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Talk buggy to me baby, why Bed Bugs might be resistant to pesticides?

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All the bugs are talking about it, and it turns out a lot of Entomologist/Scientists are talking as well. “How Bed Bugs shrug off pesticides and simple measures to deal with it.” I don’t care how much we complain but the EPA will never let certain pesticides come back, gone are DDT, Chlordane and all of its little partners. Once gone from their books and it’s never coming back, trust me on this one.

“Every living thing on Earth has a unique set of strategies to adapt to life-threatening situations in the environment,” said Fang Zhu, Ph.D., a leader of the research who spoke at the meeting.”The surprise discovery we never expected is that most of the genes responsible for pesticide resistance in the bedbug are active in its outer skin-like shell or cuticle. This is the unique adaption that has not been discovered in cockroaches, termites, ants or other insects.”

It is research like this that will continue to be the mainstay of pest control, using their bug weakness to fight them. The pest control industry can still use their super powers daily to combat these little blood suckers.

Tarantula venom – maybe a new insecticide?

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Last week on my way into work (38.5miles) I caught a story on tarantula venom being used as an possible insecticide. It appears that in Australia the dreaded tarantula has a protein within the venom that can also kill prey insects that consume the venom orally. “Australian tarantula venom contains novel insecticide against agricultural pest”

These and other insect pests reduce global crop yields by 10-14% annually and damage 9-20% of stored food crops, and several species are resistant to available insecticides.

Once again I mention that pesticides (by the way is this Organic or Green?) are important and essential to all manners of life on earth, so new ideas are very important. Opinions?

Promoting the proper use and handling of pesticides

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I ran across some great information (BASF ran a home seal) and wanted to pass it along as it pertains to all you Do IT Yourselfers (DIY) pest control folks. The pest control industry is regulated and yes, I know there are some out there that just can’t seem to be honest and ethical about it. The use of pesticides – read the Label and understand before you use it, the Safety Data Sheets (SDS) or (MSDS) and all use directions.

So here is the homeowner site from “Pesticide Environmental Stewardship” site. You know my stance on the use of pesticides, they are essential to our lives. There are some that would argue and honestly I’m sorry that they just don’t understand the big picture. Without pesticides death would constantly be knocking at our doors. I’m not kidding we often hear of Hanta Virus and Bubonic Plague here in Arizona. Even West Nile Virus (WNV) rears its ugly head occasionally and in others states Lyme Disease. There are some that advocate oils and organics (if you want to argue – put your money where your mouth is and send me some to test – has to be labelled for scorpions) but they in general just don’t hold up long enough. If my tests are proved wrong I’ll tell you about it. We have scorpions in Arizona and in a perfect world we could exclude homes and do other things to keep them out and by the way we do that with home-seals. But not everyone has that kind of money, wish they did. I advocate Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and prefer to do our work from outside (trying to limit the amount of pesticides within homes and if possible outside as well).

Don’t get me wrong here; I don’t advocate power spraying unless there is a need. We do it every once in a while on ticks but if possible we recommend that the pets to get properly treated and try to solve the issues to the benefit of our customers. That is the reason why we are members of PESP and QualityPro, to protect and serve our customers from the bugs that might be harmful and nasty.

Honeybee’s having a rough time, EPA may have to investigate

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Federal Bill Suspending Neonicotinoid Use Forthcoming

An Oregon Congressman last week announced plans to introduce federal legislation suspending certain uses of neonicotinoid pesticides until the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reviews these chemicals and makes a new determination about their proper application and safe use. The measure specifically suspends the use of neonicotinoids for foliar treatments on bee attractive plants, soil applications and seed treatments within 180 days.

Congressman Earl Blumenaer’s Save America’s Pollinators Act was precipitated by a massive bee kill last month in suburban Portland that state investigators determined was caused by an application of a neonicotinoid pesticide application. here to read Congressman Blumenaer’s press release announcing the Congressman’s intention to drop the bill.

Statementby National Pest Management Association (NPMA) (I wanted to personally share this message as a former beekeeper I’m greatly concerned about these deaths).
Most bees, including bumblebees, are beneficial insects. As such, our industry is firmly committed to the protection of bee health and the vital role bees play in pollinating flowers and crops, thereby strengthening our food supply. The death of tens of thousands of bees earlier this month is undoubtedly an important loss. An investigation is currently underway and although we cannot speculate on the pesticide application process in question, the event stresses the necessity for label instructions to be strictly followed at all times. Pesticide labels are mandates, not recommendations, set forth by the Environmental Protection Agency after years of rigorous testing.

Should you have your baseboards treated monthly?

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Many years ago we constantly sprayed inside and outside on a regular basis, times have changed. Baseboard spraying just isn’t the way of the time. These days with new and improved pesticides most pest can be controlled by a really good and through outside service. Now you noticed I said a really good service, particular attention is paid the place where bugs hide. If you can control them where they live or hangout then you have done the best job. Only occasionally do I see a bug on a baseboard and usually it is ants that are trailing and in this case baits work best. So spraying baseboards really isn’t going to help much, is it?

Scorpions are a real pest here in Arizona, monthly pest control is about the only thing that keeps them down. Get rid of the food source and you help to eliminate the scorpions.

The blame game continues…

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For some time now, the crisis concerning honeybees as been on the forefront of most news agencies and the internet. The concern has been blamed on cell phones, parasites to pesticides and now the EU has decided to ban 3 new pesticides. “EU bans pesticides that ahrm bees“.

“The insecticides — imidacloprid and clothianidin produced by Bayer, and thiamethoxam by Syngenta — are used to treat seeds and are applied to the soil or sprayed on bee-attractive plants and cereals.”

“”Pesticides have been identified as one of several factors which may be responsible for the decline in number of bees.”

Frankly I don’t know the cause, I’m concerned on several different levels – #1. in Arizona we have Africanized bees and you really don’t know until you investigate and sometimes not even then until they become aggressive and #2. Bees pollinate up to 80% of our food products and without them there would be serious problems. So before we ban pesticides lets please do some quick research to really get to the bottom of this potential life threatening issue – to all of us.

New pesticide training manual released.

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Every day ProBest Pest Management uses its best efforts to use Integrated Pest Management (IPM) best management standards to prevent pests from gaining access into homes. There are some great sites to help every homeowner prevent bugs from getting into your family retreats. Recently Western Farm Press did an article on the great information http://westernfarmpress.com/management/western-ipm-center-releases-pesticide-training-material

http://www.whatisipm.org
http://www.wripmc.org/ – free downloadable powerpoint and handouts

This picture is from a tenant who decided that the weeds and termites could be treated with used motor oil, it is illegal and could be dangerous. Before we did the termite treatment we removed the oil and disposed of it properly.

PLEASE — USE COMMON SENSE! If that oil seeped into our water system we all suffer.

What if there was a better way to disinfect?

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What if there was a better way to disinfect?

Everyday I understand and realize that we use harsh and sometimes nasty stuff. I also try to use my brain in deciding how and when we use certain pesticides and termiticides. I have frequently indicated and written that I don’t like using pesticides in homes monthly, if a problem occurs within a home we have new ways of dealing with the bugs we have these days. For example we now have baits or dusts that can be hidden and placed where only the bugs will find it.

I also have to live in a home and I try to use cleaners that are not harsh on my environment and that is why I chose Benefect. I really love the fact that you can now use a product that doesn’t require a rinse or wipe. This saves costly labor & time allowing you to do the job faster by saving a whole labor step & lets you move onto the next job faster. This saves you money. It is also suitable for use around children, pets, the elderly and chemically-sensitive individuals. So you can relax about chemical contamination, overspray & evacuating building occupants. Instead of using harsh cleaners this can be used in daycares, schools, pre-schools, church daycares – this product kills germs naturally! Safe & Non-Toxic Ingredients, No Alcohol, Naturally Effective, Won’t Dry Out Hands.

We use this product everyday in our Contract Post Office and bathrooms. Kills 99.99% of bacteria in 30 seconds!

Termite Tubes and more termite tubes….

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Termite Tubes and more termite tubes….

Bigger and bigger, the termites are munching away at this home. Our termites in Arizona are not as aggressive as the Eastern US termites so typically we don’t have extensive damage to homes.

Ingenuity Abounds in pest control

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Ingenuity Abounds in pest control!

OK we are a week away from the end of all time, the Mayan calendar says December 21, 2012 is the end. So what do you think? I guess we will all know it next Saturday. So what exactly is pest control all about – my personal opinion is that we are the Protectors of Public Health. Just like the crab above, we have to adapt to the change and continue our quest to challenge ourselves. So ingenuity needs to advance as the potential of bugs also expands. Remember the article on Stink bugs, they have spread across the US since the 1990’s and I don’t think this is the end of the invasion of the bugs. New pesticides and termiticides continue to be created to prevent damage and death. New techniques and equipment are being invented and ProBest Pest Management continues to investigate the possibility of use.