Roach vs. Bug man-Pest Control Ocala Part 1

Posted on June 8, 2010 by The Bug Doctor

Both of my sons have achieved so much in life already and I couldn’t be any prouder. (I have the gray hair to prove it 🙂
Besides being an intranet guru and accomplished airplane pilot and radio star my oldest, (Jason) is a great pest control technician and salesman. Jared or ‘The Beast’ as he’s called on the football field is quite the drummer and writer. (huh not sure who’s side he gets that from) Jared too is embarking on the wonderful world of pest control service and will be working with me all summer long and he’s already doing very well so I’m very excited.
Continue reading →

Posted in Choosing a pest control company | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Is it Ok if I fire a customer?

Posted on June 7, 2010 by The Bug Doctor

I’ve read a lot of books on how to build your business and I’ve got a ton of formulas in my head and some I use as I struggle along the mean streets of entrepreneurship. Some are great and so easy to employ but the ones I always throw out are the cut throat schemes that are mean spirited against the competition. Call me crazy but I don’t have to say company xyz sucks to get a sale. Something I don’t read a whole lot but really need to utilize more is not about how to get potential customers to fire the competition and hire me but actually how I should fire some of my customers.
Continue reading →

Posted in In my opinion, The Business Of Pest Control | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Journey under the slab

Posted on June 5, 2010 by The Bug Doctor

Ever wonder how it is that termites can pop up in the middle of your home? I mean, they’re blind, shun light and can only feel their way along so how can they find any wood at all to eat in which to survive? It seems impossible but termites don’t know that. They do more damage than storms and fires combined every year and I can only imagine what the devastation would be if they were not hindered by their limitations.
Continue reading →

Posted in Termites | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

The Achilles Heel of the House Mouse & Guaranteed Results

Posted on May 29, 2010 by The Bug Doctor

As with any pest knowledge is the key to complete control and this can be very helpful with mice. Generally speaking mice are very athletic, have excellent sense of smell, hearing and touch. The reaction time of a house mouse can frustrate even the best of trappers as they quite often escape a snap traps jaws that close shut in less than 1/38 thousands of a second. Many a home owner have laid out multiple traps, glue boards and rodent baits only to be discouraged by the ongoing struggle with the mouse. Knowing this creatures weakness will improve your chances a great deal in ridding your home of this persistent escape artist. I’ll give you a clue, it’s all in the whiskers.
Continue reading →

Posted in Rats and Mice | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Bug Doctor Minute; Voids to AVOID when dusting

Posted on May 27, 2010 by The Bug Doctor

The other day I was called out to a regular client for ‘inch worms’ that really just turned out to be Indian meal moths. That was fine, this happens a lot but while I was there we decided to do her regular service which she was due for in about a week. The tech who normally runs the area is a fine man and does a great job but my customer did have one request. She asked if we not dust the around the kitchen anymore because she constantly has to clean up the white powder whenever we do. This of course alarmed me and I wanted to get to the bottom of this quickly to make sure we did not continue this for her or any other customer. What I found was a common mistake that can be avoided in just few seconds with a flashlight and being willing to poke your nose into a cabinet. I invite you to watch this short presentation and see first hand what this customer experienced and maybe the tips and information will keep you from making the same mistake.
Continue reading →

Posted in Safety | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Single Operator Setbacks And Keeping The Faith

Posted on May 26, 2010 by The Bug Doctor

It can be lonely out there on your own and you find yourself dreaming of that day when you send your 5th truck out for the days run and you head back inside your cozy office. Diane is on the phone diligently scheduling your routes a week ahead of time and Renee is entering yesterdays receipts. You fill your stainless steel mug up with coffee and head out to the shop for a bit of inventory and some B&G repairs. You pass by the meeting room and you take a look at the production board and you see Tom is on fire with a $5000.00 week and Deb had a $1200 dollar sale which was the envy of the office. The rest of the boys might need to step it up but all in all you’re satisfied with the month so far and for a brief moment you have a sense of real accomplishment flow through your mind like a warm gentle wind.

Is this your dream? It should be and don’t let anyone tell you you’re wasting your time thinking this way. Don’t allow anyone to sell you short and hinder you from making this dream a reality.

If you’re interested you can read my story of how I started my company and you’ll see I am just like you. I had advantages that others haven’t (mainly my wife) but I shared a lot of the disadvantages too. This isn’t meant to be an exhaustive article on every set back, just some common ones and if you get anything from this writing I hope it will be inspiration or comfort in the fact that you realize you are not alone.
Continue reading →

Posted in In my opinion, The Business Of Pest Control | Tagged , , , | 13 Comments

Drilling for termites and avoiding disaster

Posted on May 25, 2010 by The Bug Doctor

A couple years ago here in Florida a termite technician was badly injured while drilling a back porch slab for termites. It wasn’t that the drill bound up and clocked him a good one or a piece of concrete flying up and hitting him in the face. No, this poor guy just happened to drill into an explosive line charge and the explosion was instantaneous. It turns out the community was built on an old military training ground and the happy contractors just poured their cement right on top of a lot of old ordinance. Termite technicians drilling into explosives is kind of rare but still, there are some land mines (of sorts) we should watch out for on every single job or the results could be just as devastating.
Continue reading →

Posted in Termites | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

Bug Doctor Minute; Tubes in the slab

Posted on May 24, 2010 by The Bug Doctor

Along the lines of building a better mouse trap termite technicians have been waiting for a new approach to termite control for quite some time. With advent of Termidor and other non-repellants the way of the hammer drill and messy termite work has been going by the wayside at breakneck speed. In years gone by there were only one or two choices when it came to termite control but now the savvy technician has many in which to choose from and each one can give him an advantage in the particular situation he’s faced with or help him overcome certain obstacles cleanly and efficiently.
Continue reading →

Posted in Termites | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Dreaded Drywood Termite And His Evil Twin

Posted on May 22, 2010 by The Bug Doctor

The first thought that many people get when they’re told they have termites is one of a large tent going over their house and fumigation. For the most part this type of service is done not for the common subterranean termite but for the drywood variety and or wood borers that eat and live in the wood. Not so long ago this was the most effective way of eradicating these types of wood destroying pests but great strides have been made and more localized treatments can be done in a much less invasive way.

The drywood termite is different than the subterranean in several ways but it’s primarily because that it lives inside the wood it eats, subs live in the soil. The colony size is almost always smaller and centralized in a single stud, piece of furniture or area of a wall whereas the subterranean is often more spread out. Drywood termites also have very few if any soldiers in the colony as they are more protected by their surroundings and they do not, as the name suggests require as much moisture as it’s relative. Still, they are wood destroying insects and left unchecked they can get quite large in numbers and it is very common to have more than a few separate colonies in a structure all doing damage at the same time.
Continue reading →

Posted in Termites | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

My Job Is To Know What It Isn’t, Not What It Is

Posted on May 21, 2010 by The Bug Doctor

What would you think of me if I told you I didn’t know every single wood infesting bug that is out there or that may be in your home? Would you think of me as unqualified to service your home or inspect for termites? I’m sure (well I hope anyway) you’d say “oh no one knows it all and there are way too many bugs for that.” In reality people expect termite inspectors to know the bugs that could eat their investment and rightfully so. I feel confident in saying that most inspectors can and do identify what is considered a wdo (wood destroying organism) however, termite inspectors are not mandated to know every insect or circumstance in which a non wdo is found in the wood of your structure and that is where customers can become disillusioned with their inspection results.
Continue reading →

Posted in Termites | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Carpenter ants

Posted on May 20, 2010 by The Bug Doctor

It’s a shame that where I live now we really don’t have a huge carpenter ant problem. Not to say that we don’t have them around, we do and at times a home in the south east can be over run. In Florida however the carpenter ant is not as destructive nor as much of a challenge as they can be in the more northern states. Most of my work and experience for this ant came from Maryland and on the Pacific west coast.

Carpenter ants are some of the largest we have to deal with and their complex colony structure can frustrate a homeowner who thinks that they have found and destroyed THE nest only to be disappointed when the activity resumes or never goes away. To rid a structure of this wood destroying insect you’ll need to be armed with the knowledge of how they operate and what their needs are or you may be in for a long losing battle.
Continue reading →

Posted in Ants | Tagged , , , , , | 19 Comments

The Bug Doctor minute; Follow the fecal matter

Posted on May 19, 2010 by The Bug Doctor

German roaches are sneaky and can hide in some of the oddest places. Over the years I’ve searched high and low and found them hiding in spots like coffee makers, knife blocks, microwave ovens, clocks, light switches, curtain rods, boxes, flower baskets, the brown paper bags people famously fold up and store between the refrigerator and the kitchen cabinet and even in my spray equipment. This roach is what we call ‘thigmotropic’ which basically means they like to be touching on all sides. So when they are at rest they feel best in the tightest of cracks or crevices and seek out just such a site in which to call home. This spot is not exclusive to just one roach, if one finds it stimulating others will as well and many roaches will be attracted to the same place and bada boom bada bing, you have a roach nest.
Continue reading →

Posted in Roaches | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Everything you wanted to know about the brown recluse but were afraid to ask

Posted on May 18, 2010 by The Bug Doctor

In the spider-web of facts, many a truth is strangled.”
Paul Eldridge

The brown recluse spider is indeed something to be wary of and treated with respect. The wounds that can result from this arachnids venom is something that often does last a lifetime in the form of horrid memories, lasting fears and visible scars. In reality however, the recluse bite is more often misdiagnosed by physicians, mis-reported by the media, mistaken by the public and over hyped on the world wide web.

The brown recluse is indeed a hearty species that can go up to 6 months without out food or water, it can survive harsh conditions such as cold basements in the winter or the blistering heat of the attic in the summer. This spider is also transported quite often out of its region in moving vans or deliveries hidden away in a box or piece of furniture. So with all this going for it one would assume that the thousands of reports, sightings and diagnoses would have merit and that the sometimes wide spread panic is based on cold hard facts. The ‘facts’ however do not bear this out.
Continue reading →

Posted in Spiders | Tagged , , , , , | 16 Comments

My 25th Anniversary With My Wife & Mrs. Adams

Posted on May 17, 2010 by The Bug Doctor

It’s hard to imagine that I’ve been doing anything for 25 years but in a little less than a month I’ll hit that wonderful milestone with the greatest woman God has put on this earth. About the same time, I’ll have another anniversary pass that brings back fond memories and is just one more reason why I love my job so much.

In my early route running days I had the area that surrounded Memorial stadium where the then ‘contending’ Baltimore Orioles played. It was as if the stadium was the center of the universe and on each side was a whole different planet. The main street ran circular, directly around the structure and then others fractioned off into their own little galaxies. There was the upscale homes and those of privilege that lived just past 2nd base and the out field- rounding third base were the hard working middle class. This area came complete with its own version of a ‘Cheers’ type bar and many thriving but small businesses. As you got to home plate you found those who were struggling and by the time you came to first base you couldn’t believe that such a diverse population lived oh so close. Mrs. Adams lived near 1st base.
Continue reading →

Posted in Tales from the route | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

How do german roaches get so out of control?

Posted on May 14, 2010 by The Bug Doctor

Almost everyday is an adventure for a pest control technician. With each stop of the day the chances are they’ll see something outrageously funny, strange, amazing, peculiar or positively gross and then it’s off to the next client to see what that will bring. You never know really when and where you’ll be treated to such things and for the most part it is the accounts that you wouldn’t expect at all. People are so diverse and lifestyles may be at polar opposites even for next door neighbors.

When it comes to roaches people have a wide variety of tolerances and depending on when that threshold is crossed is when they’ll finally call in a pro for help. It’s amazing to me the infestation levels I see and I often wonder how people could let a problem go so long or did the pest population just sneak up on them and then seemingly explode overnight? German roach jobs can be a nightmare in homes or restaurants once a certain level is reached. Certainly you’ll kill a zillion of them but there will always be a number of them that survive and your follow up treatments have to be just as intense as the initial clean out or you’ll never get the population down to zero.
Continue reading →

Posted in Roaches | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments