Ground Wasps

The little black wasps that hover close to the ground are back. I watched a person walking down the street near a field look over and realize these ground bees were hovering around and he went crazy. flapping and running like the world was ending. Fact is they are not that aggressive and usually leave you alone. They are around for a short time, then they are gone. If you feel the need to treat them a simple garden spray will do.

Bird Mite Panic

Bird mites become a nightmare when home owners find a bird nest in a vent or under an air conditioner and they remove it, only to find these tiny bird mites all over that suddenly start biting anything in their path. In a previous post of mine entitled, what else, Bird Mites, there is a link at the end of the post that gives a level headed insight into the bird mite and shows us that although pesky, can be controlled without bombing your house with fumigants. Some have asked about products that can be bought to help in the crusade in getting rid of them. Sterifab would be a good product that you can find at an online pest control products store and a professional product that is sold is Talstar that is a miticide on the label. If you think you need to spray I would recommend calling a professional. Mixing and using professional chemicals can be dangerous and caution always must be used. Having said all this, you can rest assured, bird mites can be controlled and eliminated by using your head and not your heart.

A better mouse trap

Is there really a better mouse trap out there? Can mice ever be stopped? We can do our best to exclude them from our living space and when they do invade, we can do our best to get rid of them. Electronic mouse repellers only work for a short time if at all, all the others take patience and brain power. If you have a mouse problem the best advice is to buy an arsenal of mouse control products and throw everything at them. Don't be greedy. Buy alot of product and use it all. Don't be afraid of over kill. Use snap traps, glue traps, baits, mechanical traps. Use caution also. If children or pets are present. Be very careful. You'll never catch all the mice in your house with three snaps traps set under your sink. Go to town and happy hunting.

Roach traps

As nasty as roaches are, they are one of the easiest pests to control in my opinion because of the great arsenal of products available for their control. Baits, sprays, glue boards, and pheromone traps. Victor has a great trap that attracts roaches using a sex pheromone that can be used effectively as a monitoring tool to see how a control program is going, or for use in extremely sensitive situation to knock down the population. With pheromone traps and a good IGR like gentrol, you can rid a site of their roach problem. Be sure to stress the word patience in this case. Happy hunting.

Big ground bees

Big ground bees around this time of the year (late July and August) could usually be identified as cicada killer wasps. These "big bees" are solitary ground bees that dig a hole in the ground, leaving a pile of sandy like earth outside the hole. This hole is where the wasp will place a paralyzed cicada and lay it's egg in the paralyzed body. So how do you get rid of these mad scientist bees? Well, usually if then bee is not in an area that disturbs you then it is best to leave them alone. They are not aggressive bees. If they are in an area you frequent then you will want to treat the entrance hole. This is best done with a good professional grade insecticide dust. It should be done at night when the bees are not flying around. It should be done very carefully. Be sure to wear long sleeves and pants, eye goggles, gloves. Approach with an escape route in mind. If you are nervous you can purchase a tool that allows you to dust the hole from a far distance called a bee pole. These professional products will need to be bought online at a good do it yourself pest control products website or an over the counter pest control supply store or distributor. Be careful and good luck.

Get rid of fleas

Getting rid of fleas doesn't have to be a secret, in fact, flea control is one of the easiest things to do in the pest control business, it just takes a detailed person. Begin with picking a day to do the treatment. On this day you, your family, and any pets will need to be gone for at least a few hours if not more. On the day of the treatment arrange for your pet to be taken to the vet to be dipped and treated with a product like front line. Now it is time to vacuum like there is no tomorrow. From the top of the house to the basement. Vacuum under beds, under furniture, every nook and cranny. Vacuum on top of cushions, on top of sofas, stairs, all over. When you are done vacuuming then take the bag out and throw it away outside in the trash. This is a must. Next is the treatment. The treatment will be slightly different if you have a cat or a dog. Cats get up on the top of cabinets or might like to sleep up on window sills, where dogs usually won't go much higher than the sofa or the bed. This is why if you are dealing with cats you will need to fog. Both animals will require a good carpet spray. The spray you buy will need to have both and adulticide and an insect growth regulator in it like precor or nylar. Spray as directed paying close attention to areas your pets frequent more often. Spray the stairs heavy and if your cat jumps down off of the bed or other furniture pieces then spray the carpet in this area a little more as the flea eggs will fall off during these jumps. Now if you are dealing with a dog your job is complete. If you have a cat then you will want to fog. Use foggers with both adulticide and an insect growth regulator. Be sure to extinguish all open flames when fogging. I used to request that customers shut off the main gas valve which would automatically extinguish any flames. Be sure to contact your local utility company. Use the foggers as directed. Any of these products can be found online at a do it yourself pest control products website or a local hardware store. If you have a back yard then you should spray that as well with a good outside spray labelled for fleas. When you return be sure the carpets are dry and crack the windows to ventilate. Good luck.