Can your spray prevent carpenter bees?

Posted on April 5, 2010 by The Bug Doctor

There are some who use the strategy of preventive spraying on eaves or exposed wood that carpenter bees may infest. I think if it were that easy everyone would be doing it and this would not be such a hot topic. Every springtime we are reminded of just how difficult it can be to treat carpenter bees and for those who spray just before they emerge hoping to prevent them, well they scratch their heads as the bees seem to gnaw right through their chemical barrier. There are some effective wood treatment products that in theory should work but will they actually kill the damaging carpenter bee before it becomes a big problem?
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Posted in Bees and wasps | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments

Now is the winter of our discontent

Posted on April 3, 2010 by The Bug Doctor

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” is a quote that we’re all pretty familiar with but do you know how the rest of it goes?

it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity; it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness; it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair; we had everything before us, we had nothing before us; we were all going directly to Heaven, we were all going the other way.”
Charles Dickens

You ever notice how smart people sound when they’re quoting other peoples brilliance–let’s move on before you realize I’m in that category.
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Ninja exterminator-The movie

Posted on April 2, 2010 by The Bug Doctor

Not to long ago I wrote an article Ninja exterminator-what kind of customer are you? I was surprised how many people clicked on that story and still do today. I think I may have found out just how they came to find my writing.

In my never ending quest to find and bring you great information on pest control and some of life’s humorous side I came across this video. Youtube was filled with ninja exterminator movies and I was surprised to see that. Thinking about it I am also surprised at the many key words people search by. I mean how often do the words ‘ninja and exterminator’ make a pairing? I can see the words ‘mouse and poop’ or termite and damage but what must be going through the mind to come up with such an odd couple of words in the same breath? Ninja and exterminator? Makes no sense but obviously I’m grouping myself in with this same group of odd thinking people since I wrote the article and found the video. Hey, that doesn’t sound too good for me—-
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How to extend your duster-size does matter

Posted on April 1, 2010 by The Bug Doctor

I love dusting for pest control and do some on almost every single job, even the mundane routine ones that haven’t had a bug in years. (maybe that’s why they haven’t) Dusts not only have great knock down and a fantastic residual they can also present a physical barrier that most bugs don’t want to cross if they detect it. Dusting takes practice and trust to get real good at and while the industry has so many great dusting tools out there it’s hard to carry all that inside. I’d like to share a tip that I’ve used for years that will increase your reach with the simple puff duster so you can dust out of the way places, get around corners and prevent a big problem that we’ve all dealt with which is blow back.
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I do termite work!

Posted on March 31, 2010 by The Bug Doctor

One of the most frustrating feelings in my work is walking up to the front door of a long standing customer and seeing drill marks in the slab, that I didn’t put there! I have to admit each time I see it I have to take a minute before I ring that bell and I look. look again, scratch my head and just wonder why they got a termite job from someone else not me? It’s not like my trucks say ‘Just pest control’ and my goodness if I say it once to a client I say it 1000 times. “We do termite work as well!”

Part of me wants to ask the customer why they chose somebody else but I hardly ever do right then and there, it’s been done already and I really don’t want an awkward situation for something I can’t change. That doesn’t mean I don’t find out because by law a sticker needs to be posted when a treatment is performed on something permanent in the home and most companies around here put theirs on the electrical panel or hot water heater. Later on or the next time I see them I might just bring it up and I almost always get the same response. “I didn’t know you did termite work” they exclaim with a surprised look.
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Getting rid of bird mites

Posted on March 30, 2010 by The Bug Doctor

Ask any exterminator how to get rid of bird mites and they’ll give you some pretty good advice. “Get rid of the nest and you get rid of the mites.” Well I’m happy to say that this can and does work if you catch it quick enough and you indeed only have one source or nest. While some report bird mites can feed on humans the truth is they’ll only last a few weeks without a bird as a host but they do bite and it is very irritating. The itching and redness can last for weeks and most who are bitten have a feeling of invisible crawling things on them which would drive anybody mad after awhile.
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Run of “The Mill” pest control final thoughts

Posted on March 29, 2010 by The Bug Doctor

Sometimes in the middle of a big job you just don’t realize how much energy you’ve expended until you get a tiny break in the action and you wish more than anything you could sit for a minute and recoup a bit. I didn’t have that luxury as we headed towards the bank of the river but I didn’t want to show any signs of fatigue with my trainer even if he never again would be with me on this account.

This is the last chapter specifically on ‘the mill’, one of my earliest commercial accounts so you might want to read chapter one and two for more of what I consider one of my most memorable days in pest control. I’m sure I’ll reference it from time to time but also I’d love to hear from any pros out there about similar days that I just know are not unique to me.
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Termites coming-help is on it’s way ‘twice’

Posted on March 28, 2010 by The Bug Doctor

It’s great to see camaraderie in any endeavor in life especially if it involves two competitors. In the bug industry one thing you learn quickly is how to spot competitors trucks on the road. The second thing you learn is who is friendly and will wave and who is not so nice and they conveniently look away just at the moment you pass. I realize we’re in a competitive business and we all want to get the sale but we all share so many unique experiences that you would think we’d all want to stick together even if we lose an occasional client or two.
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Why don’t pest control companies charge a trip fee?

Posted on March 27, 2010 by The Bug Doctor

If you own a home you are no doubt aware of the dreaded ‘trip fees’ that are tacked onto any service bill you get. The A/C man comes out and puts a 1/2 pound of coolant in your system and hands you a receipt for $112.00, $35 of which was just for him to show up sometime between 8 am and 5 pm.(that is a skill I’ve never mastered so it seems worth it) The well repair company comes on a Sunday because you are without water and for that privilege you pay an extra $75. Don’t get me started on plumbers who charge for the time to just travel to your house and you see them sitting in the truck at the end of the street just chatting away on the phone. arrrgh! We recently got some estimates for a pond to be installed and you guessed it-$65.00 just to have the guy come out and tell me how much he’s going to charge me if he indeed gets the work. You may think by this intro that I’m against paying these fees but I do think this is fair and have no problem with it (except the plumber) but it makes me wonder why pest control companies don’t charge for a trip fee.
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3 misconceptions about tubes in the wall pest control

Posted on March 26, 2010 by The Bug Doctor

This may be my last report on tubes in the wall pest control systems and if I do not post any article tomorrow you’ll know that the tubes police have finally found me and I have been silenced. The danger level in getting this information is quite high and just to upload my pictures of this super secret delivery mechanism I have to route them through servers in Istanbul where they currently have no operatives. The tubes pest control method has long been shrouded in secrecy and vehement managers take to the streets whenever there is a report of unauthorized use. Confusion is an ally to the tube installer monopoly and they will go to great lengths to keep competitors in the dark about it’s use and how it’s set up. Hence there are misconceptions, theories and folklore in the absence of truth and by controlling the available information, they can control you, the rogue operator who dares to provide this service.

click on pics to enlarge

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Run of ‘The Mill’ pest control Part Two

Posted on March 25, 2010 by The Bug Doctor

It’s not everyday that you get to ride a conveyor belt straight up through the ceiling with nothing but a small handle to hang onto and a tiny metal step not big enough for your entire foot but there I was going upward through the layers of this huge facility. If your new to my blog first let me say “Welcome and Thanks for reading.” You caught me in the middle of some pest control route stories and to get the full gist you’ll want to click over to part one and then a lot of this will make sense. (that is if I did my job right)
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Run of ‘The Mill’ pest control Part one

Posted on March 24, 2010 by The Bug Doctor

I was so very fortunate early in my career to have an account that taught me aspects of pest control that some techs don’t get to see for years if they do at all. This one account taught me bird control, no baiting rodent service, grain fumigation, grain pest identification as well sanitation practices, dealing with government inspectors and proper communication. Keep in mind I was still a residential service person wet behind the ears when this account was shifted over to my route. I remember pulling into the parking lot the first and only day I was to train with the guy who had been doing it. There before us was this huge old time building that seemed to have 1000 windows and with it 5 or six even taller silos that stood like large castle towers. A river ran just behind it and the banks were covered with large jagged rocks. My trainer for the day looked at me and said with a hint of sarcasm, “You’re gonna have fun with this one.”
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The Norwegian roof rat

Posted on March 23, 2010 by The Bug Doctor

One great thing about being is pest control is the many different things you get to see on a daily basis. From outright disgusting filth and a legion of roaches to an 11,000 square foot mansion on the water all in the space of an hour. It was told to me early in my career that the day of a pest tech goes by so quickly because you zip from one account to another and see so many varying things. So true that was and it hasn’t changed even some 25 years later. Sight however is not the only thing that tingles a bug guys senses during the day and sometimes what you hear can be just as amazing. Now I’m not talking about bug sounds per se but rather some of the astonishing things I hear from customers that either gets me scratching my head or just plain laughing out loud. The following is a list of some funny or off the wall things that I’ve heard over the years. Some you’ll need to pronounce phonetically and some I still don’t get so I won’t even try to explain. I’d love to hear some of the things you’ve heard too so make sure to throw in one or two in the comment section below. 🙂
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Did Termidor ruin the industry and can it survive it’s 10th anniversary?

Posted on March 22, 2010 by The Bug Doctor

For those of you that have been in the termite industry for 15 years or more this may be a subject with which you’ve wrestled with. You see back then a ‘spot treatment’ for subterranean termites or even drywoods for that matter were reserved for complaint calls. Swarmers would pop out of a corner in the basement or from a bay window and the techs would only treat that area rather than doing another full blown job. You wouldn’t think of doing just this small an area for the original treatment because it wouldn’t even take the termites 24 hours to get around your chemical and start munching away on another part of the house. Termite techs used the term full drill to indicate they had slabs, block and veneers that all had to be drilled out in order to put their chemical shields in place. I hated full drill jobs especially basements because not only were you a termite tech, you were also a professional furniture mover. Ugh!
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Posted in Termites | Tagged , , , , | 11 Comments

How to get moisture out of your cell phone & kill beetles at the same time

Posted on March 20, 2010 by The Bug Doctor

Like any good writer I like to research my topic and also draw on things I’ve seen at clients homes over the years. But since no home is immune to pests, sometimes my research is right there in my own kitchen which drives my wife crazy.
Click on the pictures to enlarge;
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Posted in Pantry Pests/Grain Moths and Beetles | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments