Scheduled for May 2, the Farmers Market Meeting is for anyone interested in selling produce that they have grown themselves.

The Kiwanis Fairgrounds in Greenville will be available for vending home grown produce each Saturday from June 1 through September 1.

In addition to the location in Greenville, the City of Georgiana has agreed to use of the pavilion there to market produce on Thursday mornings beginning in June.

On May 2, vendors will meet at 4 p.m. at the pavilion in Georgiana to discuss utilization of that facility, then meet (approximately 5:15 p.m.) at the Greenville Kiwanis Fairgrounds to plan for that site. Afterward, a meal will be served and final preparations will be made.

Those who are interested in this endeavor and would like to attend should pre-register by April 30 with the Butler County Extension Office (334/382-5111) .

The Extension Service acknowledges appreciation to the Greenville Kiwanis Club, James Peavy, City of Georgiana, Mayor Lynn Harold Watson, City of Greenville, Mayor Dexter McClendon, Myron Salter, and the Butler County Farmers Federation, for their work on this project.

CHOOSING

THE

RIGHT

FIRE-ANT

BAIT

The selection has never been so wide. But, which one will work best for your specific needs?

There are products designed to eliminate one mound at a time and others that can be spread over an entire area to provide long-term control.

Dr. Kathy Flanders, Entomologist with the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, advises that each product is different and require different rates of application.

Two things to consider when choosing a product are the size of the area to be treated and the time available to treat it. "If you have a family reunion tomorrow, you're going to do something different than if you just want to have general overall fire-ant control," said Flanders.

Individual mound treatments often work best in small areas with only a small number of mounds. While these products often provide effective short-term control, the ants often manage to bounce back faster than with other kinds of treatment. Sometimes, this is because you miss the queen. The colony simply moves and you end up with new satellite colonies.

Another problem associated with mound treatment is inability to reach subterranean colonies that have not yet built aboveground. For this reason, many people choose bait formulations. The ants, searching for food, take the bait back to these nests. Flanders advised, "With mound treatments, even if you get the queen in the colony you see, you may be missing the workers and queen in one of the colonies that don't make a mound. When they pop up above ground, it looks like this control didn't last very long."

Bait formulations are most effective when you're dealing with lots of mounds on half an acre or more. Many of these baits can be applied at the rate of a pound or more per acre and provide control for up to nine months n at a cost of about $15/acre.

Bait formulations do not, however, work overnight. "Some of them may take between six and 12 weeks to work," says Flanders. Even so, she says, the effects of such treatments are both long lasting and highly economical.

Home lawn bait formulations include Ascend, Amdro, Siege, and Eliminator. Apply 5 tablespoons around each mound. For drenches, use diazinon liquid concentrates. For dusts or granules one can use Orthene TT&O or diazinon granules.

In pastures and hay fields, baits such as Amdro, Distance, Extinguish, and Justice can be used. Logic can be used in horse pastures only!

As always read and follow label directions on each product.