GREENHOUSE PEST MANAGEMENT

Roaches are here.

Roaches are there.

Roaches are everywhere.

Roaches are high.

Roaches are low.

They are in the house.

They are with a mouse.

I don’t like them here or there.

I don’t like them anywhere!

I don’t like them in a book.

I don’t like them in our nook.

I don’t like them in the dark.

I don’t even like them in a park.

I don’t like them here or there.

I don’t like them anywhere!

I dislike them under my foot.

I dislike them on my foot.

I dislike them in my bed.

I dislike them on my head.

I don’t like them here or there.

I don’t like them anywhere!

I don’t like them in my robe.

I don’t like them on my globe.

I don’t like that roach rhymes brooch.

I don’t like women who would wear a roach brooch.

I don’t like them here or there.

I don’t like them anywhere!

I hate them in my  shower.

I hate that I feel I have no power.

I hate them in my my kids room.

I hate that they are too fast for my broom.

I hate them here.

I hate them there.

I hate them everywhere!

A flea can jump about 150 to 200 times its height. Now there is a saying or rumor about a flea and its jumping abilities. There is a saying that if you put a glass over the flea and allow the flea to try and jump out and escape it would hit it’s head. WHACK! Over and over again, eventually the flea would stop jumping against the glass ceiling and adjust its habit of jumping. The flea that once could jump 150 to 200 times its body height is now jumping below that glass ceiling. It will never jump any higher, it continues to belive that it cannot get out of the glass and therefore never tries. The barrier is mental now and no longer a physical barrier anymore. So here is the question. How many perceived glass ceilings do you have preventing you from achieving your potential? Do you have a glass ceiling?

Remember, for the same reasons you want to be indoors during Winter, invasive pests do too! It is important to perform a comprehensive winter pest control treatment to ensure your home is protected year-round.

The Best of the Pest Product Review

Episode 3: TERRO Liquid Ant Baits Cost $5.67

When we get a pine straw delivered to our home, the first thing I do,  is look for nesting ants and treat. If I want to review a product to is fullest capability, well the I have to invite the ants into my home.  I poked around the outside and found the ant nest and placed a marker for future reference. I saw the ants and knew I was screwed, it was a difficult decision but I sat back and waited for ants to show up at our home. Two weeks later we had ants in our kitchen, they showed up in the middle of the night and invaded our food pantry. This was the first time we every had ants to this degree, my wife was ticked off. Not so much tick off at ants, it was more directed to me. I now know what my clients go through and I will always remember the day the ants took over our house. I took the TERRO and placed it on the window sill and had them feeding on the bait within 30 minutes, two days later they where gone. Now just because they stop feeding does not mean you have eliminated the colony, you still have workers that will hatch out. They showed up for a second invasion and only went to the TERRO (when ants find something great to feed on, they mark it with pheromones), once again they where gone. I went outside and checked the marker, they where completely gone. It took close to 5 weeks, but a successful treatment. Total ant elimination and always a better alternative to treating ants than spraying you kitchen counter tops.  Read more... (303 words, 1 image, estimated 1:13 mins reading time)

The Best of the Pest Product Reviews

Episode 2: EcoSMART Wasp & Hornet Killer Cost $8.67

I am a fan of this product, it kills hornets and it kills them fast. Any product that kills wasps and hornets is a great. I had the opportunity to treat a  bald face hornets nest hanging in a tree with this product. If this product was going to be tested, why not try it with one of the meanest  hornets ever. It was time to stand on a 18ft step ladder and give this product a run for it’s money. I treated the entry point of the nest and watch them collapse instantly, it had to be one of the fastest knockdowns I have ever seen.  The treatment was a success, EcoSMART Wasp & Hornets Killer has become one of my favorite products. This product has something very special, it’s all natural. The active ingredient is peppermint oil. Peppermint oil is safe, it’s effective and it smells great. Advantages of peppermint oil are that it enhances memory, reduced (IBS) irritable bowel syndrome and helps insomnia. EcoSMART Wasp & Hornet Killer won’t help with you IBS or sleepless nights; it will help with your wasp and hornet issues. Why would anyone use anything else?

This product is a Minimum-Risk pest control product, and qualifies from a exemption from EPA registration under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA).

SHAKE WELL BEFORE USING. READ ENTIRE LABEL AND USE ACCORDINGLY. FOR USE OUTDOORS AND IN ATTICS.  Read more... (252 words, 2 images, estimated 1:00 mins reading time)

Episode 1: Possibly the Worst Blog Title Ever!

I feel that it is my responsibility to know what is going on with pesticides daily. My job is to educate my staff and our consumers. The pest control field changes every season; from new products, banned products, new research studies and new species invading our homes. It is difficult to talk about consumer products if I have never used them. So I will use and test any consumer products in the stores and hope that my professional advice will help the success of making your home pest free. I am excited about this new blog venture. These reviews will be from a professional’s point of view and our goal is to eliminate bugs.

Does natural pesticides work better than chemicals? Through my business venture I have fine tuned my answer to “Yes it is.”  Seems very vague and it is. Whether we use a natural alternatives or chemicals on an insect, it will meet its maker. They both serve the same purpose, it kills bugs. How can I make natural products more dominate over chemicals that has been dominating the U.S. for over 90 years. It all starts with a program called IPM (Integrated Pest Management), any technician can be successful if they implemented IPM in the service. The big problem is IPM takes an investment from any company.  I will break these IPM techniques in the next few blogs posts. Thanks, more to come.

Even though it’s still cool in the mornings, Spring is in full swing!  That means a lot of different things; the birds are chirping more and more, half of us can hardly breathe due to allergies, and all the insects and other critters are all moving about working on mating rituals and the like.  We’ve talked about this before with carpenter ants specifically, but one of the mating rituals that can really become a nuisance to us and our property is swarming termites.  Seeing a swarm near your home could indicate that there are termites present at your property.

In early Spring, colonies of subterranean termites that are healthy enough to produce reproductive members do so in preparation of their mating season.  These “winged” members of the colony all take to the sky (or your living room) looking for suitable mates from other colonies that have also taken to the sky.  They meet in the air, break off their wings, mate, then find a new home to start a colony. Certain conditions will trigger this annual event, and we’ve already received a bunch of calls to prove that it’s already happening this year

Subterranean termites can be found throughout most of the country, but are heavily concentrated in the Southeast.  It can be quite intimidating to witness one of their swarms as they could number in the thousands.  Different species of termites, like Formosan termites, swarm later in the year and will swarm at night.  Subterranean termites swarm during the day and the swarmers are essentially harmless, unless they find a mate and start a new colony…then you’re obviously talking about some potential damage.  It’s estimated by the National Pest Management Association that termites cause over $5 billion in damages per year in the United States alone.  Read more... (397 words, 3 images, estimated 1:35 mins reading time)

If you have small children, or if you or a family member is allergic to bee stings, there is nothing scarier than a wasps’ nest looming down from a tree or gutter near your home. But having a nest in your yard isn’t an insurmountable challenge — YOU can get rid of wasps’ nests without getting stung! All you need is the proper protection and the right insecticide, and you’re good to go.

This article will tell you where to find and how to get rid of wasps’ nests.

• What Nests Look Like
• Locating the Nest
• Getting Rid of the Nest

The term “wasps” encompasses many different species. The ones you’re likely to find in the United States are Baldfaced Hornets, Paper Wasps, and Yellow Jackets.

All wasps are social insects, with colonies in which queens, males, and workers cooperate to survive as a population, and live in a nest. The nests of each of these types of wasps look different. Knowing what kind of wasps nest you’re dealing with will help you get rid of it.

Yellow Jackets
Yellow jackets build basketball-sized, papery nests. To make the nest, they chew wood fibers until they dissolve into a papery substance which they then paste together into walls and individual chambers inside.

Paper Wasps
Paper wasps use the same technique to create the papery walls of their nests. Unlike yellow jackets and baldfaced hornets, paper wasps’ nests have only one comb instead of many chambers. The nest is shaped like an umbrella, and these wasps are sometimes known as umbrella wasps.  Read more... (675 words, 3 images, estimated 2:42 mins reading time)

If you are looking into moving in an all organic lifestyle, then you are looking into your finances. Your conclusion is that organic living is costly. Data about pesticides and herbicides in our fruit and vegetables is very concerning. New information about neurotoxins, Parkinson’s diseases and growth hormones is reaching the news surface every single day. Moving organic goes beyond fruit and veggies, now we have to be concerned about steroids in meat, how fast can a calf or chick become an adult before being slaughtered? Why are there no USDA standards on fish? Why is bottled water not regulated by the EPA or FDA like tap water?  Its questions after questions, moving to an organic lifestyle can seem overwhelming. Is it worth being financially burden by going organic?

Let me help you out, here are some great sites, articles and information about questions you may have about going organic.

Bottled Water?

Why did I put a questions mark at the end of bottled water? Because bottled water does not make sense to me, it has everything going against it. If you want to go organic and you’re looking to budget yourself, the first you need to do is cut bottled water.

Recipe for Bottled Water.

1 32oz BPA free Nalgene Bottle

1 Kitchen Water Faucet with a Brita filter system  Read more... (544 words, estimated 2:11 mins reading time)