Pest Control and Bug Exterminator Blog

Bulwark Exterminating Earns 2011 Angie’s List Super Service Award 

Bulwark Exterminating has been awarded the 2011 Angie’s List Super Service Award for the company’s excellent customer service rating in Arizona.

Super Service Award recipients have maintained an “A” grade average in Angie’s rating formula. Only an estimated five percent of companies listed on Angie’s List receive the prestigious award on an annual basis. This will be the 3^rd time that Bulwark has received the award here in the Phoenix area.

“Our technicians and office staff deserve this award 100%”, said Mesa Branch Manager Joe Davey. “They work tirelessly to ensure the needs of our customers are met day in and day out.”

Bulwark Exterminating services over ten thousands customers valley wide from offices in Gilbert, Mesa, Phoenix and Peoria. The family owned exterminating company has made a name in Arizona as the pest control provider in the valley that absolutely guarantees to eliminate scorpions with a money back guarantee. In 2010, 97% of Bulwark’s current customers said they would recommend their pest control services to a friend of family member.

“We appreciate that our customers take the time to recognize the hard work of the technicians that service their homes,” said Davey. “Our techs are the face of Bulwark. Receiving the Super Service Award is an honor and it validates the hard work of our entire staff across the valley.”

While the award went to the Mesa pest control branch of Bulwark Exterminating the owners feel that the award is shared by all of the valley locations as customers on Angie’s list don’t often realize which branch services them.

Phoenix Metro Locations include:

Bulwark Exterminating, 40 N Central Ave #1400, Phoenix, AZ 85004 (602) 652-2251

Bulwark Exterminating, 10401 North 91st Avenue, Peoria, AZ 85345 (623) 572-3016

Bulwark Exterminating, 1228 East Broadway Road Mesa, AZ 85204 (480) 969-7474

Bulwark Exterminating, 18256 E Williams Field Rd # 2 Gilbert, AZ 85295 (480) 539-4933

About Bulwark Exterminating

Bulwark Exterminating LLC is based in Mesa, AZ and is an industry leader in providing high quality residential pest control service. Bulwark is fully operational in seven states, including eleven major cities. While Bulwark provides pest extermination for common insects such as ants, roaches, crickets and spiders, the company’s differentiating specialty is scorpion control. To do this, Bulwark uses the finest and most effective products in the world to solve common pest problems. Bulwark is privately and family owned, has approximately 250 employees and services over 50,000 customers nationwide, providing pest control in Raleigh, NC, Charlotte, Atlanta, Tulsa, Houston, San Antonio, Austin, St. George, UT, Phoenix and Las Vegas. For more information, visit http://www.BulwarkPestControl.com.

 

Awhile back I participated in the Phoenix Warrior Dash, well that was tough enough for me. But a couple of my co-workers here at Bulwark Exterminating decided to do the Tough Mudder. Here is their video clip… produced by the Bulwark Exterminating Marketing Department.

Yes that was a Back Flip into that muddy water… Yes there were 1000 watts running through those wires, which caused Derrick to fall forward after loosing muscle control. Certainly not an event for the weak. Crawling through water filled tunnels. Swimming through ice cold water, chilled to the bone by dry ice. But apparently not too much for the Phoenix Scorpion Control team that kills the most deadly US scorpions you can find on a regular bases. Kicking butt and taking names.

Bulwark Exterminating… Hiring guys who aren’t your average pest control guy. You may call it over the top… I call Bulwark Extreme.

Thanks Team Bulwark for the awesome event and awesome footage.

Are you a Bulwark fan, customer, or employee? Want a sponsor for your local sports event? Contact me:

Bulwark Exterminating
40 N Central Ave #1400
Phoenix, AZ 85004
(602) 652-2251
http://www.bulwarkpestcontrol.com/phoenix/

A few days ago President Barack Obama landed at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport to briefly speak to a group of Intel employees in Chandler, AZ. By the following morning the President’s arrival was the buzz of every news outlet, radio and talk show across the country. Not for anything he told those Intel employees, but for an exchange he had with Airzona’s Governor, Jan Brewer, over comments she made about him in her book, Scorpions For Breakfast.

It just so happens that Gateway Airport is literally across the street from us. We hear planes coming in and out all day long.

We’re not here to despute or discuss the differing politics between President Obama and the Governor. After all, we kill things for a living. But if their conversation was indeed about Brewer’s book, we were considering their real conversation on the tarmac.

Obama: “Do you REALLY eat scorpions for breakfast?”

Brewer: “Let me tell you! They’re a little bland, but if you put some sugar on them they are amazing.”

Or, Obama: “I hear you only have bark scorpions here.”

Brewer: “Yeah, but they’re the most poisonous in the nation, so take that!”

Or maybe, Obama: “I had 3 scorpions for breakfast.”

Brewer: “Yeah, well I eat scorpions bigger than you for breakfast!”

Or our favorite, Obama: “I hear you have scorpions in this state. You know of a reliable pest control company that guarantees their scorpion control?”

Brewer: “There is only ONE in this entire state that guarantees their scorpion service. It’s Bulwark Exterminating. That’s why they get rave reviews on Google.”

But the hilarity doesn’t even stop there. The following day, Brewer’s book, sold on Amazon for $15.59, saw a 1.3M percent increase in less than 24 hours. Yes, you read that right. One. Point. Three. MILLION.

Cha Chiiiiiiiiing!

If you ever need to sell a product, just wave your finger in the face of the leader of the free world…and watch them Benjamins roll on in.

Today was to be the internet blackout day in protest of SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act). Mike Halvorsen named some big names in his blog post on those that were going to protest: http://michaelhalvorsen.com/2012/01/google-amazon-facebook-twitter-shutting-day-protest-sopa/

Among those names were Facebook, Twitter, Google, Amazon, Yahoo, and Ebay. None of these have actually closed their sites for the day, but a few are voicing some protest on their site. Other big name websites, like WordPress, Reddit, and Wikipedia have stepped up to the plate. Here are screen shots of websites protesting the “Stop Online Piracy Act”.

WordPress

I actually found WordPress.com to have the more unique and creative protests. Imagine how many wordpress blogs could be in danger of SOPA regulations. In fact, this entire blog could be shut down for even using a screen shot of the wordpress homepage. Clearly wordpress has not blacked out their entire site due to SOPA, as this is a wordpress.com blog, and I am personally grateful they did not.

WordPress.org also strikes in opposition of SOPA. Although at the bottom of the page you can find a link back to the old wordpress.org page.

Amazon

In case you missed Amazon’s protesting efforts…

So look again and you will see a small box in the top right hand corner labeled “Reasons to oppose or modify SOPA.” Amazon is walking a fine line here as many authors may have reasons to support SOPA.

Google

No doodle from Google in protest of SOPA. The google logo still appears on the google maps vertical, but does not appear in google’s other vertical searches. The link on google’s home page takes you to their page dedicated to protesting the movement and includes the following nifty PDF. < click the image to download it >

Surprisingly YouTube shows nothing in opposition of SOPA.

Wikipedia – Biggest Protester

Very compelling message by Wikipedia, a site built upon FREE information. They also implement a great call to action to help push phone calls to “your representatives.” Their goal is to melt Washington D.C. phone lines. Worthy attempt. Although wikipedia did not have a complete blackout, and they are employing a rather sneaky redirect. Although I assume that Google will most likely ignore this black hat tactic. You will notice that the above page loads first then the redirect loads on top of that page. My guess is that Wikipedia understands the damage that could occur to their SEO should they show the search engines a bunch of duplicate content and/or pages down. And if you really need Wikipedia to do your homework then try http://simple.wikipedia.org.

Other Notable Protesting Websites

Mozilla‘s home page:

Mozilla’s blog mentions the protest but their blog and all other internal pages are still live.

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Reddit‘s Entire Website for 12 hours:

This includes all of Reddit’s internal pages.

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Wired.com is censored in protest of SOPA

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Pinterest.com, upon login gives the following message and screen shot in protest.

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Slickdeals.net adds a notice on their homepage.

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Congress Woman @RepAnnaEshoo of California is protesting on her site:

Anna Eshoo represents California’s 14th Congressional District–the heart of Silicon Valley. She is Ranking Member of the Communications and Technology Subcommittee.

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Craigslist.org is also adding a protest to their local directories, but with a link to click on through.

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Slashdot.org marks through their logo and posts two articles at the top of their page explaining SOPA.

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Fark.com Homepage Support for SOPA

Watch Why You should Support SOPA Video. Farks deeper pages are all still active. And instead of a blackout they went with a white-out.

Non Protesting Sites as of Today:

Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, and Ebay have nothing on their homepages in opposition of SOPA. Bing announced it’s protest, but nothing on Bing shows them as protesting. And while Godaddy was once listed as a supporter, they have nothing on their website going either way.

Perhaps it’s because the bill is nearly dead at this time, but with the exception of Wikipedia and Reddit, I feel that the protesting websites have failed to actually “BLACK OUT”, and their protests are weak. As a business, I can understand the actual costs involved in shutting down for a day. Google would loose millions if it closed it’s doors for one day. Wikipedia has the luxury of being a Non-Profit, so no money will be lost. As for Godaddy, they are smart for staying out of the political heat.

Feel free to add any additional sites in protest to the comments below.

Related articles

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• Stop SOPA/PIPA Censorship! WCMA Joins the Strike! (wcma2.wordpress.com)
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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.

The Electronic Contract Manufacturing Facility

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.

 

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Looking back on our pest control news articles from 2011, it is truly remarkable to see the dedication that is displayed by pest management professionals, and the advancements that have been made by scientists and researchers; in the ongoing battle against pests, bugs and insects.

The year kicked off with an extremely generous donation of $5M for pest control research, coming from a longtime Florida resident, who made a career out of the study and management of insects. This gentleman wanted to ensure that innovative pest management research and education, would continue at the University of Florida, for many years to come. And, with the relentless invasion of blood-sucking bed bugs across America, the funding could not have come; at a better time.

The fact that many traditional pest and bug control treatments have been ineffective against bed bug invaders, has encouraged researchers to generate new and viable treatment solutions, that will (hopefully) solve the nation’s most serious pest control problems. A bed bug study released in the January 2011 PLoS ONE scientific journal, suggested that that pesticide-resistant strains of this blood-sucking pest, possess genetic sequencing that makes the bed bugs immune to certain chemicals; and traditional pest control treatments. So, to discover and understand the genetics of the most common pests, a  5 year, $15 million international effort (i5k Initiative) will study and sequence the genomes of 5,000 insects and other arthropods. Among the list of pests to be sequenced are ants, termites, cockroaches, bed bugs and flies.

The first genome announcement came in early 2011, when scientists decoded the genome of  the Argentine ant. Their analysis of the new genomes, suggested that chemical modification of certain sections of DNA, could be responsible for the differential development of queens and workers. Therefore, scientists believe that they can switch off the genes that control the ant’s reproductive ability, as well as the potential for wing growth. In similar fashion, experts from Oxford University in the U.K. have researched and developed, an irradiation technique that sterilizes male insects, so that when they mate with wild females; the offspring dies.

For most property and home owners, when a common pest problem develops they contact a pest control professional, or seek-out a do-it-yourself solution. Either way, very few people stop to consider the countless hours of research or millions of dollars in funding, that has gone into developing the most advanced insect, bug and pest control treatments. You know, the ones that we count on to keep our friends and family safe? I think that this might be a good time of year, to reflect on this important and meaningful contribution to our pest-free Holiday happiness,  and take a moment to thank pest management and control professionals; everywhere.

To all pest control technicians, staff, researchers and scientists: Thank you and Happy Holidays.

Joel

A Promoted Tweet on Pest Control term by an electrical company?

“Technology has to be invented or adopted.”  – Jared Diamond

Okay so this a cool quote and all, but why?

Why would GE want to promote this tweet on the pest control stream? Where is the connection? Did someone just do some keyword research and find pest control related to technology?  Are exterminators a large consumer of light bulbs? Sorry, just not getting it.  Pest Control Technology… Hmmm…. I mean there is a pest control technology magazine. And I often feel that Bulwark Exterminating is becoming more of a technology company than a residential pest control service… but still not getting the full picture here. I guess the plus side to this is that I am blogging about this simply out of awe. But does it make me more inclined to buy from the promoter of said tweet?  

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Copyright © 2011 PestControlLasVegas. Visit the original article at http://pestcontrollasvegasnv.com/2011/11/how-do-roaches-get-inside-bulwark-exterminating/.

Transcript from Roach Control-How Roaches get in your sink:

“The roaches come in from out here; they shoot up underneath the J-rail, and start infesting inside the walls.”

“Roaches are thigmatropic, thigmatropic. You can say that however you want to say, thigmatropic, however you want to say it. I believe that’s the correct spelling, if it’s not, you know, who cares. But, this word right here means that they prefer to have pressure on three sides of their body at all times. It’s the way that they feel safe”.

“I’ll give you an example: Mammals, we use our vision to feel safe. If we put a blind fold over Riley’s head. And tell him to walk across, the freeway? He’s going to take that blind fold off before he walks across the freeway. He doesn’t feel safe. Well, most invertebrates like roaches, scorpions, crickets; they don’t feel safe unless they have pressure on three sides of their bodies, it’s how they’ve survived for so long. They stay in cracks and crevices. It’s different with mammals, we rely in vision. I tell you this because it’s not normal for the roaches to come out. They prefer to never come out. They would prefer never to see the homeowner. Just never, ever come out. They always want to stay; they don’t want to walk across that freeway with a blind fold on, okay? I’m trying to explain this.”

“But, it gets so crowded back there and so populous that they start coming out. They start to be forced out. They’re cannibalistic. They’ll eat each other. The weaker ones are going to flee. So, they won’t run out along this pipeline and hang out inside the cabinet, a lot of times, they’ll, they’ll, there’s a backing to the actual cabinetry. It’s not the sheetrock, in most cabinetry, there’s a backing. And it’s maybe just an eighth of an inch between the sheetrock and the backing of the cabinet, and that backing is a great location for roaches to hang out, between the cabinets and the wall itself. So, they’ll hang out in between there, and at night when it’s dark, they might run up around up onto the sink, looking for soap scum, looking for toothpaste, things like that, okay- Hair follicles off the, you know, off of a hair brush.”

“Every now and then, one falls into the sink at night and runs around, but cannot get out because the sides are too slick. Eventually, the sun starts coming up and he says I’ve got to get out of here, so he shoots down the drain and hangs out right by the water; he’s like cool, new place, going to inhabit this place, okay? He can’t get all the way down into the sewer because this is what’s called a P-trap right here, it’s always filled with water, that’s what the green represents. The water prevents gases from the sewer lines and pests like roaches and mice from coming up the drain.”

“These roaches will never come up the drain. And then Betsy comes in, in the morning time, turns on the water, she sees no roaches, right? And she turns on the water; the water comes out of the spicket, out of the spicket, into the drain and starts to flood this guy, so he comes running out and she thinks she thinks roaches are coming out of her drain. But, they’re not. The roaches are infested in her wall. One fell into her drain and was hiding there for her because he couldn’t get back out.

- Bulwark Exterminating Roach Control

Just a couple of fun highlights from my trip to Raleigh, NC for the internet summit.

The 100 Mile Race

Flying out of Phoenix Sky Harbor, I spoke with a man that told me he had just run 100 miles. I thought he was being sarcastic. Nope. He was in a 100 mile race. He says that they call them UltraMarathons. He told me that he fly in just for the race and was leaving. He’s not a professional, and says that there are very few professionals in Ultramarathons. His run was 6 loops. You drop a bag with food and minimum supplies about the half way point. And he finished his 100 mile run in just over 26 hours. The winner finished in about 17.5 hours.

Never Been on the Internet

From Baltimore to Raleigh I sat next to a couple that were retired and living in Florida. They were upwards of 70 years old and had been retired for less than a year. I asked if they stayed in touch with their family in New York via Facebook. Nope. They have NEVER been on the internet. NEVER. They have never owned a home computer. What about text messaging? Nope. She told me that she just got,… “what is it called, you know a phone that you take out of your home.” … I took a guess, “A cell phone?”. She had her first cell phone in her hand about 5 months ago. Still no text messaging, but they got one just for safety reasons.

North Carolina BBQ

North Carolina has it’s own unique BBQ. They claim it to the “REAL BBQ”. Interestingly they even have two different types, an East and West NC BBQ. It’s vinegar based. The West BBQ adds a little molasses to the vinegar. Definitely different, and I kinda liked how the vinegar brought out the flavor of the meat a little more. Not bad at all. Sadly I couldn’t think of a single cuisine unique to Arizona, cactus fries maybe???

Need Raleigh Pest Control? Try Bulwark Exterminating.

Bulwark Exterminating
19 W. Hargett
Suite 700
Raleigh, NC 27601
USA
919-481-0007

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