We do not recommend treating inside the kitchen cabinets with Delta Dust or any insecticide dust as it could contiminate your utensils or food. Chances are that the ants are coming from outside and getting inside the kitchen and other areas. 99% of the time ants are nesting outside and coming inside for food or water.
The best treatment for ants outside is Termidor, hands down. It is sort of a liquid bait when used for ants, and any ants that walk over where you spray pick up the Termidor on their bodies and bring the product back to the colony where they spread it around to all other termites, including the queen, and typically within a few days to a week all of the ants will be dead. Termidor is used around your home like any other pest control product and is applied using a one gallon hand pump sprayer. You should re-apply every 3 months for optimum ant control.
For inside, labeled to apply indoors only in cracks and crevices and/or inaccessible areas, only to treat active infestations inside though. These would include the void underneath your cabinets, underneath and behind appliances, inside wall voids, water heater closets, etc. You would not want to place this bait inside a cabinet with plates and silverware or on any food handling surface.
If you are referring to the whole nest being dusted with Delta Dust, and the hive to die off, it can take days. The bees need to ingest the dust and also carry the dust into the larvae to eradicate the hive. You will also want to be sure that any honeycomb or honey that may be left behind is eliminated. If this sanitation is not done, then more bees may return to the same area, or you could attract a secondary infestation such as hive beetles.
You may wipe up excess Delta Dust Insecticide with a damp paper towel. Dead insects may be cleaned up with a vacuum or dust pan and broom.
Depending on how heavy you apply the dust will play some part in it, but usually you can allow the dust to settle for at least a few hours and it would be fine to resume normal use of the ducts since it is covered by the sheeting.
The difference between Delta Dust and Alpine Dust are the active ingredients. Delta Dust is waterproof and contains deltamethrin. Alpine is a reduced risk dinotefuran dust. Both will last many months in undisturbed voids and treat many insects.
Delta Dust Is a great product to use to treat and prevent Lady Bugs. Be sure that you where a Respirator Mask when applying. It is safe for people and pets to re-enter the treated area after dust settles. We also recommend using a liquid spray concentrate outdoors to prevent these pests from entering the structure. Our Overwintering Kit contains a great combination of products for treating overwintering pests such as lady bugs, stink bugs, and boxelder bugs.
Yes, Delta Dust is very safe to use indoors around pets when used as directed on the product label. You should keep children and pets out of the room while you are applying the product, and then it is ok to allow them to come back in once you are done. It is used in cracks and crevices where they do not have access.
Delta Dust is not considered a repellent. It will kill ants that come in contact with it, but will not stop them from coming. Please be sure to check out our Ant Guide for the moest effective treatment options.
The shelf life of Delta Dust is 3 years form purchase date. It should still be effective, as long as it was properly stored in a dry, moderate temperature area.
You must keep the Delta Dust out of reach of children. When applied you must keep them refrain from the area until the product settles sufficiently for your treatment. Please let us know if you need further information.
You will want to try and locate and directly treat the areas where the nests are behind the walls as much as possible. Drilling holes into the wall and puffing the Delta Dust into the nests and entry and exit points for the bees is the proper way to treat and then give the dust time to eliminate the nest entirely. That being said, each 1lb bottle should treat roughly 1000 sq/ft, so depending on how heavy you plan to apply the product (dont apply too heavy or they can't easily move through the dust) would depend on if you would need more than one bottle.
We do not advise using Delta Dust to target bird mites. Please review to our guide on How to Eliminate Bird Mites for further information on how to properly treat your area.
For Delta Dust Insecticide have a shelf life of around 3 years from the purchase date. We advise to reorder new product for a more effective treatment.
Delta Dust can be harmful if it is ingested by animals or absorbed through the skin. Delta Dust can stay active for several months after application. We will say that most animals will not eat Delta Dust because there is nothing to attract them to the dust and it would be extremely drying to the inside of their mouths if they did try to eat it. Still, it is best to contact your veterinarian if you think your pet ingested or absorbed Delta Dust. We have linked the product label and the MSDS in our answer so that you may print them out to give your veterinarian.