If you have fire ants, you still have time to use baits to kill them. Acting now has an additional benefit: It may reduce their numbers next spring.

While most homeowners fight fire ants in spring and early summer, when they are very active, fewer people apply insecticides in fall.

But a second round of treatment in late summer and early fall can help reduce the fire ant population next spring, says Kim Schofield, Texas Cooperative Extension program specialist for urban integrated pest management in Dallas County.

"They're going to be active through November," she says. "And depending upon the winter weather, they could be active longer."

Extension calls its program the Texas Two-Step Method. The service is publicizing it as part of Fire Ant Prevention Week, proclaimed in Texas starting Monday.

First step of the Texas Two-Step Method: Broadcast bait over the entire yard; second, treat individual mounds.

Use step one, broadcasting insecticide over the entire yard, when you have five or more fire-ant mounds, Ms. Schofield says. If fewer than five, apply bait only to the mounds.

Wait to apply any bait until evening, when the temperature begins to cool. The ants are active at night, so the chances are better they will eat the bait.

You won't see dead ants lying around immediately. The fastest of the broadcast baits kill within two to four weeks, while those that use a growth regulator require two to six months for control. The products made for treating individual mounds act faster.

If you are an organic gardener and want to treat the entire yard, look for insecticides that contain spinosad as their active ingredient. When treating individual mounds, you can try products that contain d-limonene, an extract of orange oil that destroys the wax coating of the insect's respiratory system.

If you bought a product in spring, you probably will have to buy a new package. After being opened, the product's shelf life deteriorates. The popular Amdro, for example, says on its label that it retains its effectiveness for three months after being opened.

If you don't want to use any chemicals, you could try physically moving the ants with a shovel or pouring boiling water on the mounds.

Though you won't destroy all of the pests, you will cut down on their numbers.

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