Are insects spiteful-Why do bugs keep coming back?

Posted on July 14, 2010 by The Bug Doctor

I’m not a huge conspiracy nut but I do think there are times when things just sort of line up in a way that’s beyond coincidental. Like the time I held onto my favorite right handed mitten for 2 or 3 years as a kid and when I finally threw it away I found my left one I had lost. Then there are all those girls ( Ok only 3) who gave me all those flirtatious signs and would giggle when I walked by them in the halls only to shoot me down when I finally worked up enough nerve to ask them to the dance. No, I’m not a person who gives in easily to the thought of secret schemes planned just for my torment but being in the pest elimination business, I wonder, are insects spiteful?
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Posted in Pest proofing series | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Tip and spill pesticides

Posted on July 12, 2010 by The Bug Doctor

For such a precision tool oriented industry I’m surprised that we have such sloppy dispensers and application equipment. Not all of it mind you but there are a few things that simply drive me nuts. I tend to be bit on the ‘clean freak’ side of service and besides things like a rodent station or occasional sticky trap that can’t be totally concealed I want my service to be invisible, neat and put down as precisely as I can.
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Wdo inspections are not a sales lead

Posted on July 10, 2010 by The Bug Doctor

I realize that many pest control operators have a dim view on quick inspections. I read and hear their comments on forums, at continuing education meetings or in magazines. I agree that $25.00 inspections lead to problems but even if you’re charging $250.00 and all you’re treating the wdo as is a sales lead then you are just as guilty as the quick hitter-it’s just that you’re getting a bigger price. I rarely sell a job at a wdo (on the spot). My job is to search for wood destroying organisms, that’s it. Do I give a price? Sure and a graph as well but a wdo inspection is not a lead as we traditionally think of. The homeowner didn’t invite you out for a price, in fact it’s almost always the BUYER who selects you and you work on their behalf and unless they have the buying power just who are you going to sell your service to?
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Posted in Termites | Tagged , , , , , | 9 Comments

The picture perfect day and your comments

Posted on July 9, 2010 by The Bug Doctor

I thought I’d try something different and see how it went. Each day is an adventure for me and that is the main reason I love my job. The following is a pictorial view of my day and rather than my comments on the situation I’d like to hear yours. I may add the situation to help you envision the scene but I’d like to know, what would you say to the customer if you were me?
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Posted in Tales from the route | Tagged , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Bug Doctor Minute;The Pest Magnet In Your Yard

Posted on July 8, 2010 by The Bug Doctor

Fruit tress are a treasure to most people and there’s nothing like just picked mulberries on your cereal or freshly squeezed orange juice in the morning. In Florida citrus trees are just about everywhere and it’s not uncommon for my customers to have many fruit bearing trees giving them fresh fruit right from their own yard. Of late the coldest winters on record has really taken it’s toll and many trees have died or been damaged in the longer than normal freezes. This has caused the the citrus fruit to go bad and made it inedible but no one has told the many pests that also feed on it yet. Much of the now sour food is still on the tree or sitting on the ground rotting away and this is bringing pests like rats, gnats, ants, roaches and med flies in by the hordes. We often get calls for pesky gnats or pests and find this abandoned fruit to be the source.
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Making complex wdo inspections simple

Posted on July 7, 2010 by The Bug Doctor

Recently I sent one of my techs out on a wdo (wood destroying organism) inspection and I was amazed that it took him well over 2 hours to perform. Normally I do all the inspections for my company because of the liability but this was a repo home so there were no issues of pesky homeowners, curious and paranoid buyers and the lock box gave him free access to fit it into his day wherever it would work best. When I asked him later why it took so long he simply said there was a lot to look at. Now, I know my town pretty good and the address wasn’t one that put it in an area of large homes, in fact this neighborhood has only older smaller homes but I took him at his word and went about my day. It wasn’t until a week later when we got approval to treat the termites he found that I actually saw the home and now I was really perplexed because it only took me about an hour to actually treat the house for termites so I couldn’t imagine why it took so long to inspect it.
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Posted in Termites | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Government stimulus and pests

Posted on July 6, 2010 by The Bug Doctor

The pest control industry has no worries, we no longer need to spend money on lobbyists attend strategy meetings or ask for P.A.C. (political action committee) money because we have a life long friend in the White House. Yes President Barrack Obama himself has joined the pest control world and billions in stimulus money should be coming our way any time now. Hey the government has allocated some serious bucks our way.

Here’s just a few things that relate directly to the pest control industry;
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Posted in In my opinion | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Throwing the bees out with the bath water

Posted on July 5, 2010 by The Bug Doctor

In our never ending quest to find reliable and effective ways to control insects pestcemetery.com invites all pest control professionals to give their insights that only their training and experience can provide. I’m thrilled to hear from these great men and women and love to learn the new things they bring to the table and techniques I have never heard of.

I put the invitation out here many times and on my facebook group pestcemetery.com (you should join) and today we have a nice little tip that demonstrates how to take down a bees nest without using any traditional pesticides at all.

Dan Atkins is a supervisor for Johnston’s Pest Solutions in Tucson Arizona and has pest control experience dating back to 1992. Dan posted a picture of a rather large bees nest on our groups wall and while the picture was impressive enough, so too was the way in which he handled it for his customer. Here is the discussion and Dans ‘tech tip.’
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Posted in Bees and wasps | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

How To Avoid Paper Wasp Stings- No Fooling

Posted on July 3, 2010 by The Bug Doctor

I see about 15 to 20 paper wasps nests per day and it is part of my service to make sure they are treated and taken care before I leave my accounts. Now I could use wasp freeze to instantly zap them but at about $17.00 a can and just the time it takes to run back to the truck to grab it, I’d rather just hit them as I go.

Paper wasps for the most part are not a big threat of swarming you but if you do it wrong or get to close you can get stung a few times and it hurts. If you’re allergic or at all unsure you should just leave them alone and let a pro handle it. There are however a couple ways to go about treating these nests with just your regular sprayer without getting stung.
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Top 3 reasons you have earwigs & the 7 links to get rid of them

Posted on July 2, 2010 by The Bug Doctor

I get tons of e-mails on the subject of earwigs and the comment sections at the bottom of all my articles are chock full of people asking advice or explaining their dilemmas with this pincer beast. So many people are perplexed as to why they have earwigs showing up inside their homes and how everything they try seems to be ineffective. In my business I’m paid to solve problems but so many of the fixes I come up with involve little or no chemicals at all. With earwigs it is often the case that just a few modifications will dramatically reduce this demon from hells, (not my words but an e-mailers) presence that you too, may just need a little spray job rather than the 100 gallon all out assault you were planning on. The top 3 reasons are;
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Posted in Earwigs | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

It’s Not Always Spray First When It Comes To Acrobatic Ants

Posted on July 1, 2010 by The Bug Doctor

Ants can be a tough critter to control and truthfully who wants to just control them when they’re scurrying all over your kitchen counter tops? Most of us reach for the spray and hose em down like we were putting out a fire and boy that does feel real good. The problem however is that you’re really only whacking such a small percentage and the resilient ant colony simply reroutes around your barrier and shows up sometime later which is much to your dismay.
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Carpenter Ants For Sale In Florida

Posted on June 30, 2010 by The Bug Doctor

What would you think if I did a termite inspection for you on a home you’re buying and I neglected to tell you about the thousands of carpenter ants I found in your attic? I think you’d be pretty mad and perhaps want you’re money back right? Well, if you lived in Oregon or Maryland or almost any other state you’d have a case. In Florida however, termite inspections don’t include these insects with the very descriptive name and I could have them literally crawling up my leg and I wouldn’t have to say a thing.
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Posted in Ants | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Why hasn’t anyone broken the world record for eating roaches?

Posted on June 29, 2010 by The Bug Doctor

When the Guinness Book of World Records was first conceived I’ll bet the creator had no idea of what a long and sustaining business he’d have. What started out as a way to settle arguments in ‘pubs’ across Britain and Ireland by recording facts and record feats has exploded into a world wide sensation. The ‘book’ itself is also part of its own world record in that it is the most stolen book from libraries and that it is the best selling copyrighted series of all time. It’s been around since 1954 and it seems almost everybody wants to be in the listings and will do just about anything to get in.

This fevered competition covers almost every aspect of life and human activity. Everything from fastest man to egg tossing records are kept in the pages of this coveted ledger but with one record set it seems that someone comes along vying to break it and be in next years addition. Recently on the news here in Florida a little boy set the record for most pairs of underwear put on at once. This hilarious sight of 215 Fruit of the Looms bulging out as wide as a Mooses butt and the kid having to hang onto the adults for balance was pretty funny. His only comment when he was being interviewed is that he was worried someone would come along before the August cut off date and usurp him from his rightful record and they would make the pages of history, not him.
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Posted in In my opinion | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Super tips for pest control in super markets (let’s start servicing them)

Posted on June 28, 2010 by The Bug Doctor

One of the best accounts you can get on your pest control route is a super market. Don’t get me wrong, the job is challenging and the complexity is enormous but there are very few jobs in the commercial pest control route that you will find such trained personnel and get really good cooperation. The staff of todays supermarket stores know more about specific pest control signs and symptoms than almost any other industry I can think of. They also have a chain of command and a reporting system (pest sighting logs & key employees) that in most cases all work to your favor. These attributes also make you more expendable, take proactive steps now to not only guard this valuable account but help you land new ones as well.
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Posted in Spraying around series | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

The Poison In Pest Control

Posted on June 26, 2010 by The Bug Doctor

No ones ever accused me of being a great cinematographer but in my line of work, I’ve been accused of so much worse by far. There is in some people a Pavlovian response in seeing a technician with a sprayer which brings out their worst fears and it is manifested by their words while their body language screams and howls and they recoil as if you were holding a venomous snake. Perhaps it is a defense mechanism or something deeper that my limited understanding of the human psyche cannot understand. The words that are triggered are sharp, cutting and destructive with no regard to who is on the receiving end. 99.9% of the time their ignorance is on full display as outrageous claims are made and bogus fiction filled facts roll off their razor edged tongue.
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