An extensive baiting program combined with sanitary and exclusion practices is essential to managing pharaoh ant populations.

• Baits are required in every area that ants are active; place them so that foraging workers from all colonies contact and feed on them.
• Combination fat-based baits with sweets are more effective for a longer period of time than using sweet baits alone.
• Hydramethylnon, sulfuramid, boric acid (use low concentrations with less than 1% of the active ingredient), and fipronil are effective alone or combined.
• Before employing an extensive baiting program, offer small portions of each type of bait to see which is preferred.
• Baits should be placed in protected areas away from children and pets.
• Place baits throughout the house:
  • in corners or edges of cabinets, pantries, window sills, closets, or dark voids, such as walls
  • near plumbing pipes, under bathroom sinks and faucets, near base of toilets, around stoves, ovens, and under carpets
  • inside outlet boxes, sockets, and switch plates
• Place baits outdoors:
  • around windows, doorways, and foundations
  • along porches or patios and flower boxes

How baits work

• Worker ants will be attracted to the bait and take it back to the nest where the entire colony, including queens, may be killed.
• Bait must be slow-acting so workers won't be killed before they get back to the nest.
• Results may not be evident for several weeks.
• Killing workers does little to control the colony, because as few as 1% of a colony's foraging worker ants are able to provide sufficient food to support nestbound queens and larvae.
• Bait stations or ant stakes are easiest to use and safest for the environment.