Pest Control and Bug Exterminator Blog

Pollination plays a crucial role in food production, which means that bees are intricately tied to the success of the process. Over the last decade, however, concern for these small pests has grown increasingly urgent, as bee colonies continue to see huge hive losses. The EU took action recently decided to ban neonicotinoids, the most popular insecticide in the world, for two years. Many believe that neonicotinoids are linked to the hive losses, including the European Food Safety Agency.

Beekeepers, charged with the task of moving hives into California to fertilize almond trees this year, scrambled to make that process happen. The situation on the west coast highlighted an issue that could have far-reaching consequences around the world. What does it all mean?

California Almond Orchards

Almonds are big business in California; they are the number one overseas agricultural export. The orchards are laid out across hundreds of thousands of acres, and in order to make sure the trees are pollinated properly, approximately one and half million bee colonies must be brought in to do the job. This year, because of the hive losses, the pollination process was only achieved through a nationwide plea to bring in the necessary number of bees.

Concerns For Food Production

The almond orchards are unique, in that they need a significant number of bees in order to complete the pollination process. Therefore, although other crops have not yet been affected by hive losses, they will be if the current trend does not begin to reverse itself soon. Some beekeepers reported losing half of their hives this year, and the bees that were left were not always as efficient and effective as bees from previous colonies.

The European Commission is certainly taking the situation seriously. They recently decided to ban neonicotinoids, the most popular insecticide in the world, for two years. Many believe that neonicotinoids are linked to the hive losses, including the European Food Safety Agency. The move comes as scientists are speaking out about how a shortage of bees will affect worldwide food production. While neonicotinoids are certainly not the only factor in play, they do seem to confuse bees and make them less likely to find their way back to their hives. They could also make the pests more susceptible to diseases. Still, there is some debate about exactly how harmful neonicotinoids really are.

U.S. Reaction

In response to EU’s ban and concerns raised by a number of commercial beekeepers and environmental advocacy groups, the Environmental Protection Agency is taking a second look at neonicotinoids. One way they hope to protect bees is by cutting back on how much neonicotinoid-contaminated dust is sprayed at planting time, since bees are particularly likely to come across the insecticide at that time.

Neonicotinoids are used prominently in the United States, particularly on corn, cotton, rice, grains, fruits and vegetables. The insecticide was widely accepted in the 90s because the risk of human exposure is low compared to previously used products. However, neonicotinoids remain present as plants grow and develop, which means there are a number of ways that bees could be exposed to them, something that was not considered when the insecticide was first introduced. Because of how frequently neonicotinoids are used, wild and domesticated bees are exposed to the insecticide often, which makes for a very uncertain future. Still, while neonicotinoids were present in damaged hives, the exact reason for hive losses can’t yet be pinpointed.

The only thing we know for certain is that there will be fewer bees this year than in years past. As the issue becomes more serious, both private citizens and Odessa pest control technicians are doing their part to help. Wild bees making a “nuisance” of themselves are more likely to be relocated than destroyed, which certainly helps. However, the losses of domesticated bees may be too great to overcome.

About the author: Chris is a blogger for a Texas based pest control company.

Related articles

• Beepocalypse Redux: Honeybees Are Still Dying – and We Still Don’t Know Why.
• EPA Slapped with Lawsuit over Ongoing Bee Deaths.
• Bees, neonicotinoids and pollination: moving forward

Guest Post Published by Thomas Ballantyne

1382ps_02333.jpg (Photo credit: IRRI Images)

If you are reading this, you are either currently experiencing a pest problem, have dealt with one in the past, for some reason enjoy learning about random niche industries, or are banging on your keyboard yelling at the Google for misdirecting you. The term “pest” is the official term used to describe organisms detrimental to human activities and the unofficial term you once used to describe your little brother during the two hours after nap time. No one enjoys pests having free reign in their home anymore than you enjoyed having to sprint full speed after Justin through the middle of the grocery store during rush hour. But alas, pest control is an issue many homeowner must face at some point or another.

So what do you know about pest control? Other than the infinite catch-phrase puns and insect caricature logos, what actually goes into a pest control service? In many cases, pest control boils down to a couple dudes buying some really toxic materials and spraying them all over your house and property. Yippie! That sounds like fun! Good thing you don’t have any kids or pets… oh you do? There are laws in place to protect you on some capacity from irresponsible pesticide application, but ultimately, it is up to the consumer to do his or her due diligence when hiring a pest control company.

Despite the negative examples, there are, of course, some good guys in this industry. Shortly after World War II, scientists began developing what is known as Integrated Pest Management (IPM). This system takes a broad look at pest control and seeks to “integrate” a wide range of tactics, techniques, and research into controlling each species of pest, striving to achieve a “happy” balance of economic efficiency and environmental responsibility. To put that in terms that I can understand, IPM is all about killing bugs as efficiently as possible while taking into account peripheral effects on the surrounding environment. IPM is centered around six basic ideas.

1) Acceptable Pest Levels

Because IPM is a comprehensive strategy rather than an event-specific attack, it works to establish an “acceptable pest level” in any given context. Complete extermination is often impossible, so instead of living in denial and burning our home down with a flamethrower, we want to know how much of a given pest we can afford to allow in any given situation. Once this threshold is crossed, we then employ the most efficient techniques for returning the population to acceptable levels.

2) Preventative Cultural Practices

This one is pretty simple. It means we take an intelligent look at our surroundings and act accordingly. So if my home/farm/bat cave is located in the middle of a high-functioning, watermelon-destroying weed resort, I’m going to go ahead and refrain from planting an acre’s worth of watermelons. Or if I’ve already planted my watermelons, I’m going to have my farm designed in such a way that I can quickly isolate and quarantine an outbreak after some idiot flies overhead, dropping a new strain of watermelon-eating bacteria into my perfectly rounded delights. The keyword here is “preventative.”

Fort Custer Integrated Pest Management (Photo credit: U.S. Army Environmental Command)

3) Monitoring

I doubt I need to explain the term “monitoring” to you. However, you should know that this isn’t kindergarten-teacher-watching-you-pretend-to-sleep monitoring. This is science-nerd-in-high-school-chemistry-class monitoring. Records are kept. Eyes are strained. Complaints to management are made. Diligent monitoring is the cornerstone of IPM.

4) Mechanical Controls

When pests multiply beyond their acceptable limit, IPM uses giant robots to murder them with lasers. Well… that actually might be a slight exaggeration. What does happen is that simple techniques including hand-removal, barriers, vacuuming, or tilling are employed to break up the pests’ nonstop baby-making and put the population levels on decline.

5) Biological Controls

What’s the only thing cooler than laser-wielding, bug-killing robots? The answer, of course, is biologically engineered super-carnivores! What!? There aren’t any of those either!? Boring! Actually, this step is simply introducing natural predators of the targeted pest into the environment. This is a very calculated process, requiring significant research to ensure that more islands aren’t completely taken over by brown tree snakes. I’m looking at you Guam.

6) Responsible Pesticide Use

Remember at the beginning when we said IPM is all about killing bugs as efficiently as possible? This is the grand finale to that goal. If the only answer for addressing a bug problem is dirty, toxic, high-powered pesticide, than by golly, bring out the poison guns. To be fair, it’s a lot less gung-ho than the previous statement might lead you to believe, but I desperately needed to use the phrase “poison guns” in a professional article.

There you have it. I totally answered the question asked in the title, which is probably the first article you’ve read today where that is the case… so no complaining. If you got disillusioned at the end, check out Green Pest Management. It’s basically the same thing as IPM, but they use boring organic pesticides at the end instead of poison guns. Lame!

Author Bio
Tiffany Olson is an enthusiastic blogger who writes for small companies so that they may increase their online presence. This article was written on behalf of the good people over at Killroy.com and their work with pest control in Union City.

Related articles

• Results of 2012 Maine School IPM Survey released
• Integrated pest management at its most beautiful
• Trap crops help control sucking insect pests in tomatoes

Every year, pest control professionals ascend on our nation’s capital to raise awareness with their legislators about important issues impacting the pest control industry. National Pest Management Association (NMPA) Legislative Day 2013, in Washington DC, offered pest control professionals the opportunity to build stronger relationships with a new-look Congress.

NMPA Legislative Day 2013 In Washington 

March 17-19 2013 marked NMPA Legislative Day in Washington DC; and some 400 pest control professionals attended to make sure their voices were heard by Congress. Important business and tax issues were discussed, including issues surrounding the PESTT Act, paperless reporting, and the use of Sulfuryl Fluoride on food.

Those who attended got to listen to prominent speakers, like former Vice-Presidential candidate Paul Ryan; who spoke of trying to eliminate burdensome taxes on PCO’s. By all accounts, Ryan’s speech was the highlight Legislative Day.

New Pest Control Opportunities With A New Congress

The new Congress, which convened on January 3, 2013, is a once-in-a-generation Congress. One-third (180 new members the last two election cycles) of the 435 members of the U.S. House of Representatives are new; with less than three years experience. The Senate has seen similar turnover, with 25 new Senators being elected in 2012 and 2010 elections.

With this in mind, pest control professionals had a once-in-a-blue-moon opportunity to forge relationships with tomorrow’s leaders during NMPA Legislative Day 2013. These relationships can establish partnerships with a new generation of federal lawmakers, which will ultimately benefit the entire professional pest management industry for generations. The impact of this change in Congress is difficult to overstate.

Topics Of Discussion At Legislative Day

While much discussion at NMPA Legislative Day focused on pest control business and tax issues; there were also three critical issues that were addressed with the new Congress.

PESTT Act

Legislative Day attendees asked their legislators to support the Pest Elimination Services Transparency and Terminology Act (PESTT Act) which aims to limit USDA-Wildlife Services competition with the private sector for rodent, nuisance bird and wildlife work. Essentially, PCO’s don’t want to have to compete against USDA Wildlife Services for pest control.

The two key components of the PESTT Act are: (1) to define the term “urban rodent control”; and (2) to direct the U.S. Government Accountability Office to write a report identifying activities that Wildlife Services performs that the private sector has the capability and capacity to perform; and to make further recommendations. Another issue the PESTT Act is trying to correct is that USDA Wildlife Services is authorized to work at non-agricultural settings.

The NMPA’s ultimate goal is to get this legislation inserted into the farm bill, so PCO’s have less competition with the government for pest control services.

Sulfuryl Fluoride Food Usage

Pest control professionals involved in fumigation work wanted to make sure their voices were heard at Legislative Day; regarding the proposed cancelling of Sulfuryl Fluoride usage on food.

Sulfuryl Fluoride has come under attack from activist groups which have a waged a lengthy war on the pesticide, demanding the stoppage of Sulfuryl Fluoride usage in food-processing facilities. The EPA began listening to these demands in 2011 and began phasing out the pesticide, even though Sulfuryl Fluoride contributes no more that 2-3% of the public’s exposure to fluoride. PCO’s wish to continue using Sulfuryl Fluoride for pest control because some groups in the food sector are now completely reliant on it.

Paperless Reporting

Many pest control companies have gone paperless in order to save costs, go greener, boost efficiency, and promote professionalism. Unfortunately, a barricade that PCOs have run into is that some states mandate pest control operators keep hard copies of pesticide records, use reports, and consumer info sheets—Even if a pest control company has invested a large sum of money to go paperless. Many of these requirements were written in the 1970s and 1980s before people could imagine today’s technology.

Pest control professionals lobbied Congress at Legislative Day to introduce legislation that would allow PCO’s to keep records and reports electronically. Since each State’s laws are different, the issue needs to be addressed on the Federal level.

We Want To Hear From You

If you were able to attend NMPA Legislative Day 2013 In Washington DC, we’d love to hear about your experience.

We’d also love to hear your thoughts on the proposed legislation (i.e. Sulfuryl Fluoride usage, paperless reporting, and the PESTT Act).

Read more about NMPA Legislative Day 2013 at pctonline.com

Related articles

• PCO Choice – Quart W/sprayer
• Becoming a pest investigator
• Republican Outrage at USDA E-Mail Shows Mistrust of Cuts
• Topeka, Kansas, Urged To Remove Fluoride From Drinking Water To Protect Legislators’ IQs
• Agencies Can Soon Use Herbicides, Pesticides On State Lands Without Permit

Anthony Ball

Live bed bug (Photo credit: StarMaster)

Portland Bed Bug Story

Carl Leibowitz said he was in a Portland, Oregon hotel room Friday afternoon when he “started to get these like — I felt like there were bites, and I was thinking I got a mosquito bite. And I just noticed there were three of them. And then later on, I started to notice, up by my shoulder, there were more bites. And I went out and got some Benadryl, took Benadryl, went to sleep, and then I woke up at 6:30 in the morning on Saturday and when I woke up, I’m like — got bites all over me.

“And I turn on the light and my pillow is covered in blood. And when I looked down at the pillow, there’s blood everywhere, I feel on my head there’s all these bites, and I start to freak out. I don’t know what happened to me.”

Leibowitz headed for the emergency room. He says he had 43 bites in all, “all over my back, my shoulders, on my feet, all over my head.” (http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-500165_162-6822398.html)

What is the bedbug story today?

The last two years we were inundated with bedbug horror stories like this.  Both local and national news stations, radio stations, and newspapers ran with stories that we were under attack!

BEVERLY HILLS, CA – JULY 09: Writer/Director Carl (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)

Bedbugs were invading our country’s homes, schools, offices, vehicles, and they were even hiding in our library books. We weren’t safe if we left on an expensive vacation because the hotels were infested too. Billy Crystal took to one of the nation’s biggest stages, The Oscars, and joked about bedbug migration in our movie theaters.

During that time a lot of pest control companies experienced an unexpected boom, but these last several months have seen a sharp decline in media reported bedbug infestations.

With this recent lack of media coverage can we assume that bedbugs are on the decline?

NOPE!

Most pest control companies have seen no decline in the expansion of bedbugs in their businesses. In fact, bedbug infestations are growing at exponential rates—some reports say as much as 75% from the same time last year. The Bedbug Crisis Hotline has increased ten fold in the last 6 months. Some of this can be attributed to both the media and the pest control industry raising awareness and educating the public about bedbugs.

It may be safe to say that the media’s interest in bedbugs is receding because they often report on stories they can in some way sensationalize. If the topic doesn’t make the hair on the audience’s neck stand up anymore, they don’t report on it.

The bedbugs are still here. They still bite us and we still have to get rid of them. The story is still the same, despite the media’s lack of recent coverage.

Related articles

• EPA, Ohio Bite Back at Bedbugs
• Middleboro building infested with bedbugs
• Philadelphia crowned bedbug capital of US
• Bedbug
• Wichita: Central Library Closes Because of Bedbug Problem