Bifen IT is labeled to treat active infestations inside as directed on the product label but would only kill those termites that actively make contact with a treated surface or are sprayed directly. If you are dealing with subterranean termites, you want to use a product that has a "tranfer-kill" effect. Termidor SC is a great product to use to treat termites and prevention, or Termidor Foam for active only, both of which are non repellent and transfer back to the colony below ground. Please see our Termite Control Page. Scroll to the bottom of the page and find information on identification and treatment for termites.
The best control will be achieved by using broadcast treatments in combination with mound drenches when using Bifen IT. This will control present colonies along with foraging workers and newly mated fly-in queens. It is critical either to use high volume treatments or to irrigate prior to application if the soil is dry. Apply 1 fl. oz. per 1,000 square feet when using broadcast treatments. For mound drenches, dilute 1 teaspoon of Bifen I/T per gallon of water and use 1 to 2 gallons of finished dilution using sufficient force to penetrate the top and allow dilution to flood ant channels. Treat a four foot diameter around each ant mound. Application should be made in late evening or early morning when it is cooler (65
Bifen is not used to control moles. This product is an insecticide that will control lawn infesting pest like ants, roaches, crickets, worms, caterpillars, ticks, etc. The best way to control moles is with a product specifically labeled for them, such as Talpirid Mole Worms, or Giant Destroyer Gassers. You can review all of the available options on our Mole Control page. Please let us know if you have any questions.
Yes, Bifen IT is toxic to fish and other aquatic life. It should not be used near water.
Bifen IT should be mixed at the rate of 1 oz. to 1 gallon of water for ticks.
While Bifen IT is labeled to treat bed bugs, it is not recommend as the sole protection from them. We recommend our Bed Bug Kits, which contain a great combination of products to use together to eradicate bed bug infestations. Please take a few moments to review our Bed Bug Treatment Guide for more tips and information on how to eliminate this troublesome pest.
Yes, Bifen IT can kill large roaches such as Smoky Brown Roaches. You would dilute at the highest application rate, 1 oz. of Bifen IT per gallon of water. Please take a few moments to review our Roach Prevention Guide for more tips on how to prevent roach infestations.
Yes, Bifen IT is labeled to eliminate carpenter ants. The residual indoors is 90 days and 30 days outdoors. This product can be used as a broadcast across your lawn as well. It is rainproof after 6 hours.
You can apply Bifen IT indoors and outdoors for flies in general as long as you make sure none of the spray winds up in the lake. If contaminating the lake is a concern for you there is a product called Essentria IC3 that can be used around water without worry of hurting any aquatic life. Essentria IC3 is a broad-spectrum natural insecticide that works just as well as the synthetic insecticides but without the aquatic toxicity issue.
Yes, Bifen IT would work to treat flies. It dries clear and is odorless. You can apply the mixed solution to lawns, trees, shrubs, and indoors. It has a long lasting residual. You will need to retreat during the fly season once every 30 days.
When using Bifen IT for ticks, there can be several variables. How long it takes the ticks to die after they come into contact with a treated area will depend on a number of factors, such as the age of the tick as well as how long they stayed in contact with the treated area, how long it has been since the area was treated, and the concentration that was used to treat the area. Typically it can take anywhere from a couple of hours to a day or so for them to die. It can take several weeks for you to stop seeing ticks completely because ticks like to stay hidden, which also means they could be staying away from treated areas. We recommend doing follow up treatments every two weeks at the highest usage rate of 1 oz of product per gallon of water until you do not see any ticks.
Bifen IT is only labeled for bed bugs inside of livestock housing. We would recommend using Temprid SC instead. It has two active ingredients in it that work together to combat bed bugs. Be sure to do treatments every 10-14 days until you do not see activity for 30 days.
Please check out our Bed Bug Guide for tips on how to treat and prevent bed bugs.
Yes, Bifen IT is labeled for roaches and will kill them. This product is not recommended if you have an active infestation of roaches. If you see an occasional roach, this can be used indoors and outdoors for control. The mixing ratio is 1 fl oz per gallon of water.
Also, please check out our Roach Guide for tips on how to treat and prevent roaches.
Bifen IT is labeled to treat for bed bugs and should only be applied as a crack and crevice application. Since there is not one product alone to treat bed bugs in all the required areas, we recommend one of our Bed Bug Control Kits. Please take a look at our How To Treat for Bed Bug Control Page for step by step instructions.
Bifen IT cannot be used on areas that will be used for grazing by animals. Please let us know what you will be treating so that we can offer a product that will fit your needs.
Bifen IT is for insects only and will not treat fungus or other causes of spots on plants. It is important to identify the disease on your plants so that you can select a product that will work for your needs. You can contact your local cooperative extension office and speak to the master gardener on staff for help identifying the type of disease on your plants
Unfortunately, we do not recommend Bifen IT in a pressure washer application. We recommend using it either in a hand pump sprayer, backpack sprayer, or hose end sprayer for a lawn application.
Bifen IT is not designed to kill on contact and even when you spray an insect directly it can take several minutes or longer to kill it. It will help to kill the ones that contact a treated surface as well as their food source, but how long it takes to kill after application depends on age and health of the insect, how long after application they contact the treated surface and how long they spend on the treated surface. Spiders themselves are harder to kill as they do not groom themselves and have the long legs to keep themselves off the ground and in more contact with a treated surface. We have a great guide here for treating spiders that might also help. If you are going to be spraying spiders directly each time, you could add a product like ExciteR to Bifen to give it a faster initial knockdown only.
As long as Bifen IT was applied as directed on the label and watered in as required for chinch bugs (at least 0.25 inch of irrigation) after application, you can go ahead and water in the fertilizer. It will not move much farther into the soil as it is designed to bind to the soil. If more water was used that would just have pushed it down into the soil better and will be fine.
