Pest Control and Bug Exterminator Blog

Are your pests under control?

Pest control is any process or method used to “control pests”. The once popular terms of exterminator and extermination have become the softer more gentle term of pest control.  Perhaps to become more socially acceptable, but the new term is more accurate.  Exterminating ants in their entirety is not likely.  Controlling ants is achievable.  Keeping pests out of a home with regular pest control service is attainable.  Keeping bugs from infesting a structure is do-able.  Exterminating every roach in the city is not realistic.

History of Pest Control -

Some believe that pest control has its roots in agriculture. (Pun intended) Humans need to keep crops free from pests. Insects can destroy crops. Herbivores will clear the farmer’s field. In order to maximize food production, pest control was implemented to protect the harvest from ants, crickets, moths, grasshoppers, rats, mice, gophers, rabbits, beetles, and the list can go on. But pest control, probably goes back to before agriculture.  A hunter would still need to protect his food from vermin.  Storing food in a sack hanging from a tree to keep raccoon, coyotes, or other prehistoric pests from eating your dinner would be a pest control method.  But at the core, I still believe that man has never wanted to cohabitate with creepy crawling things like spiders, roaches, and scorpions.  So beyond the need to control pests there is simply a desire to live without pests.

Pest Control:

Preventive measures to fortify an area against potential unwanted species .

Ideology of Pest Control Methods

While a majority of people may not want to live with pests, I also believe that most don’t wish total annihilation of the insect kingdom.  Bugs are an essential part of the food chain, and the break down, consumption, and recycling of matter in general.  Eliminating all pests from the world may seem ideal for some, but the re-percussions of such a mass extermination may destroy the world all together. So pest control methods today are used to protect specific areas with an attempt to limit the effects to the target pests.  Others believe the most ideal form of pest control is that of “making your home less desirable to the pests.” They propose that keeping a home clean and  minimizing the potential for providing food and water for pests will keep pests from wanting to invade your home. Unfortunately certain pests will eat just about anything.  Roaches are not picky eaters. A roach will make human hair, fingernails and toenails their staple food if needs be. Little Black Ants survive on plants, so any interior plant make an inviting meal. Termites eat wood. Crickets eat cotton, silk, and wool. Silverfish and firebrats consume glue, wallpaper paste, bookbindings, paper, and photographs. Lice, fleas, and ticks are pests that live on mammals. Human homes are pretty inviting to pests.

Pesticides have been developed to provide structures a force field made of products that are engineered to target pests, not mammals. Pest control products today are checked and tested by the EPA. Strict requirements most be meet in order for a pest control product to be labeled for general use. EcoSmart products are designed to break down over time, to have low impact on the environment.

So if you’d like a pest-free environment, cleaning your home is a good step, but ultimately it won’t be enough once bugs have found your home. Further, once an ant has scouted out a new food source and brought in the ant cavalry, those marked marching lines will remain for up to year. Regular pest control service is intended to prevent pests from infesting a given area. Pest control emergencies can be avoid if homeowners would maintain a bulwark around their home that protects them and wards off insect intruders.  Do-it-yourself pest control methods can be implemented successfully if the individual is consistent and persistent in their treatments. But certain pests will require more.

Pest-Control-Stories General Pest Control ants, bug control, Crickets, insect control, pest control, roaches, scorpion control, spider control, spiders

My name is Roger James and I’ve been a technician for Bulwark for four years now.  I am a team leader and service the community of Steiner Ranch which is in Austin, Texas.

My wife and I used to live in California before we made the decision to move out to Austin, Texas.  I never realized how beneficial my experience in California would be for my job until I started working for Bulwark.  I have ended up meeting so many customers who also used to live in California.  This has helped me gain their trust and loyalty because I feel that we can identify with the many differences between both states.

One family comes to mind this past summer.  I was actually spraying a regular customer’s lawn when a man quickly approached me.  He said that he saw my Bulwark truck and hoped I could help him out.  He went on to explain that his family had just moved here from California a couple days ago and they had large fire ant mounds all over their front and back yard.  I ended up servicing the inside and outside of their home that very day paying special attention to the ant mounds.  He decided to sign up for a year’s contract with Bulwark before I left that day.  It was nice for him to hear that I could relate to what they were going through.  You see, the fire ants in California are nothing compared to the fire ants here in Texas. The first time you get stung by a Texas fire ant- You too will want to call Bulwark for HELP!!!  He also asked me if it were true that scorpions actually come into houses here in Texas.  After I let him know that this is possible, I went on to further explain that Bulwark treats their customer’s houses in order to help prevent scorpions from coming in.

Pest-Control-Stories Story ants, Austin TX, C, Fire ants

A customer that I serviced in Litchfield Park had a problem with ants and bees coming in and out of her dog’s water dish.  She had ants all over her front yard.  I took the time to follow the trail of ants leading to a dirt area outside their lawn.  These ants had to of been traveling over 50 to 70 feet just to get to her house.  I sprayed the curbing were the ants were trailing and around their hill with termidor.  I told her that the treatment may take up to 3 days in order for it to fully work.  As far as the bees were concern, I looked around and could not find a hive.  The bees were just coming in and out for a drink, but I still wanted to help her keep the bees out of her dog’s dish.  I told her of a trick I learned in scouts.  I told her she could make an easy bee trap with a 2 liter soda bottle.  She needed to leave a little soda in the bottle and cut the top of the bottle off with a knife.  The top needs to be turned upside down and put into the top of the bottle.  The idea was to attract the bees to the soda instead of the dog’s dish.  It worked and some bees were trapped in the soda bottle.

Jameson Hunter

Phoenix Branch

Pest-Control-Stories Story ants, B, bees, exterminator story, pest control stories, Phoenix AZ, service

Pest-Control-Stories Story ants, Austin TX, B, Extra mile, rats, scorpions

Pest-Control-Stories Story 3, ants, C, internal, Las Vegas NV

Pest-Control-Stories Story A, ants, Extra mile, Las Vegas NV

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!

ThomasB Pest Control Videos, ants ant control, ants, queen ants

What’s a group of ants called? An Ant Colony.

Does that question seem a little funny to you as a pest control operator?

Its important as a PCO to realize where many people are coming from. “What is a group of ants called” is searched on Google daily! Whenever addressing a customers concerns make sure that you are speaking to them in a way that they understand. Pest control jargon may be easy for you to understand but you will quickly disconnect with your customer if you don’t see it from their point of view.

More in depth answer to “What is a group of ants called”-

A group of ants is called a colony. Ant colonies are also referred to as ant nests and ant families. Because ants travel together in a line a group may also be called an ant army. But in general a group of ants is a colony as a group of birds is a flock, and a group of cows is a herd. So colony is the correct answer.

To Learn more click here: A video on ant colonies

Why do ants walk in a straight line?

ThomasB General Pest Control, ants ant colony, ants, pest control jargon, what is a group of ants called

The 2009 Ant Season has officially arrived. We are now receiving ant control requests from all over the US. Fire Ants, Harvester Ants, Carpenter Ants, and the new annoying Raspberry Ants. A few tips and things to remember when dealing with ants…

1- Most Sprays have an odor that will detour ants, but this doesn’t mean it will kill them. These sprays act as repellents, and therefore only keep the ants at bay. Further using such sprays may cause ant colonies to bud out and create more colonies.

2- Ant baits should be specific to the ants you are treating. Ants and their diets differ by the ant species and the time of year. So what an ant eats will depend on both the ant species and the season. This is referred to as bait acceptability or bait acceptance.

3- Your best bet is to keep the ants out of the house entirely with a regular pest control service.

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While sitting in front of my computer screen thinking about what I was going to write about next; I watch a small little row of ants walk along the edge of my desk. Instinctively, the first thing I do is try to identify the pest. When dealing with ants it can be very hard to determine the specific type of ant based on its different physical characteristics unless you have a magnifying glass available or have the “eye of a hawk” as me and my cousins used to call it. I have read many books that would say this ant is this color, and that ant is this color, etc; but I have found that in the real world trying to distinguish based on color is quite a dreadful task as different types of ants can be within the same color ranges. Here are some characteristics about different ants that may help you identify your home’s native ant-lings. (Did I go there…yes I did; Ant-lings…LOL.)

Pharaoh Ant: Primarily indoors, known for splitting into different colonies, sometimes found in wounds of hospital patients.

Carpenter Ant: The largest, Biggest, humongous, enormous fellers. (Exaggeration)

Harvester Ant: Known for producing mounds with entry points that are at least approximately 2 inches in diameter.

Pavement Ant: Generally will reside under or around pavement.

Argentine Ant: Also a very popular ant, known for producing super colonies…these infestations can grow rapidly.

Odorous House Ants: When crushed emit a coconut like smelling odor.

Red Imported Fire Ant: These ants are very aggressive and secrete a toxin when biting. These ants are what we refer to as a “quarantined” species; so if you think you have come across them contact your local department of agriculture etc for removal. Each case is required to be documented and handled in a specific fashion.

For More Information please click here.

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