipronil in Goliath Liquid Ant Bait also ensures that ants consuming the bait will have sufficient time to share the palatable formulation widely throughout the colony before succumbing to its effects.”
Mr Booth concluded by saying that, “With Goliath Liquid Ant Bait I can be confident of a great result, happy clients, and no callbacks. Goliath Liquid Ant Bait works well. I will be continuing to use it, and it has become a permanent part of my toolkit.”
