Great Info Tips » Pest Control

Do it yourself bed bug control…why it’s not a good idea

Rosie — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 22:53:16 +0000

The Center for Disease Control recently published a report informing the public about misuse of pest control materials to get rid of bedbugs. The report states 1 person died and over 100 got ill from using pesticides on their own to kill bedbugs. This was between 2003 and 2010. This report is in the weekly report of the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality report.

The most common reason for these illnesses was overuse of the pesticides. Human toxicity can happen when consumers don’t read the labels and follow directions when applying the materials. Pyrethroids and Pyrethrins were used and implicated in 99 of 111 illnesses reported.

The CDC is urging consumers to have certified professional exterminators treat the bedbug situations. When choosing an exterminator make sure the company is licensed to treat bedbugs.

Termite season 2011

Rosie — Sun, 08 May 2011 22:46:33 +0000

Warm temperatures and rain this time of the year will bring out the termites to swarm. Subterranean termites release hundreds of nest members out to begin mating and starting new colonies. These termites have wings and are called swarmers. The flights are brief with the termites falling to the ground where their wings will break off and most of the termites will die. The surviving swarmers will form small cells where they will mate and begin to lay eggs.

Most termite swarms will be seen outdoors, but it’s when some are seen inside a home that people panic. Inside homes termites are most often seen in window sills on the lower floors. Light attracts the termites. The presence of swarmers doesn’t necessarily mean you have a termite infestation in your home. There may be a colony right outside your home and some swarmers may have gotten inside.

Termites can look like flying ants. It’s best to educate yourself so you will know what you are dealing with. Citronella ants also fly. They have 3 body segments where termites have only a head and thorax (2 body parts with the thorax being one long segment). The wings of termites are also longer than their bodies. The wings will fall off the termites. Citronella ants smell like coconut if you crush them.

If you think you might have termites you should have an exterminator check your home. What you should do is to have some samples to show the exterminator just in case there are no swarmers when he/she arrives. It’s important to have the pest identified by a specialist.

update on bed bug treatment

Rosie — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 23:08:10 +0000

Steam heat! It’s the latest in the defense against bed bugs. Unfortunatley for most people who have the problem, the best steam heat is from units that professionals use inside your home. Steam will rid your home of bedbugs. From what I have heard from customers, this treatment really does work. Calls do not come into the office stating customers are upset because they still have bedbugs after a treatment. However, there are draw backs in this type of treatment. There is a lot of prep work before the treatment can be done and people must be out of their homes while the treatment is being done. Only professionals can really do a thorough job. It’s in your best interest to have a steam heat treatment done if bedbugs are found in your home. Payment plans can be set up with exterminators.

Bats are dying in Pennsylvania

Rosie — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 22:15:10 +0000

Little brown bats are dying from White Nose Syndrome. This is so devastating that little brown bats may become extinct within the next 10 years unless something can be done to help them. Bats are essential to the environment as one bat can eat up to 2000 insects in one evening, including mosquitoes carrying West Nile disease.

White Nose Syndrome is lethal to each bat that gets sick. It causes a white fungus to grow around the nose area, sometimes on the tips of wings, tail and ears of bats. No one is quite sure where it comes from and how it is transmitted from one bat to another. Bats have been dying by the thousands each year. Biologists predict that the little brown bat will not have a future unless something is done or a cure is found. There are over 1 million little brown bats in caves, old buildings, and mines. The most common bat in Pennsylvania, the little brown bats have been found dead in these areas where they tend to hibernate.

Fewer bats means more bugs to destroy crops and attack people. Bats are very beneficial to the environment and are a needed natural pest control creature. More investigation into White Nose Syndrome is needed. The bats can’t wait for a cure…they don’t have a whole lot of time left if the biologists are accurate in their calculation of distinction.

Bed Bugs found in New York City stores

Rosie — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 23:55:13 +0000

I keep finding more information on bedbugs, but hearing this story on CNN prompted me to check it out further. It would seem someone brought the dreaded pests in to the store. We need to find better ways of keeping bedbugs out of places they have recently invaded. This is becoming more and more of an epidemic in the U.S.

By Jesse Solomon, CNN

July 2, 2010 6:35 p.m. EDT

Hollister in New York City’s Soho neighborhood remained closed Friday after a bedbug infestation was found.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Bedbug infestation shuts down 2 stores in upscale Manhattan areas
The critters have become a growing problem in recent years
Emphasis so far has been on residences, but the bugs can hitch a ride to work
Despite the name, bedbugs need not live in beds

New York (CNN) — A bedbug outbreak at two trendy New York retail shops has sounded the alarm among city residents and businesses, prompting calls for the city to examine how it deals with the prickly pests.

Hollister, a popular clothing store owned by Abercrombie & Fitch in the fashionable Soho neighborhood, remained closed Friday after a bedbug infestation was found earlier in the week, according to company spokeswoman Iska Hain. And an Abercrombie & Fitch store in South Street Seaport also has been closed by an infestation.

Abercrombie and Fitch said Friday afternoon the problem in the SoHo Hollister store had been taken care of and the shop will reopen Saturday morning.

“The company has requested guidance from the mayor’s office on how businesses in Manhattan should deal with this issue,” the company said in a news release. “In the meantime, the company’s first priority continues to be its customers and associates.”

The incidents mirror a sharp overall spike in bedbugs in recent years, yet efforts to combat the problem have mostly focused on residential buildings, leaving the issue of contamination in commercial spaces largely ignored.

“We’ve had them in banks, grocery stores, movie theaters, judge’s chambers, schools, dentists’ offices — everywhere,” said Jeff Eisenberg of PestAway, an exterminating company in Manhattan.

The problem, according to Eisenberg, is that bedbugs carry a stigma, which causes many cases to go unreported. “It’s like a don’t ask, don’t tell policy,” he said. “People don’t tell their employers that they have bedbugs in their house” — bedbugs that can hitch a ride to the workplace.

According to the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, it issued 4,811 violation notices to residential landlords for bedbug infestations in 2009, compared with 82 in the 2003-2004 fiscal year. For the first half of 2010, 1,976 bedbug violation notices have already been written.

However, such statistics represent only a fraction of bedbug cases in the city, as they come almost exclusively from buildings in the rental market. Owners of bedbug-infested residences are less likely to call 311, the city’s non-emergency hotline, which then notifies the Housing Preservation Department.

Further, landlords of commercial structures are currently not obligated to report bedbug infestation.

State Assembly member Linda B. Rosenthal, who recently sponsored legislation to require landlords of apartment buildings to disclose information about an apartment’s bedbug history to potential tenants, plans to address the matter of bedbugs in businesses, though she admits doing so will be tricky.

“People buy a shirt, leave it hanging in their apartment, a bug gets on it, and then they go to work.” Rosenthal told CNN. “If you buy a piece of clothing you should assume it’s bug free, but it’s hard on the retailer to assure that it is, because how would they know.”

Treating bedbugs can be extremely expensive, and no insurance policies cover them. “It would be cost prohibitive on both sides,” Rosenthal said.

The rise in bedbug cases is not exclusive to New York. Last year, the federal Environmental Protection Agency sponsored a bedbug conference in Arlington, Virginia. Speaking to a crowd of 230 academics, agency employees and exterminators, Dale Kemery, an agency spokesman, said the incidence of infestation in the United States has tripled since 2005.

Despite their name, bedbugs need not live in beds. They generally live within 10 to 20 feet of their hosts and avoid light, preferring the dark security of spaces behind headboards, under baseboards and behind hanging pictures.

Termite or Ant?

Rosie — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 22:47:47 +0000

?Is it an ant or a termite you just found in your home? There are some ways to tell.

Ants have 1 pair of wings, bent antennae, a pinched waist and you can see their eyes. Termites have 1 pair of wings, straight antennae, a broad waist, and you cannot see their eyes. Both can swarm, follow the one in front. can cause wood damage, and colonies can be active around the clock all year. Proper identification is necessary for successful treatment. Ants have a distinct waistline while termites do not. It’s like ants having a belt in the middle of their bodies. While there are different varieties of each pest, ants are less costly to treat. When in doubt, call a professional pest control company.

Bed Bugs- an update

Rosie — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 22:32:17 +0000

Studies have recently shown that dismissing bedbugs as not being a public health pest is wrong. People can suffer not only bites, but also pain, suffering, emotional distress and a fear of never being rid of these pests. Government agencies still have not concluded that bedbugs may need to be listed as a public health pest in order to combat these pests so they do not become an epidemic as they have been in the past.

Bedbug infestations can occur in no time without the victim knowing he has them in his residence. Sensitivity to bites can be influenced by previous exposure as with other allergens. Reactions can be delayed a week of longer making it hard to narrow down the spot where the victim actually got the bedbugs. Elderly residents seem to be not as affected as others when it comes to recognizing bedbug infestations. It’s important that any nursing homes or even caretakers of the elderly be on the alert for any bedbugs present in the home. Bedbugs cannot bite through clothing, but will bite wherever there is exposed skin.

Welts and itching from bedbug bites are the body’s immune system reacting to the allergens in the pest’s saliva. Many residents will report sleeplessness, emotional distress, anxiety and stress from knowing they have bedbugs in their homes. Lately it has been reported bedbugs have been found in various places such as subways, waiting rooms, trains, buses, and movie theaters. You never know when you might bring these pests into your home.Unfortunately bedbugs can “hitchhike” and spread rapidly from room to room so they can find a human to feed on.

There is a lot of misinformation everywhere. If you are not sure you have a case of bedbugs your best bet is to call in the pest control professionals. Most companies will do a free inspection and alert you to the fact that there is an infestation. Just taking your mattress and box spring and putting them in the sun won’t get rid of all the bedbugs. Nor will wrapping the mattress and box spring in black plastic and having the sun beat down on them get rid of bedbugs. These pests need to have professionals get rid of them.

There are mattress and box spring covers that can be ordered to help with any bedbug fears. These covers are made of high quality, durable materials that have been tested to be bed bug proof. Bedbugs still in the mattress or box spring would then die of starvation over time.There are manufacturers and insecticide companies trying to find other solutions for the bed bug problem that seems to be infesting the world.

Bed Bug

Bee season

Rosie — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 22:27:52 +0000

As I work for a nationally known pest control company I know for sure we have been bombarded with phone calls about bees and wasps. Most customers want the technician to come out and spray for these insects, little realizing that unless bees and wasps have built a nest we cannot treat free flying insects.

Just picture a technician running around your yard spraying each bee. Sounds funny, doesn’t it? But that’s what some customers seem to want the technicians to do. Yes, there is a preventative treatment we can do around the home, but then customers will complain about stains on the siding. It’s not always an easy profession, but when there is a nest or a potential building of one it’s better to be treated. You will see a congregation of many bees or wasps coming and going out of one particular spot. That’s when you know there is a nest. Since it’s just April now, nests are small as bees and wasps have just emerged from their wintering places.

Please understand when you call your pest control company that it may not be possible for someone to come out the same day. It’s what we call busy season when the bugs, bees, and wasps all come out at one time. We can’t have the technicians working 12 hours a day. They need to have time to rest, too. Bear in mind we will do what we can to get someone to your home as soon as possible, but understand that we are not magicians and cannot make the bad bugs disappear immediately or even overnight. Talk to your technician, learn about the pests that inhabit your area and your home, and please have patience with the pest control company. We will help you.

Don’t Let the Bed Bugs Bite Act of 2009

Rosie — Thu, 21 May 2009 01:37:42 +0000

That’s right. There is an act in Congress that would require public housing agencies to submit bedbug inspection plans to the federal government. This would add bedbugs to the rodent and cockroach program in the Department of Health and Human Services. Research would be required of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There is a valid need to research bedbugs’ impact on the public mental health. People have been having anxiety, insomnia, feeling shamed because bedbugs have invaded their homes even though they are “clean” freaks, and the incessant annoyance of itchy red welts on the skin should bedbugs come in contact with their bodies.

Democratic Representative G.K. Butterfield of North Carolina just introduced legislation that would authorize $50 million that’s already in the budget of the Department of Commerce to train health inspectors how to recognize the signs of these nasty pests. His co-sponsors include Reps. Don Young, Republican from Alaska, Ben Chandler, Democrat from Kentucky, Bobby L. Rush, Democrat from Illinois, Betty McCollum, Democrat from Minnesota, Corrine Brown, Democrat from Florida, Steven Cohen, Democrat from Tennessee, Brad Miller, Democrat from North Carolina, and Eddie Bernice Johnson, Democrat from Texas. Butterfield has also gotten support from the National Pest Management Association. The NPMA stated that bedbug calls to pest control companies are up 70% in the past 5 years. Pesticides from years ago were able to kill off the bedbugs, but the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) discontinued certain pesticides because they were felt to be too hazardous. Bedbugs have built up a tolerance to the pesticides used today by most exterminators. More research needs to be done to have a better plan of attack to keep the bedbugs from becoming a worldwide infestation.

Birds pecking at your windows?

Rosie — Sat, 16 May 2009 14:41:18 +0000

There’s a reason they do this. They see a reflection of another bird in your window and since they have already “claimed” this area as their own, they are trying to attack this bird. It doesn’t matter how often they fly into your window or peck at it, they will continue doing so until you do something about it. There are some options: put wet newspapers on the outside of the window so they can’t see a reflection. Tie helium balloons near your window to scare away the birds. You can pull down the shades or close the drapes. Some people put tin foil pie pans near the windows to chase away the birds. You can buy these pans at the local dollar store. Or you can use some tin foil strips and dangle them at the windows. While the birds are nesting they are protective of their area, so once the eggs have hatched this pecking should stop. It can be very annoying since the noise can give you a headache. Most species of birds are protected, so you do need to be careful what you do. One other thing: pest control exterminators do not have a spray to get rid of the birds. There is nothing they can do beyond tell you what I have mentioned above.