Where to Get Sabadilla for Insect Control

 Q. I have been looking for replacement of my sabadilla dust that is just running out now. I have been unable to find it.

Pyrethrum (Chyrsanthemum) grown on a farm in Kenya and sold to a European company who makes natural pesticides (pyrethrum powder).

A. I did an extensive search for sabadilla as an insecticide. It is now sold mostly as a homeopathic treatment for sinus congestion. As you know it has been around for decades. I remember it as an "organic" pest control measure before the organic movement began. It is made from the seeds of the sabadilla plant (Schoenocaulon officinale). Others in that old group of plants that served as sources of insecticides include rotenone (aka, derris, from seeds and stems of several legumes) and pyrethrum (extracted from chysanthemum flowers). 

Pyrethrum is now being synthesized industrially (called pyrethroids) and has morphed into manufactured insecticides like permethrin, resmethrin, and others. Pyrethrin morphs are used mostly by the interior pest control industry to control termites, ants and mosquitoes. Some claim the morphs were over profits and others claim it was for effectiveness and the targeting of specific insect pests.

Sabadilla is now sold mostly as a homeopathic medicine for allergy symptoms. 

It has come full circle and is sold for outside pest control use only by one supplier (to my knowledge) and the formulation has changed over the years from a dust (D) to the more popular wettable powder formulation (WP). https://www.mgk.com/product/veratran-d/