Bifen IT - Questions & Answers

Bifenthrin and Bifenazate are used to treat different types of insects. Bifenthrin is mainly for general pest control use and is an ingredient in products such as Talstar P and Bifen IT.  Bifenazate is a type of miticide and is an ingredient in products such as Floramite SC and Sirocco Miticide. We would not recommend rotating these two products for mite control. Bifenazate is a good active ingredient for spider mites, as well as Abamectin, which is the active ingredient in Avid 0.15 EC.

We recommend removing the Hermit Crabs from the rooms till after the application of Bifen IT has had time to dry. 

Bifen IT could harm lightning bugs/fireflies if they land on a treated surface long enough to receive a lethal dosage.

We would suggest rotating with Transport Mikron or Permethrin SFR 36.8% for general pest control applications. Typically you can rotate about every year or if you notice a decrease in effectiveness you can rotate sooner.  

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.

Bifen IT is specifically labeled for a number of medically significant spiders including Black Widow, Brown Recluse and Hobo Spiders. It is important to remember that Bifen IT does not give an immediate knockdown but instead works over a period of several hours to kill spiders that have come into contact with the product. Bifen IT will also help to get rid of the insects that spiders feed on and that will help to stop new spiders from moving in. Indoors, spray around all baseboards, door frames, window frames, under appliances, in closets and storage rooms and in areas where utilities enter into the structure. Outdoors you should spray around the bottom of the foundation, on the ground adjacent to the foundation, door frames, window frames and places where the utilities enter into the structure. Brown recluse spiders are a bit trickier to eliminate because they often stay hidden in areas where people do not or cannot spray. We recommend that in addition to the Bifen IT, you also use glueboards in areas where spraying would not be appropriate and to help monitor the infestation (cabinets, closets, under furniture, storage areas)

Edible vegetation treated with Bifen IT should be discarded and not consumed. You should not consume anything in the area treated for one full growing season.

Bifen IT will kill any bees that land on the treated surfaces, especially if they are foraging. It offers a 30 day outdoor residual and eradicates over 75 other listed insects. We recommend avoiding spraying on flowering plants or in other areas where pollinators may be active. You should also avoid spraying in the middle of the day when these insects are most active.

Bifen IT is labeled to kill chiggers, fleas and bed bugs (not in residential areas) along with 75 other different insects commonly found around the house hold.