Bifen IT

How Bifen IT Works

Bifen IT is a liquid concentrate insecticide that contains bifenthrin, a synthetic pyrethroid. Pyrethroids work by disrupting an insect's nervous system causing a weakened state followed by death. Bifen IT does not provide an instant knockdown of pests, rather, pests pick up the residual active ingredient by contact. Bifen IT is a repellent insecticide since it acts quickly enough that social insects such as ants cannot create a pheromone trail. This means that Bifen IT will be most effective as a barrier for target pests with a thorough application.

Target Insects

Bifen IT is very effective on Japanese Beetles, clover mites, ants, termites, fleas, ticks, spiders, scorpions, roaches, millipedes, earwigs, army worms, mealybugs, mites, grasshoppers, pillbugs, cutworms, sod webworms, weevils, leaf miners, box elder bugs, bees, wasps, sowbugs, crickets, and turf and ornamental pests. Bifen IT even has an expanded label to include control of stink bugs indoors and outdoors.

INSECTS CONTROLLED: adelgids, American dog ticks, annual bluegrass weevils, ants, aphids, armyworms, bagworms, banks grass mites, bed bugs (not in residential areas), bees, beet armyworms, beetles, billbugs, biting flies, black turfgrass ataenius, black vine weevils, boxelder bugs, broad mites, brown soft scales, budworms, California red scale centipedes, carpet beetles, carpenter ants, centipedes, chiggers, chinch bugs, cicadas, citrus thrips, clothes moths, clover mites, cockroaches, crane flies, crickets, cutworms, deer ticks, diaprepes, dichondra flea beetles, earwigs, elm leaf beetles, European red mites, fall webworms, filth-breeding flies, firebrats, fleas, flea beetles, flies, fungus gnats, gnats, grasshoppers, gypsy moth caterpillars, hide beetles, hornets, imported fire ants, Japanese beetles, lace bugs, leaf feeding caterpillars, leafhoppers, leafminers, leafrollers, litter beetles, mealybugs, midges, millipedes, mites, mole crickets, mosquitoes, moths, orchid weevils, pecan leaf scorch mite, pillbugs, pine needle scales, pine shoot beetle, plant bugs, psyllids, roaches, San Jose scales, scorpions, silverfish, sod webworms, sow bugs, spiders (including black widow spiders), spider mites, spittlebugs, springtails, stink bugs, subterranean termites (genera Reticulitermes, Zootermopsis, Coptotermes and Heterotermes), tent caterpillars, thrips, ticks, tip moths, treehoppers, twig borers, wasps, weevils, whiteflies, wood-infesting beetles (including but not limited to old house borers and powder post), yellow jackets

Target Uses

Talstar One, Bifen I/T and other Bifenthrin generics control over 75 common insect pests, including termites. Bifen can be used as an indoor and outdoor pest control, turf and ornamental application, and for treating pests in food-handling areas. Both Talstar One and Bifen I/T contain microcrystals that do not break down easily with rain once they bond to surfaces. Both Talstar One and Bifen IT are clear substances that leave no stains on painted surfaces. Bifen IT can last up to 6 months outside. See below for list of approved usage sites.

Application Instructions

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Best applied with a 1 gallon sprayer. Apply to outside foundation and all entry points such as around windows, doors, etc. Always read the label completely before use.

Yield

• 1 bottle (4 oz.) concentrate yields 4-8 gallons of finished solution.
• 1 pint (16 oz.) concentrate yields 16-32 gallons of finished solution.
• 1 quart (32 oz.) concentrate yields 32-96 gallons of finished solution.
• ¾ gallon (96 oz.) concentrate yields 96-192 gallons of finished solution.
• 1 gallon (128 oz.) concentrate yields 128-384 gallons of finished solution.

Standard Application Dilution rates / Mixing Ratios

• 0.33 oz./gallon of water – 0.02% - prevention, low level infestions
• 0.5 oz./gallon of water – 0.031% – general indoor or outdoor use
• 1.0 oz./gallon of water - 0.06% - severe infestations, less frequent treatments, longer residual, quicker knockdown
• 1 gallon of finished solution should cover 1,000 square feet when using a hand pump sprayer

* See the video above for general use mixing and application instruction using a Chapin Premier 1 gallon sprayer.

Use in the Following Areas:

In and around such areas as homes, commercial and industrial buildings, recreational areas, athletic fields, lawns and ornamentals; livestock and poultry houses; gardens, parks, lawns, grounds and other ornamental sites; flowers, foliage pants, non-bearing fruit and nut trees, shrubs, ornamental trees; interior and exterior plantscapes such as those in hotels, office buildings, shopping malls, etc.; both food/feed and nonfood areas of food/feed handling establishments; aircraft (excluding cabins), apartments, bakeries, bottling facilities, breweries, buses, cafeterias, candy plants, canneries, dairy product processing plants, food manufacturing plants, food processing plants, food service establishments, granaries, grain mills, hospitals, hotels, industrial buildings, laboratories, meat/poultry/egg processing plants, mobile/motor homes, nursing homes, offices, railcars, restaurants, schools, ships, trailers, trucks, vessels, warehouses, wineries

Indoors

Use 0.33 to 1 fluid oz. per gallon of water for residual pest control in buildings and structures and on modes of transport. Apply either as a crack and crevice, pinstream, spot, coarse, low pressure spray (25 psi or less) or with a paint brush.

Apply as a coarse, low pressure, crack and crevice or spot spray to areas where pests hide, such as baseboards, corners, storage areas, closets, around water pipes, doors and windows, attics and eaves, behind and under refrigerators, cabinets, sinks, furnaces, stoves, the underside of shelves, drawers and similar areas.

• Do not use as a space spray.
• Pay particular attention to cracks and crevices.
• Limit repeat application to no more than once per seven days and only if there are signs of renewed insect activity.

* Bifen IT may be converted to a foam for residual treatment of voids or as a spot spray when visual marking of application is desired.

* Bifen IT is NOT labeled for control of bedbugs in residential or commercial areas except for in livestock and poultry housing structures.

Outdoors

General application for crawling pests - Mix 0.5 to 1 oz. of Bifen IT in one gallon of water and apply to the outside foundation of the home, approx. 3 feet up the side of the house and 2 feet out from the house. Also spray entry points into the home such as around windows, pipes, doorways, etc. For general preventative treatment, apply Bifen IT once every 3 months.

Mosquitoes: To control mosquitoes around buildings, landscapes, and lawns, dilute 0.33 to 1.0 fl. oz. per gallon of water and use one gallon of dilution per 1000 square feet as a general spray. Bifen IT can be mixed at lower concentrations and applied at higher volumes to ensure application of the proper amount of product to a given area.

Bagworms: Use 0.125 to 0.25 oz. per 1,000 square feet (or 5.4 - 10.8 oz. per 100 gal.). Apply as a full coverage foliar spray. Use of a Chapin Slide Pump Sprayer will help reach higher into trees. For optimum control treat when larvae have started to hatch and are young, directing spray to contact as many larvae as possible.

Chinch Bugs: Use 0.25 to 0.5 oz. per 1,000 square feet. In order to optimize the penetration of the insecticide to location of the chinch bugs, irrigation of the grass prior to treatment may be necessary.  If grass is being kept at a long mowing height or if the thatch layer is excessive, use higher volume treatments. It may be necessary to use higher application rates (up to 1 fl. oz. per 1,000 square feet) to control populations made up of both adults and nymphs in mid-summer.

Lawn applications: A hose end sprayer, such as the Chapin hose end sprayer, may be used to apply Bifen IT for lawn pests. Use up to 1.0 oz. per 1,000 square feet. Higher volume applications may be more effective with some pests, so you may want to calibrate the sprayer to a lower rate (for example, 0.25 oz/gal.) and use more water to cover a 1,000 square foot area.

Termite Applications: Bifen IT may be used for pre-construction or post-construction prevention of subterranean termites. Use 1.0 oz/gal. of water (0.06% solution) for most termite applications. For preconstruction horizontal barriers (such as under a concrete slab), use 1 gallon of solution per 10 square feet. For perimeter barrier treatments, use 4 gallons of solution per 10 linear feet. See our article How to Do a Termite Treatment, for further instructions on perimeter termite treatments. See product label for full instructions on using Bifen IT to control subterranean termites.

Features

• Pet Safe when dry
• Virtually no odor or staining
• Easy-to-remember mixing rates
• Convenient squeeze and pour containers (pint and quart) make measuring and mixing easy
• Bifen IT may be tank-mixed with adjuvants and with other pesticides, including insect growth regulators.
• Very broad labeling for pests and use areas means you can use one product for many jobs
• Labeled for use in food or feed handling establishments
• Long residual for fewer treatments

Extra Tips

• Allow at least 30 minutes after application before allowing pets or children into treatment area. For best results, allow 24 hours after outdoor application before expected rainfall or watering. Some outdoor applications may require irrigation before or after application. (See product label)
• Use with an IGR such as NyGuard IGR for control of all life stages of insects such as fleas.
• Store out of direct sunlight and extreme temperatures.
• Concentrate should be viable for 3-5 years. If separation occurs, shake well before using.
• Do not apply more than 1 oz. Bifen IT per 1,000 square feet.
• To avoid or delay pest resistance, especially on ornamentals and trees, it is recommended to use an alternate class of pesticide in any application program.
• Not labeled for use on commercially grown plants or edible plants.

Compare to: Talstar P (Talstar One)  *Bifen IT has the EXACT SAME label and the same amount of active ingredient as Talstar P, the more expensive brand.