ProBest Pest Management Archives - Page 11 of 89 - Arizona Pest Control - Pest Management Services

What brings those scorpions to your doorsteps?

Scorpions – Knock, Knock?

Could it be scorpions? Another question of the week, this one is easy in my books. It’s either too much rain or the lack thereof. For some reason this year 2015, it seems to be ants and earwigs. I remember last year it was cockroaches and guess what they are all looking for? Food, water and harborage. The tighter the house the better for us to live in right. Some would argue that the house needs to breath, I’m all for that the only in te way that the jtrim with its holes allow the house to breath. I’m all for lowing my electric bill and keeping those pesky bugs out.

That’s right, just like you and me they need the 3 essentials. The scorpion below is looking for something, is it food, water or somewhere to hide?

Thanks to Dr. Dawn Gouge for this interesting photo.

Happy Halloween!

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Happy Halloween

Halloween should be my favorite holiday, right? All the spiders and bug things. Anyway, BOO! As an adult I remember that we used to go out with beer cups and Trick or Treat for booze. As I think back I think it was better than the candy. But just think about the bugs or things that scare you. The things that go bump in the night.

I noticed this tow accessory, I think I need one. Oh and just for the record the hourglass is on the wrong side…

OK what do you see?

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Well if you guessed Drywood termites pellets, you guessed right? Those little brownish colored things at the bottom of the picture are the fecal remains of wood eaten by Drywood termites. Subterranean termites mix their fecal material with the mud/soil and construct mud tunnels or tubes while Drywood termite fecal pellets are kicked out of their colony. These little pellets have little ridges and are fairly easy to identify. Drywood termites which are located within structures are often tented and just a side-note not usually a very big deal in Arizona but we do have them here. The more water we bring in, such as flood or drip irrigation helps to increase the humidity level and allow these termites to gain a strong-hold here. Even after a fumigation takes place, those pellets will continue to fall out – so the only real way to know that you still have them is by an actual swarm. Just one more thing to keep you from sleeping!

By the way this is generally not a “Do It Yourself” project, unless you are able to remove all the wood. In the case above it was a small shed, which I would just remove and rebuild. Which by the way falls into my model of IPM.

Water collecting, is it attracting mosquito’s?

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Water at your front door?

Is the water attracting mosquitoes, I would say yes, and this is near a front door. So guess who will be accidentally drawn into the house when they open the door? We also sell a device which plugs into a socket with a light that attracts and then a glue-board. Quite handy for when flying things actually get into the home. I would encourage you to think about location and you might have to be creative on treatment options. Mosquito dunks may be an idea? Any ideas? A little thought with IPM in mind, maybe a screen door and actually those dunks are an IGR (insect growth regulator) no poison.

Does black-lighting or exclusion work to control pests?

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So what in my opinion really works the best to control pests from getting into homes, without a doubt home sealing or exclusion. Here are my Top 3 ways to control scorpions and those other bugs that may want to make your home theirs.

Home seal or exclusion.
Black-lighting to reduce the population.
Consistent monthly pest control.

You hear me talk about IPM all the time and I’m telling you it works. Rather than spraying pesticides all the time, you can reduce the risk by helping your Pest Management Professional by doing a few things to improve the situation at your home. By black lighting you reduce the numbers and by doing so you reduce the numbers that might make it to your home. By sealing your home you again reduce the numbers that make it to your home and reduce the numbers that could make it in. The next way is to reduce the numbers of the food (crickets, roaches) and ultimately the scorpions themselves.

Now with all that said, I do believe in pest control but as I stated above it needs to be done in a consistent manner. If you have scorpions I think especially in Arizona it needs to be done monthly. I also believe that outside service is the most efficient along with home sealing and black-lighting. There are some in my professional that still don’t get it, they are the ones that still treat inside each month or power spray each month. Now don’t get me wrong I still occasionally do the inside ie: German Cockroaches or ants and if you have ticks I may decide to power spray. There are always exceptions to the rules. But soon the lack of water or water quality issues are going to trump the constant overkill of those outdated and impractical pest control techniques. (my opinion)

Pollinator Health Updates

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Pollinator Health – Bee Aware Be Safe.

Did you know that there are more pollinators than just honeybees? Check out this website to find out what they are. There are a number of factors that are affecting honeybees these days and the USDA, EPA and the National Pest Management Association and others are working towards a plan to continue to save the bees.

What do you look at while hiking?

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Some of the coolest and most intriguing stuff out in nature is awfully small and I noticed this small little spider while hiking in New Mexico. I don’t kill everything I see when it comes to bugs, only if they get into your home do I take it personally.

My point is this, while in nature or the great outdoors everything has its place. So take a moment and get into nature and call us 602-249-7378 if you find the creepy crawlies in your home.

News from the Grand Canyon

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“Monthly plague monitoring to start at Grand Canyon”

So why would I post something like this? Several years ago I was visiting Montezuma’s Castle off I-17 north of Phoenix when I observed people hand feeding some squirrels and I just was amazed. Then not a month later i heard about a bite that occurred and of course who paid the price, the squirrels.

They came in and trapped and relocated every single squirrel. Don’t feed the wildlife. Check out the article on other ways to stay away from possible issues , including prevention tips for pets.

Why do honeybees make our homes, theirs?

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Honeybees will take every opportunity to make any place a home. These bees decided on this chimney fireplace. Seldom if ever used, they found a crack and decided it was big enough to start a colony.

This was actually a bigger issue than usual, this entry point led into an open ceiling area. If this had not be noticed and months or even years had gone by, the buildup of honey and wax could lead to significant melting later.

Always important to conduct monthly checks of your home or business and don’t forget to look up.

What are my 2 toughest pest complaints?

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I probably get more calls about these two things than anything else and to make matters more exasperating not much can be done.

#1 – Honeybees coming to your pool or other water feature to drink. This is tough, because in the big picture we probably don’t have a clue where they are coming from. Now the good news, generally speaking the bees are not in defensive mode. What do I mean by that statement? When bees swarm or are out looking for water or flowers they are not defending their hive and won’t be as aggressive as if they were defending their home. A lone bee out looking for food is just looking for food, while the bees at their home are on guard against possible intruders. They have bees that are just guard bees and just like we would defend our homes they are pre-wired to be on guard against intruders. With the extreme HEAT here in Arizona they need water just as much as we do. So please don’t panic, just try to avoid them if possible. Now it may be difficult especially if they are near your pool or water feature, one thing you might try is placing a dish in shaded area with a few rocks to keep them from drowning. Refresh the water frequently and maybe they might move.

#2 – Mosquitoes are almost impossible to control once they become adults. The prime time to get them is when they are wigglers or in their larval stage within the water. Some mosquitoes will fly over a mile to get to their food = you or your pet. Check your property for stagnant water, any amount can raise a family of mosquitoes. One area often overlooked is the catch basin for potted plants. I have a back door that opens in and I’m constantly getting flying insects that get sucked in when I open that door. I use the device below once a flying insect makes it into my home. I highly recommend it, after just a few days the glue board has a variety of flying insects. By the way this also fits into my IPM program. We do sell them at my office – ProBest Pest Management 602-249-7378.

All posts in “ProBest Pest Management”

Scorpions – Knock, Knock?

Happy Halloween

Water at your front door?