Management Archives - Arizona Pest Control - Pest Management Services

What do you want to know by ProBest Pest Management!

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Earwigs and the real facts:

I remember as a kid watching the Twilight Zone and being freaked out by the Episode 60 where the earwing gets inside somebodies ear. (Not sure this link will work for everybody – Hulu) – I was scared to death with this story. Then came star Trek with that giant weird looking earwig thing being put into Chekov’s ear.

Earwig received its name due to the myth the earwig would crawl into your ear if you slept on the ground.
Those weird looking things on their tail are used as weapons, against smaller insects.They are practically harmless to humans.
Noctural, hunting at night.
Eat both live and dead plant material and insects.
There is no real evidence that they transmit disease or harm humans or animals, despite their nickname pincher bug.
Earwigs also have two penises! Both are larger than it’s body and if it needs the second one just in case one of them snaps off!

What do you want to know by ProBest Pest Management!

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What do you know about daddy-long-leg spiders?

Remember the story about Daddy-Long-legs being extremely venomous. For true daddy-long-legs, the opilionids, the myth is certainly false, and for the daddy-long-legs spiders it is certainly not based on known facts. I found a site that has all the facts UCR Spider Site.
In fact, the Daddy Longlegs is not technically a spider, although it is an arachnid.
They are among the most widely found spiders in any household.
Most spiders mate by use of pedipalps but this one has a penis, which makes it different from spiders.
Though they prefer to live in damp climates, they can survive in deserts as well.
Commonly known as cellar spiders or harvestman.

What do you want to know by ProBest Pest Management!

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A few facts about Dry Rot:

Dry rot is the common name for wood destroying fungus and despite its common name ir will generally attack damp timber.
Dry rot will only affect timber that is damp, typically affecting timber with a moisture content in excess of 20%.
Wood needs 4 things to decay; water, oxygen, food (wood), and favorable temperatures (40F – 015F).
It is essential to understand that water is fundamental to the growth and survival of not only dry rot but all wood destroying fungi; wood decay cannot occur, exist or survive without it!
Not all wood, wood siding, wood decking and wood trim made from cedar, redwood or other species famous for durability are if fact rot or decay resistant . As a side note termites will eat cedar, I’ve seen them in mulch.

You know theres trouble when ….

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This story caught my attention because of the following – “The reports states the inspection was not completed because the “inspector was not feeling safe.” This story is out of Maryland and I was caught off guard when the inspector said he didn’t feel safe because he heard crying noises from a storage area.

I think all restaurants need to have pest control, I check bathrooms before I eat any out at any establishment. If the bathrooms are clean generally speaking so is the kitchen and prep areas. From my point of view we always get that call when it’s an emergency and it has gotten to the point of State Inspections. Now don’t get me wrong there are numerous great restaurants that understand the word -clean. But if you own a restaurant here are a few of my tips.

Cleaning is a daily job, if the employee’s are taught right from the very first day and held accountable it will help.
Set up specific duties on different days to accomplish goals. For example Monday – clean all deep fryers, Tuesday specifically clean under all stoves, pull out heavy items, Wednesday – use Biovade or grease eating scum products to prevent build up – making sure to keep drains full of water and clean, Thursday – clean pantry taking stock of all inventory and making sure to use first in first out premise and Friday – clean anything else specific to that restaurant and no taking off duties on weekends.
Post duties and make sure it gets done.
Management must be just as accountable as employee’s.
Don’t tolerate bad behavior.
Praise staff for cleaning excellence – especially if you pass inspections, I suggest a party after work or free food. If everyone buys in, the place will be clean and draw in more consumers.

Grease traps should be checked and evaluated monthly, along with drains and other areas of spillage.

What do you want to know by ProBest Pest Management!

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What is up with flies and dead things?

The life cycle of flies play an important role in the decomposition of dead bodies and in nature this is how dead animals etc are turned back into soil and nutrients.
It’s not just flies but beetles and other bugs help to turn flesh into soil nutrients.
Blow flies are most often associated with dead things.
Blow flies can find dead flesh within minutes.
A fly maggot mass can reduce the body weight of a dead animal by 50% in a few weeks.
The study of this is called Forensic Entomology and concerns the time and manner of death.

ProBest Pest Management – Pest Control

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Call a Pro… Call the Best. ProBest!

Tagxedo turns words — famous speeches, news articles, slogans and themes, even your love letters — into a visually stunning word cloud, words individually sized appropriately to highlight the frequencies of occurrence within the body of text.

This is what our ProBest homepage looks like and it looks like Professionals is right at the top.

Now that we talked about sanitation, what is the next step?

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On August 25th we did a home seal on Sanitation. We briefly talked about sanitation, but what factors play into cleanliness? How about the age of the building, how about shift work and who is responsible for over all cleaning? The entire staff must understand and management must concur with protocols.

So what if the building was 20 years old, will it differ from something newer? Maybe?
What type of floor does it have, tile, concrete and what about mats?
What about equipment, are there numerous cracks and nooks within?
Is there water present, how about fans and what range of temperatures?

Is this establishment a restaurant? Are there specials conditions?

Is there a bar, how about a buffet?
What kind of seats are available?
What are the operating hours, when must the work be done?

So what if this is your home? Why does sanitation play a role?

If you’ve seen Hoarders you know why? I have seen peanut jelly sandwiches between mattress and box springs, really!
Carpet or tile?
Laundry and who is responsible, depending on ages of children (or that guy that never cleans)?

So that next step might be to go back to the beginning and then make sure everyone knows their job and duties. The job is never-ending. But in the long haul if everyone understands their responsibilities it will be easier to figure out where the pests are coming from and handle the situation before it becomes impossible.

So do you have any other comments or ideas that may help?

What is “Community Emergency Response (CERT) Program”

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The City of Chandler Fire Department’s response was to establish a local Community Emergency Response (CERT) Program as part of the City’s Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) and local homeland security response. Our program is nationally recognized and is one the premier programs in the valley.

The Chandler CERT program’s mission is to ensure that disaster preparedness education and information is made available to the residents of Chandler through training and community outreach programs. Our purpose is to increase the knowledge and preparedness of Chandler’s residents by teaching them how to deal with natural or man-made disasters up to 72 hours or until help arrives to assist them.

So your asking yourself, why is Dr. Bug talking about this group? Well I’m glad you asked. This week I gave them training on “Things that bite or sting, or are just plain creepy”. I applaud a group that thinks outside the box, but as a Firefighter or Volunteer you don’t what to get injured or bring things home with you.

So my hat’s off to them for attending the class and as always I’m here to share what I know about bugs.

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