This piece was produced by Bulwark Exterminating and Dream Systems Media, very cool.
Find it at: http://www.rockymountainmattress.com/blog/2012/05/22/how-to-check-for-bed-bugs-like-a-professional/
For more information on bed bugs and mattress replacement feel free to comment below.
Most people will agree that while its the skills of the NASCAR driver that wins the race, that if we take away that well oiled racing machine and replace it with a pest control truck it doesn’t matter who is behind the wheel, he/Danica Patrick would have no chance at winning. No matter how great of a technician you hire, crappy abused and broken equipment will cause your pest control company to fail. So let’s show a little more love for our pest control trucks and equipment.
By Andrew Greess
Design good filtration to prevent debris from getting into your system. Debris will clog or damage pump, plumbing, fittings, hose and spray guns. It will cost you money and productivity by bringing your system to its knees and causing expensive repair bills. Design your filtration based on your water source, type of application, sensitivity of your pump, technician skill. For example, bad water in new housing developments may require more than one strainer. Place filtration so it is easily accessible for technicians to check and clean.
The biggest secret in spray equipment is “check your filter”. There is nothing you can do with your spray equipment that will save you more money than this simple activity. We repair and replace more pest control spray equipment (and weed control spray equipment) because of clogged filters than for any other reason.
Take the pressure off. When you are done spraying, release the pressure. Squeeze the handle of your spray equipment so that the system is not under pressure. If you don’t want to waste the material, spray it back into the tank. Your equipment will have fewer breakdowns and will last longer if you remove the stress of constant pressure from the spray components. Never store equipment overnight under pressure.
Don’t push your equipment to its limits. Our experience is that techs run power spray rigs at high speeds to get done quickly, and tend to overpressurize B&Gs and backpacks. All of these actions will reduce sprayer life. Your power spray rig can run at extremes for short periods but it is not designed to be run full out all the time. Running “in the red” for extended periods will shorten engine and pump life. Make sure your techs know proper operating ranges.
Rinse your system with clean water periodically to remove old chemical buildup, debris, etc. Chemical buildup & debris can clog your filter, starve your pump, damage spray tips, and play havoc with other components as well. All of these items fall into the category of “not good”. When in doubt, rinse it out. Be sure to follow all labels and laws when cleaning out spray tanks.
PM will save you time, money, equipment breakdowns, unhappy customers, etc. You are running your equipment hard and pumping strong chemicals through it. It will need service. This service will be much cheaper and less painful if you do it before you need it. Read manufacturer’s recommendations then customize for your use and application. A good preventative maintenance program is your best friend for reducing equipment down time and improving productivity.
We are constantly amazed at the equipment problems employees will tolerate. They will continue to use leaking pumps, hose, backpacks, etc. Ignoring these problems inevitably leads to higher repair expenses and increased down time. Encourage your employees to report problems so that you can take the appropriate action.
Many simple repairs can be performed in the field. Field repairs can allow the technician to finish their work before heading to the service site for more thorough repairs. You’ll want to assess technicians’ skill and training to determine which parts you are comfortable with technicians changing in the field. A little tracking can go a long way toward understanding the causes of your breakdowns. Track equipment failures by part to determine which items you should consider stocking on your trucks. Also track equipment failures for each technician to identify training opportunities, and track failures by truck to set time frames for preventative maintenance and replacement.
Every pilot has a checklist and goes through a pre-flight routine BEFORE taking his or her plane into the air. Spray techs should do the same thing. Before getting into the truck and heading to the first stop, a few minutes spent checking equipment can save time and money, as well as preventing downtime that hinders your ability to provide timely service to Clients. Here’s the key point. If you are going to have an equipment problem, you are probably better off knowing about it at your office than in the field, when it will most likely take longer and cost more to fix. Technicians should report any problems or exceptions to their supervisor.
#1 – Don’t Over-pressurize Manual SprayersIf your backpack isn’t spraying, don’t pump it up more. You will break it. It is easy to turn a $3.00 o-ring replacement into a $50 repair. I like the following analogy for this situation. I went to France. The waiter didn’t understand English, so I yelled louder. Don’t overpressure your manual sprayers!
Andrew Greess is the President of Quality Equipment & Spray, which designs, builds and sells pest control equipment. Follow Greess on Facebook & Twitter. For more information or to share comments, check out www.SprayEquipmentBlog.com
Have you lived in a home where you thought you were bug free and then all of a sudden in the corner of your eye you see a bug scurrying across your kitchen counter? Surprise! Well you are not alone, we get customers calling in all the time saying, “I’ve lived in this house for years and have never seen a bug; all of a sudden I’m seeing them in my kitchen and bathrooms.”
Why am I starting to see bugs now?If you think about it, we’ve built our homes on “their” land; therefore it’s a fact that they will always be in “their” neighborhood. So the pests have always been there, even if you have not seen them.
Bugs, like humans, need water to survive. Hoses, sprinklers, water boxes, and plants provide the necessary moisture for these little guys to thrive. On a hot summer day the air conditioning is an essential part to being comfortable in our own homes. Having the air conditioning on builds condensation in our walls and that condensation needs to escape so that the home’s walls don’t get moldy. Each house is purposely built with “weep holes” or “J-rails”, holes or gaps to allow that condensation to escape outside. Bugs will sense this moisture escaping and eventually make their way inside the walls of your own home through these openings. Once inside your walls they grow in population and eventually they will put pressure on you. Imagine years of bugs breeding inside your walls, it’s getting crowded and they have to go somewhere. Do you think they are more likely to move back outside or further into the moist rich environment of your home? What better place is there than our kitchens and bathrooms? Having a bug problem isn’t an over night thing. It takes time. It all starts out in your yard. It could take months and even years to finally see them inside your house. Why not stop it before it happens?
In order to stop future surprises in your home, it’s important to stop it where it first began. Bulwark Exterminating does this by maintaining a protective barrier around the perimeter of your home to stop them breeding and sneaking their way inside the walls of your home. So unless you want to stop running your A/C, protecting those cracks that breathe out the inviting moist air is a must.
Thank http://www.suburbanexterminating.com for the image.
There is a lot of scare around bed bugs and the rising accounts of it in the US, and the scare is justified. Bed bugs are very difficult to control and spread very fast if not kept in check. Regular pest control treatments are not enough to keep these pests at bay. Pest management professionals charge a pretty penny when bed bugs become an infestation. If you have a concern about bed bugs it is best to call early and react quickly if signs point to ‘yes’.
Bed bug dogs are a very effective way to search for bed bugs, both to prevent and follow up on pest control treatments for bed bugs. To learn more about bed bug dogs contact AJ Richards – http://www.specialtypest.com/
The Blue Skies of Spring Bring Spiderlings
Raleigh Spider Control
As the beautiful blue skies of spring turn to sunny summer our minds turn to watermelons, swimming pools, and heat waves. Unfortunately as we contemplate what drink we want to have poolside, the bugs around our house are contemplating how to grab a drink from our sinksides. With the AC turned on pumping deliciously cool air throughout our own personal compounds we create a great escape from the heat for the wondering insects on the outside. In fact it may feel as if these creepy crawlers are appearing from thin air. But it’s actually that cool moist air seeping out of our homes that draws the pests in. The hollowed walls of your home may have never seen an attack from such a sneaky adversary, but sure enough here they are. Sure you’ve seen the occasional spider or cricket but now it’s like your house is their own personal oasis.
This is a problem all too common in the insect world. Over the years I’ve had many conversations with people wondering how this could be, and what is going on. Well let’s take a conversation I had recently with a lady, I’ll call her Lisa.
Lisa: Can you help me I’m seeing spiders?
Me: Absolutely, tell me a little about the problem.
Lisa: Well we moved into the house about a year ago and didn’t have any problems and now just seem to see them everywhere. I’m not seeing any webs but they are crawling all over the house. I don’t know what is going on. We are clean people and don’t leave food out. It makes no sense.
Mating pair of Argiope appensa garden spiders in Kauanakai, Hawaii (island of Molokai). A batch of spiderlings hatched from an egg sac that already existed in the female's web, about two weeks later. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
This is a scenario that plays itself out in homes all over the nation around this time of year. Spiders typically are solitary creatures that like to live by themselves hunting and trapping their food with webs and various other methods. However, every year the call of nature arrives and the need to mate hits spiders everywhere. The mating really isn’t the problem though…it’s the aftermath of the mating. Being the solo creatures that they are, spiders decide that if they are going to mate they are going to make it worth their while. So with each egg sac they lay they make sure it is full with 200-300 baby spiders. The egg sac itself doesn’t look like much, just a small white little fluffy ball of web, but it sure does pack a punch. As those eggs mature and eventually hatch these hundreds of baby spiders quickly become the massive infestation you never knew you had. The spiderlings begin ballooning and spreading. And literally hundreds of new spiders are now lurking about. All from one small white egg sac. Add three, four, or five of these eggs sacs and hundreds become thousands.
That’s why we exterminators are here; to fix infestations as they occur or even better stop them before they happen. Bulwark (a defensive barrier) is our name, and protecting homes is our game. To see how we can best help you, give us a call.
-Craig S.
Pest Management Professional Criag Can be reached at:
Bulwark Exterminating
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Haven’t you heard? According to popular belief we eat spiders at night while we sleep! Is this possible? Do we eat spiders while sleeping? Granted some spiders are very very small. It is believable that small spiders may be able to slip into your mouth and stomach unnoticed. But one Florida Exterminator argues otherwise:
SANDS OF SAMAR, ISRAEL - JANUARY 12: This recent handout photo provided by the University of Haifa on January 12, 2010, shows a new and previously unknown species of spider in the dune of the Sands of Samar in the southern Arava desert region of Israel. A member of the Cerbalus genus, the spider has been named Cerbalus Aravensis. It has a leg-span that can reach up to 14 cm which makes it the largest spider of its type in the Middle East. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)
You may well have heard this idea being thrown around all over the place: apparently we unwittingly swallow a steady diet of spiders in our sleep. As our mouths loll open, passing arachnids find themselves strangely compelled to crawl in, where we cheerfully gulp them down without knowing. Makes you shudder doesn’t it? Well before you start wearing a surgical mask to bed, you’ll be pleased to hear that this is just an urban legend.
Over the past few years, the idea has been trotted out all over the internet and beyond. Some sources say the average is seven in an entire lifetime, while others insist it’s eight in a single year. Even the lowest estimates are significantly higher than the true figure – zero.
The writer proceeds to give a short history on the origins of this myth. Great read. The point that he underscored that most professional spider exterminators will appreciate is this, Why would a spider travel into your mouth? Most spiders don’t just wonder around aimlessly. Many spiders will rarely leave their webs. Those that do travel about at night are often hunting spiders. So perhaps you swallowed a fly, and you don’t know why. So you swallow a spider to catch the fly… Kidding. Really great article by our fellow exterminator. Bulwark Exterminating gives you two thumbs up.
Back to the question at hand, now that we have some opposing views. What do you think?
You could try buying a frog for pest control…
If you are not yet protected, then you may want to consider one of our in network Family Owned Pest Control companies.
A Serial Love Affair (Photo credit: Instant Vantage)
As pest control guys we find a lot of great material that may never make it to the public’s eye. Rightfully so, as no one wants their dirty underwear they left out discussed. But today’s comment was too good to pass up, and it’s not about what an exterminator found under your bathroom sink.
Thinking the knocking at the door is your roommates so you begin meowing & really it’s the pest control guy, that’s an awkward moment.
We were right there with you… glad that the exterminator resisted the urge to bark back. 
Got any awkward pest control moments that you want to share?
Pest control mingles with many industries. In the restaurant and food industry, pest control is often part of the health code and food inspection process. More recently, the Hotel and vacation industry is being hammered by bed bugs and a pest control plan to prevent and reassure customers is vital. Pest control companies will do better in their service and their outreach if they understand and meet these needs. Branching out a little bit more, pest management experts can become specialized in niche industry needs. Electronic Manufacturing have their own unique need for pest control.
Image by xcode via Flickr
An important, but often overlooked, part of any ISO certified electronic contract manufacturing facility is a well documented pest control policy. An organization that has pest control policies in place shows it’s customers that they are prepared to address any issues that may come about. It also displays a well thought out approach to maintaining the quality and cleanliness of the facility in which products are built.
Facilities that have truck docs and visitors coming and going with easy access to it’s warehouse have to be aware of any situation in which an infestation could compromise the quality of their or their customers inventory. Not only can pests destroy inventory but delivering equipment covered in rat feces will damage reputation. If you don’t think bugs infest manufacturing plants then you may want to look at the Mazda Spider Recall.
Some of the many benefits of having pest control procedures in the ISO quality manual can be:
• Increased employee awareness
• Faster response to emergency situations
• Ensures quality of products and inventory
• Overall cleanliness and more effective facility maintenance
• Cut costs
• Improved customer confidence and loyalty
Having documented procedures for pest control policies also ensures that continuous improvements can be made to deficiencies in the system as they arise.
A continued commitment to quality for any ISO certified electronic manufacturer should include a documented pest control policy.
In the past few days, there has been a sting of news releases about the World’s Biggest Bug, all started by this:
Picture: Mark Moffett/Minden Pictures/Solent
This extremely rare and endangered insect was found by Mark Moffett. It took him 2 days to find this Giant Weta. She was found on Little Barrier Island, in New Zealand. They are no longer on the main land as they were cleared out by rats brought in by the Europeans. Mark, a bug lover from Colorado, was excited to find this rare cricket-like creature. He was even more honored when it was declared the Largest Insect on Record, according to weight. The wing span is 7 inches.
http://pestcontrolseo.wordpress.com/2011/12/02/is-the-largest-bug-in-the-world-the-new-zealand-giant-weta/
Here are some other contenders for the “World’s Largest Bug Award”
Golaith Beetle
The Goliath Beetle is often considered the largest bug on earth. It’s wings span reaches up to 10 inches. It actually sounds like a small toy helicopter in flight. And yes you can buy the Goliath Beetle framed like the picture above for $250.
Photo by Bulwark Exterminating Technician
Moths can be very large as well. From the White Witch Moth to the Atlas Moth, these mammoth moths have wing spans of up to 12 inches. This particular moth was photographed in Tulsa, OK by Bulwark Exterminating. It’s not quite the size of the mammoth moths, but it looked good on film.
Wikipedia Author - Mark Pellegrini (Raul654)
The Queen Alexandra Birdwing is the largest butterfly in the world. The female’s wing span reaches just over 12 inches at 12.2. Interesting to note that this is yet another kingdom wherein the females rule, well at least based on size. It’s actually common for female insects to be larger than their male counterparts.
Tthe largest of the Arachnid family is the Theraphosa leblondi, known as the Bird Eating Tarantula. Yes it really does munch down a few birds and small rodents of unusual size. On record this spider is just over 11 inches, but others believe they grow to be 12 inches. But no need to fear, they are pretty harmless to humans. Go ahead and pick one up, if you dare.
Giant Walking Stick Insect - credit Orin Zebest
If you are measuring on pure length then the Giant Walking Stick takes the cake. It can grow up to 20 inches.
So what of this Record Breaking Bug?
The claim remains that this Giant Weta is the largest on record by weight. At 71 grams (2.5 oz) they beat out all of their winged friends… UNLESS you believe wikipedia which states that Goliath Beetles weigh in from 80 to 100 grams. Can someone please put this debate to a close?
Scorpion Control
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