Pest Control and Bug Exterminator Blog

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Fruit fly sex lives impact effectiveness of pest control strategies

Scientists in Australia have been hard at work watching fruit flies mate to figure out how fly sex is affecting your food. During this process they are discovering more effective pest control strategies. For a great read, check out:

http://nittygrittyscience.com/2012/09/06/fruit-fly-sex-lives-impact-effectiveness-of-pest-control-strategies/

Mosquitoes Plague the Northwest as West Nile Cases Increase

Recent rains, warm weather, and high humidity have made mosquito control in the Northwest challenging. The number of foreclosed properties in the area, with their sometimes un-kept swimming pools and scattered backyard debris that’s collecting water, is making mosquito control more difficult.

http://blog.pestcontrolceus.com/mosquitoes-plague-canyon-hills-neighborhood-as-west-nile-cases-increase/

New Kind of Ant Discovered in New York City

We can now add one more type of ant to the 13,000 plus known breeds in the world. A new type of ant was discovered by a biologist earlier this week near 63^rd and Broadway in New York City.

http://www.longislandpestcontrolblog.com/2012/09/06/new-type-of-new-york-ant/

Scorpion Sting Leaves Arizona Woman With Massive $83,000 Bill

Our friends at Pest Control Mesa AZ bring us this unfortunate story coming out of Phoenix. Imagine being in your garage, opening a box of air conditioner filters, when you are suddenly stung by a scorpion—and that’s not even the worst part! Read all about it at:

http://pestcontrolmesaaz.com/scorpion-sting-leaves-arizona-woman-with-massive-83000-bill/

Top 10 Considerations when Hiring Pest Control Companies

Here are ten criteria our customers are taking into consideration when they are looking to hire a pest control professional. As a pest control operator, look to align yourself with most of these demands to be successful in the industry.

http://xtremeartandentertaiment.blogspot.com/2012/09/top-10-considerations-for-pest-control.html

The Basics of Dust Mites

For all the ins and outs about dust might behavior, including: where they like to hide, how they get into your home, and the health concerns they can cause, check out:

http://www.richterslawncare.com/detroit-pest/the-basics-of-dust-mites/

When most people have any type of pest control problem, they simple call the exterminator.

When Elin Nordegren, former wife of golfer Tiger Woods, has a pest control problem, she demolishes her house.

Nordegren decided to level her 17,000 square foot, beach front home in North Palm Beach, FL after it was discovered to be infested with termites and carpenter ants.  Aside from that, the home is not up to Florida’s hurricane code.  Her home builder advised her it would be easier to level the house and start from scratch.

Elin Nordegren's Florda home before being demolished for temites and carpenter ants. (Yahoo News)

Before the take-down, Habitat For Humanity was allowed to take as many cabinets, hardware and fixtures as possible before the wrecking crews were sent in.

We only wish we could have been the ones to make the recommendation.

Elin: “So I have termites and ants.  What do you recommend?”

Bulwark: “Well we’ve never seen it this bad before.  We recommend you completely destroy your house to the ground, rebuild it again, and then sign up for our regular every-other-month service.  We also do free call-backs in between services if your issue continues.”

Elin: “Hmmm. That’s sounds like a good idea. Let me call a wrecking crew, let them level this baby, spend another 12 mil to build it back up and then I’ll have you guys come back out….You guys don’t do the human-type pest control on ex-husbands do you?!”

Bulwark: “Uhh…We take care of the bugs that eat wood, not Woods himself.”

Nordegren's property after her $12 million home was demolished. (Yahoo News)

Image via Wikipedia

These tiny ant pests are called “crazy,” because they scramble randomly, at speeds much greater than the average house ant. They are called “hairy,” because of the tiny fuzz that covers their body, making their abdomen look less glossy; than other ant species. Regardless, neither of the two designations (crazy or hairy), paint a comforting picture for residents at risk; of a Crazy Hairy ant invasion.

Already well-established and constantly on the move, these ant pests have disable huge industrial plants and invaded homes, urban centers and rural areas in Florida, Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana; and now North Carolina. Although the cost of Charlotte ant control treatments can range from hundreds to thousands of dollars per year, damaged equipment and related costs associated with production loss; can quickly exceed those modest figures.

Making matters worse, if one Crazy Hairy ant gets electrocuted, its death releases a chemical, that summons other Crazy Hairy ants to attack the threat. In fact, one exterminator said “…  if a hundred-thousand are killed, millions more will follow.” Tom Rasberry, who found the first Texas specimens of the Crazy Hairy ant species (in the Houston area in 2002), conducted a remarkable test site with an experimental ant control product. In thirty days he observed and recorded two inches of dead ants, covering an entire half an acre. “It looked like the top of the dead ants was just total movement from all the live ants on top of the dead ants.”

As these ants travel from state to state in cargo containers, hay bales, potted plants, motorcycles and moving vans, officials are eager to discover new treatment solutions; to battle the “crazy” invaders. In Texas, state officials have temporarily approved two effective chemicals, to help control the ant invaders. Other states, like Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana and North Carolina, are also actively searching for new pest control methods, to prevent the spread of the Crazy Hairy ant invaders.

Related articles

• Crazy, Hairy Ants Attack! (weeklyworldnews.com)
• Here Are the ‘Hairy Crazy Ants’ Invading the South [Video] (gawker.com)
• Hairy, crazy ants invade from Texas to Miss. (gunnyg.wordpress.com)
• Crazy Rasberry Ants now called Crazy Hairy Ants

Transcript from Ant Control-Professional Bug Pesticides video:

Pest Control Professional and Ant Control Specialist Speaks: “What does Raid and professional sprays do? That’s what we want to talk about next. Let’s talk about this picture down here that I drew. Let’s pretend like this black mass is the colony itself, it’s where all the young are breeding. It’s where all the worker minors, the eighty percent of the colony, are thriving, right in here. Forgers will often times forge outside, but they’ll also forge inside, like on the floors or up on the counter tops. That’s what the little black dots represent.”

“Other bug companies use a pump can to pump up their spray, their standard bug spray, their insect spray, and they spray along the floorboards right here. If someone has an ant problem, they’ll spray right here. If it’s a really bad problem, they’ll tell the consumer to open up your cabinet and take all the stuff out, and spray all over in here, and they spray inside, everywhere. They even might spray up on the counter top. And they’re just using a general pesticide. Usually it’s some sort of a pyrethroid; that means it’s been dried from a chrysanthemum flower, very similar to the products that we use.”

“But, they’re spraying it all over here. And you’ve got to ask yourself, well, what does all of that spray do? And I’ll tell you what all that spray does. It will kill any ant that’s out right now at the time. But, this spray, as is Raid and most professional sprays, they’re all repellents. Ants can tell that they’re there, so ants will not cross them. In other words, the colony right here will just refuse to come out. They just won’t come out. And so what you’ll see is a consumer who’s had another pest control company, but if this house is in a neighborhood that’s infested with ants and they have ants, what’s going to happen is the guy comes in and sprays, everything’s cool for about three to six weeks. And then BAM, the ants are right back in the same place, or three feet to the right. Or the guy comes out and sprays and this colony moves, and it starts showing up in the kitchen, or the bathroom, or just some place other than where he sprayed. This is why people think that when you spray, bugs move from one location to the next.”

“Most pests can’t tell that the insecticides are down, but ants can, and they won’t cross it, so they’ll move their colony. Another thing that can happen is let’s say there’s another cabinet over here, right? This is the kitchen and there’s another cabinet over here. This is the pantry. And there’s a whole bunch of stuff in the pantry. And there were just a tremendous amount of forgers forging in here. And the guy says, well, I’m going to go to the source, and he sprays all over here. But, all of these ants can’t go back across the line, they won’t cross it again. So you actually have divided the colony. This is called budding, and what will happen is very likely one of these normal ants, one of these normal working ants will mutate slightly into a queen, and they’ll develop a new colony. It’s called budding.”

“You have to get the queen and you’ve got to get a large majority of their workers to successfully eliminate the colony.”

- Bulwark Exterminating Ant Control

You know I am often amazed how effective baits are in pest control.

Red Imported Fire Ant

The Fire Ant Bait

I sit in awe as fire ants emerge from an ant mound that was just disturbed by a human hand, and upon finding what smells like food, they quickly gather it in and take it down to their colony. How do they so easily forget that the hand that destroyed their peaceful rest is the hand dropping this tainted bait? Yet their swarm of furry and haste to horrid food ultimately leads to the demise of the entire strong hold. Oh little fire ant, leave the bait be.

The Harvester Ant Bait

Harvester Ant

Harvester Ants are  a bit smarter. Any bait laid directly on their mound is not trusted. They simply sweep it aside. Therefore to bait a harvester ant one must be a little more patient and not so direct. Sprinkle the bait about 6 inches from the mound. Do not disturb the mound. Let them be. Be subtle in your attack. Then patiently wait for the ants to emerge and search for food in their normal way.

Morale of the Story?

Sun Tzu says “Know the opponent and know yourself; in a hundred battles you will never be in peril.”

As a pest control operator, if you don’t know the opponent then you are not going to know the best way to conquer. You must also be willing to know yourself. Which means knowing your limitations and being honest enough to stop and say, “I don’t know how to win this one.” Being brazen and forward moving as if you know everything may be the quickest way to prove you know nothing. Do that publicly and you will damage your reputation. It is better to be still and move when you know what your best move is. It is best with customers to acknowledge that you might need to do a little more research and work to make sure the problem is solved properly.

Copyright © 2011 Steve_Bitter. Visit the original article at http://pestcontroltulsaok.com/2010/12/12-days-of-christmas-you-dont-want-to-see-under-your-tree/.

Christmas is in 8 days.  All of the “12 Days of Christmas” lists started 4 days ago.  We’ve purposely waited a few days to give you the “12 Days of Christmas You DON’T Want To See Under Your Tree”.

#12 The worst ugly Christmas sweater from eBay you can possibly imagine.

Especially if it came with a Jack Black impersonator.

Ugly Christmas Sweater

#11 Gym membership from husband.

Gym Membership Gift Certificate

#10 Justin Bieber mechandise.

Unless your name happens to be Annie Cushing.

Justin Bieber Doll Set

#9 Sex For Dummies book from wife.

New and updated 3rd Edition, because getting the first 2 wasn’t enough in previous years.

Sex For Dummies, 3rd Edition

#8 Gift card to AA from Santa with a 6-pack of non-alcoholic beer.

Non-Alcholic Beer and AA Membership

#7 Court ordered Subpoena with 5 days to reply.

Especially if your lawyer is in the Bahamas until after New Years.

#6 Fruitcake

Enough Said

#5 A recluse spider in your stocking.

Very common in areas around Tulsa, OK.  Maybe coal isn’t such a bad option!

Brown Recluse Spider (Courtesy: lakeneosho.org)

#4 Unused tickets to the Neverland Ranch.

Includes shiny right-handed glove and “live” meet and greet with its original owner.

Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch (Courtesy: the PASSION blog)

#3 An all expense paid tour of one of BP’s oil rigs.

They’ll even let you play with the fire hose.

BP Oil Rig

#2 An imitation iPad that runs Windows 7.

Fake iPad with Windows OS (Courtesy: coated.com)

#1 An ant farm.

I mean, come on!  How enraged would you be if you actually got an ant farm!?  Unless your name is Thomas Ballantyne, then it might look good next to your scorpion aquarium.

Ant Farm

Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Bulwark Exterminating.  Your Loco Pest Control – Tulsa, OK.

There are a number of reasons to use baits over sprays.  One of which is that many insects (i.e. cockroaches, crickets, spiders, and ticks) may have quicker reflexes then you. So trying to spray them with a can of RAD may not hit them. But there is even a better reason to use baits. Baits have a great transfer rate. And if the family of bugs shares the bait then you will knock out the entire colony! So baits are often the better choice. Just sit back and relax. Let the bait do its magic. Sure it may take a little longer for that roach to turn upside, but when dealing with a roach problem wouldn’t rather have 1000 dead roaches over 1 sprayed roach? Just thought you’d like to know.

Thanks for visiting and if you need more pest control tips, then don’t hesitate to ask.

Try Joe’s for your Do it Yourself Pest Control needs.

Jon McCain step out on a limb and called attention to some of the new funds going out of the national government for the sake of economic stimulus.  A recent report from our local Phoenix Pest Controller debates the value of this stimulus money when it comes to researching ants.  The report says that 3.5 jobs will be supported at the Arizona schools with this near million of taxpayer’s dollars.  The 3.5 are only jobs in the schools, and it does not account for the workers that will be needed in the field research.  Even still, should the state of Arizona get $950,000 to research harvester ants and turtle ants?

Visit the original post at:

http://pestcontrolphoenixaz.net/Pest-Control/2009/12/arizona-gets-near-1-million-dollars-to-research-ants/

and add your thoughts on if $950,000 is too much for ant research.

Fire Lt. Fred Godawa of Daytona Beach blamed a recent fire on a carpenter ant colony.  According to this fireman, the ants had build a large home around the electrical outlets in the wall.  When the ants hit an electrical wire, the electrical shock ignited the ants, shoot out of the outlet and caught the entire house on fire.

For pest control operators, though this case is rare, it is no surprise.  Ants and other pests frequently travel on the homes electrical wiring.  These wires become an insect highway.  Homes are built with the wiring passing through the framework.  Holes are drilled in the wooden studs.  These holes make it much easier for pests to travel from one wall void to the next.  If they follow the wiring they can easily travel from one end of the house to the other.  They can move freely upstairs, down stairs, into the attic, and out of the outlets into your home. For this reason, in wall treatments are highly effective against pests especially when concentrated on these outlets.

Other smaller ants are also known to travel not on the wires, but in the wires.  Certain ants are so tiny that they can slip under the protective covering of your electrical wiring and travel through the home on these wires.  They too will short out your wiring causing damage to your home’s electrical system.  A manufacturing company in Texas was closed down for a few days due to these ants destroying their electrical system.  The company would not say how much damage was done or how much productivity was lost.

As the old saying goes,

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

Ants still prove to be one of the most difficult insects to control.  They are highly organized.  Some colonies will splinter off into multiple colonies when threatened. Their sense of smell is so keen that the slightest error in a mixture could render the pesticide detectable and therefore useless.  And they reproduce so rapidly that killing off  a thousand or two today, will be replaced with a thousand or two tomorrow.

So how do you get rid of ants?

Is there an effective pest control solution?

Yes. Get Ant Control.

Call a professional exterminator and Get Ant Control today!

Guaranteed Ant Control is included free with this month’s special on Bulwark’s whole house protection plan.

—————————————–

Covering all of your Raleigh pest control needs.

Have you ever asked yourself these questions:

Why do ants walk in a line?
How many types of ants are in an ant colony?
How long does a queen ant live?
How do you get rid of ants?

All of these questions are covered by Adam the Ant Guru in the video above. Its a great video especially now as ants are out and about and marching. Especially those pesky Texas crazy ants. Pest control operators need to know how to deal with these pests. Ants are tricky. Considering that only 20% of the ants will ever leave the colony, you better make sure that your not overly excited when you kill only the ants that you see. The ants that you don’t see are 4 times as numerous!

Other interesting things about ants:

The harvester ants venom is more toxic pound per pound then scorpion venom and rattle snake venom, and yes individuals have died from these ant bites.

Carpenter ants are nocturnal, and colonies can have thousands of reproductive carpenter ants that will spread out to form new colonies if the mother colony is threatened. And since they are active in the middle of the night, you may never even know they are there, or that they moved.

The Fire Ant queen can produce 3,000 new ant eggs a day!

If you’ve got ants then don’t just go with pest control, Get Ant Control!