balEnce™ – the Organic Natural Fungus Pesticide

balEnce™ is a new insecticide specific for killing flies. This product was developed by JABB of the Carolinas and was recently approved for sale by the Environmental Protection Agency.

balEnce™ is a selective entomopathogen fungus, Beauveria bassiana that infects adult flies but is safe for beneficial species, humans, poultry and the environment. A solution of balEnce™ is sprayed into the house on a regular basis, one to four times per week. Once balEnce™ is released into the manure storage pit area of the house, the spores are picked up by the fly adults where the spores germinate and enter into the flies’ bodies. The fungus grows until it has consumed and killed the fly. This process normally requires three to five days.

This photograph depicts the Beauveria bassiana spores generating germ tubes that enable the fungus to grow inside the insect and kill it.

The key advantage of using balEnce™ is that it does not harm any of the beneficial species enabling these species to have their full impact on controlling the fly population and become a significant part of your integrated fly management program. This is the first time that adult fly management has been possible without negatively impacting the natural, beneficial insect, segment of the fly management program.

In a facility where manure has a good cone and ventilation is sufficient to begin or maintain the drying process, applications of balEnce™ two times per week in the pit for four weeks has been shown to be effective in reducing fly numbers to below further treatment threshold levels. If the manure moisture level is high, and uncontrolled fly breeding is taking place, treatment may be needed more frequently until the manure can be dried and the breeding area reduced. Because balEnce™ impacts only flies, the beneficial species continue to increase and as the manure is returned to the proper moisture level, fly populations are under control and the use of balEnce™ is reduced or discontinued – a significant saving when compared to the routine use of chemical sprays.

balEnce™ can be used at any time of the year, regardless of temperature. Thus, balEnce™ will also enable a winter control program to eliminate fly breeding in the cold months, eliminating the spring fly explosion and allowing extra time to dry winter manure to acceptable levels without facing large numbers of flies.  

Because balEnce™ is a natural, safe, environmentally friendly and fly specific insecticide, it does not leave a chemical residue in the manure. The manure from houses treated with balEnce™ has sold for a significant premium, which may represent revenue  significant enough to pay for the use of balEnce™ in controlling flies.

The development ofbalEnce™ represents a major breakthrough in fly management. It is an efficacious, cost effective, environmentally safe method of pest control that is not harmful to humans, animals and beneficial insects.