Most of the time, we tend to ignore ants and let them be on their way. However, if left unchecked, these insects can be a real pest. There’s nothing more undesirable than to see thousands of house ants crawling along the kitchen countertops. So, will Advion Ant Bait Gel solve your problems?
Sure, you can remove an ant population by getting rid of them at the moment but you also need to remove the pheromone trail that they leave behind. Otherwise, other ant problem will just come again and join the party.
When it comes to removing an ant population from your home, one of the best methods that you can use is to buy an ant insecticide. For today’s post, we are going to review a certain insecticide called Advion Ant Bait Gel.
Is this ant insecticide effective and worth your money for your ant problem? Let’s find out!
Advion Ant Gel Bait Product Overview
Before we go into the meat of the review, let’s first check out the key information, features, and benefits of the Advion Ant Bait Gel:
- Active Agent(s): Indoxacarb
- HRAC/FRAC/IRAC Classification: Group 22 Insecticide
- EPA#: 100-1498
Key Features
- Targets most pest species of ants, including all key sweet feeders and house ants.
- Features a highly attractive, homogenous formulation
- Indoxacarb, the main ingredient, is the only member of its class of chemistry, so it performs like no other insecticide
Key Benefits
- Ants consume more Advion Ant gel bait over an extended period. This results in thorough infestation control.
- Integrity is maintained over an extended period due to its odorless, translucent, and stainless formulation.
- Through the combination of a unique active agent and a highly appealing gel formulation, Advion Ant Gel Bait is a highly effective bait station tool for broad-spectrum ant control.
Advion Ant Gel Review
This insecticide is one of the most popular ant control products that you can find in the market, and for good reason.
Highly Attractive Formulation
One of the best things about this product is its highly attractive, homogenous formulation. This means that the ants will be drawn to the gel like they are actual candies in a bait station. Thus, you don’t have to seek out an ant colony just to be able to use the product. All you need to do is apply the gel in areas where you have seen the ants in action.
The gel acts as a bait station and a pesticide at the same time. This gives you plenty of conveniences since you do not have to use multiple pest control products to achieve the best results.
The formulation also allows the gel to target a broad spectrum of ant species such as pavement ants, carpenter ants, sugar ants, pharaoh ants, Argentine ants and ghost ants. Most sweet feeders will be targeted which fortunately include most household ants. From my experience, it managed to attract all types of ants in my household.
With such a good formulation, ants will find themselves consuming more of the gel which leads to better and thorough results. The gel is also non-repellent which means that the ants cannot detect there is a pesticide or toxicant present which significantly encourages more consumption of the bait at the bait station.
Amazing Active Ingredient
As mentioned, the main active agent of the Advion Gel is Indoxacarb (0.05%).
Indoxacarb is a slow acting ingredient which is designed to work over a few days. So you are likely asking, why would I want a pesticide that takes so long to take effect? Wouldn’t it be better if the product actually kills the insect on contact?
Well, it’s easy to think that way since a more instantaneous effect would give you visible results right away. As mentioned, the gel works like a bait which means that the workers will be consuming the gel. Since the workers think that the gel is food, the Indoxacarb will be carried back into their mounds and will be fed to the rest of the colony including the queens.
Slow, But Steady Action
After consumption, Indoxacarb will poison the ants nervous system and they will be dead after about 72 hours. Depending on the size of the colony, all the ants will be wiped out over a few days.
Needless to say, this slow-acting approach is much more preferable since it destroys the rest of the colony and not just the workers. The Advion Ant Gel yielded some great results after testing. In just a few days, there were no peskier ants in sight.
Both Indoor and Outdoor Usage
Another good thing about the Advion Gel Bait is that it can be used for both indoors and outdoors. The non-staining formulation means that you can apply the gel basically anywhere inside your home without worrying about permanent stains.
Applying the gel outdoors works just as well. However, it’s worth noting that the product is not weatherproof. Thus, if it is raining, you will want to skip on applying the gel since it’s just going to be washed away.
The ant bait comes in a syringe tube which makes it a breeze to apply on all surfaces. With the syringe application, it is easy to reach tight spaces like holes, crevices, and cracks. This formula woks for pavement ants too. These ants are found throughout the United States and are major pests in the Midwest. Pavement ants earned their name because they nest in cracks in driveways .
When it comes to indoor applications of pesticides, safety is a major concern. Fortunately, the gel bait is only deadly for ants and other bugs. Its formulation is not harmful toward pets and children. However, this doesn’t mean that you should not exercise caution when using the gel indoors. After all, you are still dealing with a poisonous substance.
Is It Worth the Price?
The Advion Ant Gel Insecticide is available for $30 and that comes with 4 syringe gel tubes. I have been looking around for similar products and it seems that Syngenta is offering is one of the most expensive ant insecticides in the market.
For comparison, the Optigard Ant Bait Gel Syngenta is only sold for about $29.95 and it comes with 4 gel tubes as well. Another product called Advance 375a Select Granular Ant Bait, a positively reviewed ant control solution, is sold for only $19.
The Advion Gel Bait is a little more expensive when compared to similar products. However, I’d like to think that you are paying for the quality and efficiency of this insecticide. I have used many ant baits before but the Advion gel tubes gave me the impressive results that I wanted. It is no wonder that it’s a very popular ant control solution for many homeowners.
Personally, I think that it is worth the slightly higher price tag.
Pros and Cons
So what are the things that we like and did not like about the Advion Gel?
Pros:
- Powerful attractant that works on all key sweet feeders
- The slow-acting active component works well in clearing the nest
- No odor, non-staining gel bait
- Maintains its integrity for extended periods
- Excellent environmental and toxicological profile
- Easy to use with no setup
Cons:
- A bit expensive
- Not weatherproof
- Will not work with ants that feed on protein
Similar Products You Should Check Out
If for some reason that you do not like the Advion Gel pest control, here are some alternatives that you can check out.
1. Optigard Ant Bait Gel Syngenta
The Optigard Ant Bait Gel Syngenta is an excellent alternative to the featured product as it works in a similar manner. This means that the gel works slowly as well. Thus, if the workers return to their nest with the gel, it will be fed to the rest of the colony. This pretty much ensures that the queen, the young, and the entire colony will be wiped out.
The difference is that the main active ingredient of this gel is Thiamethoxam (.010%). This active ingredient is a broad-spectrum, systemic insecticide and the target is the insect’s tracheal and nervous system. Basically, it messes with the ant’s ability to feed which eventually leads to death.
I have tried this product on sweet ants and it worked wonders. It’s definitely on the same line as Advion.
2. Advance 375a Select Granular Ant Bait
The Advance 375a Select Granular Ant Bait is another good alternative to Advion and it is also much less expensive.
It is a granular insecticide which means that you need the proper placement to ensure that the ants take the bait. Like Advion, this bait features a delayed action insecticide but this time, it is Abamectin. The insecticide can reduce the population of the ants by causing an immediate halt in egg production.
The granular solution is a mixture of food and other insecticide ingredients. I have used this product with a great deal of success. Plus, it works on a wide species of ants including Argentine, Carpenter, Fire, Field, Pharaoh, Acrobat, Harvester, and many others.
This is a very affordable ant control solution that should work for many homes.
User Reviews and Feedback
For this section, we take a look at some of the reviews and feedback for the Advion Ant Gel. What do consumers think about this product? As of this writing, it has a rating of 3.2 stars out of 5 with a total of 444 reviews.
On the positive side, there are many reviews stating that the product just works. Many have been looking for that one effective ant control product and they found it in Advion. Many were pleased that the gel bait is so easy to use and requires no setup. For some, it worked in as little as three days while for others, it took a couple of weeks or months.
On the other hand, there seems to be a lot of bad reviews for the product as of late. Many of the reviewers are wondering why the product just stopped working. Many are suspecting that it was a bad batch.
What We Think
The Advion Ant Gel is one of the more effective ant baits that I have had the pleasure of using. Within just a few days of continued application, I have seen no signs of ants which led me to believe that the colony was wiped out. It was so effective that I never even finished the entire batch.
I think it is just unfortunate that there seems to be a problem with the latest batch of the gel. Hopefully, that issue has been addressed because it really is one of the best ant gels I have used.
Our Rating: 4/5
Image by Hans Braxmeier from Pixabay