Bed Bugs Spreading

(By Robert Holyfield)

As this article is being written, we have two representatives from our company attending a Bed Bug summit in Chicago. Bed bugs are becoming a major problem across the country and are spreading at an alarming rate. We are now getting calls daily and finding homes infested where only a few years ago it was only a bedtime saying. A lot of people get very emotional thinking they are dirty or have done something wrong when they get an infestation. This is far from the truth. Due to world wide travel, bed bugs can come from 5 star hotels. Their great hitchhiking ability has led to them being found in movie theaters, department stores, airplanes, buses, just about every where people travel or meet. Some studies say there is about a 25% chance that apartments that have a bed bug infestation will infest the ones next to it also. Lawsuits are springing up everywhere. Financial problems are arising for property owners or managers having to pay high fees for treatments that were not budgeted for. Used furniture can be a good way to introduce your home to these pests. Even taken delivery of a new mattress that was transported to you with a truck that has just picked up a discarded mattress from the previous customer loaded with bed bugs can cause you future problems for sure. To date, there are no silver bullets to get rid of the problem. Early detection and treatment is the best course of action. Inspect regularly for bedbugs or evidence of them. You will see actual bedbugs or fecal blood spots and stains along the seams of the bed mattress. Framing and head boards are very important to inspect also. The first thing my wife tells the kids when we stay in a hotel is let daddy check the room for bed bugs. She has heard the stories and wants no part of these little monsters. Several companies have developed whole house heat treatments that heat up the entire home to around 140.degrees. This kills all stages of the bed bug, however there have been several homes burned to the ground doing this treatment and all areas must reach around 113 degrees temperature or you could have a failure with surviving bed bugs. Pesticides treatments have not provided very good results due to resistance from bed bugs. There are a number of preventative products being marketed and sold. Bed mattress encasements work well to prevent the mattress from becoming infested. There are also disks that can be placed under the legs of the bed or furniture to keep them from climbing up. Glass cups work well also as bed bugs cannot climb due to the slickness of glass and their feet not having suction ability. We currently offer whole house fumigation to rid the entire house with one shot. The Jacksonville Bed Bug task force will be holding a meeting December 13th bet 1:00 and 5:00 and is free to the public. They will have some great info and suggestions for the public or businesses that could be affected by this critter.

As always, if we can help, give us a call.

904-743-8272

SILVERFISH

Silverfish

(by Robert Holyfield)

When you think of silverfish, you might be picturing something you pull up on the bank after your fishing pole just bent over. Silverfish and firebrats are often referred to as bristletails because of the three , tail-like appendages that protrude from their abdominal. They look like something from the dinosaur age having their bodies covered in scales and shaped like something you might see embedded in rock dug up in Egypt. They are silver to pearl-gray in color and have a carrot- shaped body. Adults can live up to 3 years and are about ½ in long. They live in cracks and voids and can be found throughout the home. They can be found where books, paper, boxes or old clothing are stored. Their food sources consist of protein, sugars and starches. They will eat cereals, starch in book bindings, paper on which there is glue or paste. They will damage wallpaper by eating holes through it to get to the paste. Silverfish prefer a dark, moist environment and feed on mold in these areas. Bathrooms and laundry rooms are a hot spot to find these little buggers roaming about. You can sometimes find them in the sink or tub because the sides are slick and they cannot climb out after falling in. Bookshelves are another good location as well as stored boxes in attics. They can also live outdoors and can be found in mulch, under tree bark and under siding on houses. They are active at night and usually hide during the day.

CONTROL:

You can reduce their numbers by correcting moisture problems. (Ex: Drying out damp areas with a fan or dehumidifier, repairing leaking pipes, ventilating closed rooms, & repairing leaking roofs) Use the ventilation fan when using the shower or tub. You can also reduce hiding places by removing old papers, books, boxes and other clutter. Wherever possible, seal up potential hiding places with caulk. Remove leaves and other debris around the home to decrease the chance from an outside invasion.

MAKE YOUR OWN TRAP:

A very simple trap can be made by taking a glass jar and scrubbing it clean and covering the outside with masking tape to make it easy to climb. Put it in an area where you have been seeing the little buggers and they will climb up and fall into the jar, but cannot escape due to the smooth interior walls. Moist cotton or starchy foods will work as bait. Sticky traps normally used for roaches and other insects work also.

As always if we can help, give us a call.

904-743-8272

*****NEED TERMITE COVERAGE ON YOUR HOME*****

Get a complete termite liquid treatment as well as the Sentricon baiting system AND pest control service for only $99.00 to start with a new service agreement if your house is less than 5 years old. Expires 12/31/11

Wasps & Bees (By Robert Holyfield)

Summer is in full swing and I’m sure you are having your fill of a wide variety of little buggers. Most insects are a nuisance at best; however some wasps and bees can put a painful hurt on you. There are several different types of bees and wasps you can encounter.


Paper Wasps are one of the most common stinging insects you will encounter. They build paper nest anywhere from the eaves of your home to the bushes in your yard. They are social insects and will attack in numbers when they feel their colony is in danger. So be careful when pruning bushes. Shake them first and be prepared to MOVE!

Yellow Jackets are another social stinging insect that can be dangerous when encountered. They usually build their nest in the ground and when walked over or mowed over they will come out in large numbers looking to get revenge! Both Paper Wasps and Yellow Jackets can sting you multiple times making them more dangerous because of the amount of venom you could receive.

Honey Bees are usually not very aggressive and you usually will not have a problem with them, however their cousin The Africanized Honey Bee (Killer Bee), is much more aggressive and can really hurt or even kill you. They are much more persistent in attacking when disturbed. The normal European Honey Bee will usually defend its nest at around 150 ft where the Africanized Bee will defend its nest upwards of 400 ft. They can only sting one time and loose their stinger.

Carpenter Bees don’t usually pose a problem in regards to stinging you. They are very large and resemble a bumble bee. They have a shinny and smooth abdomen where the bumble bee has a fuzzy abdomen. The female is the only one that can sting you sense the male lacks a stinger. He will be the one darting all around you acting so bad. So when you see him flying all around and hovering in front of you, just smack him, he’s bluffing! The Bumble Bee however can put a hurting on you! They usually make a nest in the ground under things and can sting you multiple times. They are one of the best pollinators of plants and flowers around making them a very beneficial insect.

Cicada Killer is a very large wasp some people encounter in their yard. They make a Bumble Bee look like a sissy. They dig small mounds tunneling in the ground. The Argyle area usually has a problem every year with them. Their main purpose is to go out and seek a Cicada to sting and bring back to their nest so the young developing wasp have something to feed on. Due to their large size, we get calls from people deathly afraid of them. You can actually walk right through the area where they are nesting and they will not bother you. (I would not suggest this though) they are not aggressive at all unless you look like a Cicada.

Mud Daubers are another wasp you generally will not have a problem with in regards to stinging you. They are not aggressive will not defend their nest. You will usually find their nest on your exterior walls, eaves, even attached on your light fixture. They construct their nest of mud or clay. They mainly feed on spiders and sting them to paralyze them where they pack them in sections of this mud home for their young to feed on.

You can always find more information on the University of Florida feature creature web site at http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/

**Always be careful when attempting to treat for any wasp or bee infestation. Serious harm or death could occur when taking this route. Consult a professional who is equipped to handle these treatments with specialized suits!! **

As always, if we can help, give us a call.

904-743-8272

FLEAS

By: Robert Holyfield

The warm weather is here and so are the flea calls! There’s nothing more frustrating than having fleas and not being able to get rid of them! The cat flea is the most common flea you will encounter. Adults are 1-3 mm in length, reddish brown to black and their bodies flat vertically so they can easily glide through the hairs of cats or dogs. Have you ever picked a flea off you or your pet and tried to kill it between your fingers by squeezing? Good luck! They usually spring right off back into the depths of your carpet. If you have finger nails, put him in between them and slice. That usually does the trick. Fleas are capable of jumping 8 to 13 inches horizontally. That’s a gold medal jump of 450 feet for you or me! Their life cycle from the time they lay their eggs to a newly hatched adult can be as little as 3 weeks. Depending on when the eggs were laid, you can have a hatch out every day so it looks like a treatment that was preformed is not working when really it is. They just have to come into contact with the product. The life cycle consists of egg, larva, pupa and adult. The pupa stage is the stage where they can lay dormant for months until they feel vibrations alerting them that a host is nearby and they hatch out right away to get a blood meal. I have had realtors call me in the past stating that they showed a house that had been vacant for months and before they left they were covered with fleas. A trick I had often suggested was to lay a boom box (if there is still such a thing) face down on the floor and turn the volume up so the vibration will signal there is a host and cause them to hatch out when no one is around. They come in contact with the treatment that was rendered and better control was obtained. You can also place a pan of water with dish detergent in it on the floor just below a night light and see if you have a infestation. If you have pets, you use vinegar instead of dish detergent.

Things to do before treatment:

Vacuum the entire house and put the bag or contents in a plastic bag and throw it away. Vacuuming will remove some adults and eggs and stimulate new adults to hatch out from the pupa state as we mentioned above forcing them in contact with the insecticide residual on the floor. Pick up all items off the floor so a good coverage can be obtained.

Finally call a professional to do the treatment as they have products and the knowledge to apply them in a safe and effective manner.

As always if you need us, give us a call. 904-743-8272

Electronic Billing - The Right Thing To Do

by Matt Bickford

A few months ago we announced a billing policy change that will go into effect in January, 2011 that will impose a $2.00 fee for statements sent via pony express (aka snail mail). The notices we've been including with billing statements offer incentives for early adopters to alternative electronic billing methods. We're pleased that positive responses have been overwhelmingly more plentiful than calls from customers unhappy with this policy change, but we are concerned about the nature of some of the complaints. It's my hope that this post will clear up some concerns for some readers that may still be curious about the reasons for the change.

Going Green When John F. Sessions started Bug Out in 1963, he established the foundation on which our culture of conscientious applicators stands tall. Although the term "Green" as it's used today to indicate environmentally sound practices wasn't likely used in the mid-late 60's, I'm fairly certain that they referred to it by what they knew it to be at the time, "common sense".

Fast forward to an age of unprecedented electronic access to collective intelligence when anyone can be an expert on anything in as little as a 3 seconds after a Google search, and a policy that effectively reduces the amount of paper that a business consumes is just plain common sense. It's the right thing to do.

That understood, it's certainly not the only good business reason for the deployment of such an initiative, nor is it necessarily the top reason considering that paper is a replenishable resource. (It comes from trees - I Googled it)

Stabilization Of Revenue Uh oh, now you're going to get all biznezzy on us, Mr. Bloggerman! Well ok, maybe a little. Decades of empirical data collected internally has revealed that clients with accounts set up to auto-pay electronically stay on the books longer and maintain a healthier payment history on average compared to accounts that do not.

Why is that, smarty pants? What are you implying? I'm glad you asked! It's not because people that pay their bills from a traditional invoice received by mail are a bunch of deadbeats. On the contrary, we know full well that our clients are hard-working, very busy people. We're in your homes and at your workplaces, believe me--we know you. We understand fully that the pest control bill is just another piece of paper in the stack. Therefore, offering a payment method that makes your lives just a little bit simpler is another example of an act of common sense. It's the right thing to do.

Offer? You're making me do it! How's that an offer? You got me there. Yes, we're nudging our clients just a bit knowing full well that a very small number of you will unfortunately choose to take your business elsewhere. Considering that the technologies that enable the safe and secure digital transfer of money were proven and available to consumers and businesses well over 2 decades ago, this change is well past due. We like to think that the delinquency is because we opted to observe trends and monitor the marketplace for acceptance and adoption before we decided to "nudge", but it's just as possible that like you, we've just been very busy.

Preservation of Capital Aha! Now we're getting to it! You profit monger, you! Vilification of for-profit organizations is a common practice in the media today. Some of it is even justifiable. There have been, currently are and always will be some bad companies out there, but profit itself is not evil, it's why businesses exist and it's probably why you're employed. That understood, profit has little to nothing to do with this new billing policy. It does relate directly to operating capital, however.

During periods of economic recession, good companies, much like the average family, must exercise creativity and maybe even eat a Spam sandwich or two in order to survive. Many companies take the "easy route" by raising prices or adding fuel surcharges to their invoices, which makes about as much sense as a government-imposed tax increase on its citizens to combat a bad economy. Some companies reduce employee benefits and maybe even reduce the number of employees. No matter what tactics are utilized, survival during tougher economic times is a challenging fiscal gladiatorial bout. Ultimately the market is the Ceasar that will deliver the live or die thumb up or thumb down. That's business.

For many years Bug Out Service has invoiced its clients by mail as a courtesy at no additional charge. The ever rising costs of this practice compared to the growing level of acceptance of electronic payment methods by the market we serve make this expense impossible to ignore. We estimate that annual savings could top 6 digits and have already realized savings of thousands of dollars per month in the form of current-customer conversions to electronic billing.

This cash is operating capital that is being used to continue to provide the high quality of service that our clients have grown accustomed to and rightfully expect. It's money that we've been able to secure during an economic period when our expenses are growing at a rate exceeding that of our rate of growth, and we did it without raising prices. It was and is the right thing to do.

"Pony Express" photo by Cotaroba and "Cash Photo" by AMagill are used herein under the guidelines of the Creative Commons Attribution License