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Pest Control Specialists Contact Us

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Dayton, OH 45405

QUESTION:

We have a bedbug infestation. We would like to use Nuvan Prostrips. We plan to place the furniture in a box truck and seal the rear door, and then place the pest strips inside the sealed box for five days on a sheet of cardboard. Once done we would wash out the truck bed box and air it out. Could we then use the same box truck for food delivery?


ANSWER:

I always like to take some heat off myself by suggesting that you get the opinion of your own local regulatory agency. They are the ones who will ultimately interpret the product Label and say whether you did or did not remain within the guidelines on this document. In the case of Nuvan Prostrips and their use within an outside storage bin MY personal opinion is that you ARE within the allowances on the Label for this product. Nuvan Prostrips are labeled for use in a “container”, according to the Label, and I believe that this box truck could be interpreted as a large container. These strips are NOT permitted for use in “food areas” though, and food areas are where foods are “stored, processed, prepared, or served”, so you would need to be careful and again get the opinion of your local regulators.

The Nuvan label does go on to say the strips can be used in certain places where food is stored though, particularly “after canning and bottling”, so if the food that will be delivered later in this vehicle is contained within these kinds of impermeable containers that certainly should be within the Label. The strips also are labeled for use in kitchen cupboards, which again suggests its okay to use them near packaged food. And, if you have removed the strips and the container is ventilated this also would likely be sufficient to allow that container to be used for food deliveries later.

A few issues here though. First is that you really want to ensure even distribution of the vapona vapors that are released from the strips, and placing all of them onto one piece of cardboard might not be sufficient. Better would be to place them sporadically throughout the container, and absolutely ensure you are using enough strips for the cubic footage in the container. The strips are good for up to 4 months, so once you complete this job re-seal them and use them again for the next job.

Another issue is the time of exposure, and studies by the Univ. of Kentucky sometime back showed that the strips definitely produce vapona that can pemeate enclosed items, such as electronics and boxes, but that the vapors do so slowly, and their suggestion was to leave the strips in place for as much as 2 weeks to ensure the kill of all bed bug EGGS, which are more difficult to kill. The Nuvan Label states to leave them for a minimum of 7 DAYS, so your 5 day plan is too short. To leave behind even a couple of live eggs is to leave the infestation in place. The other issue is to ensure the container is sealed completely to retain the vapors as much as possible, so lining the interior with thick plastic sheeting that is taped together at the edges would be very helpful.

If you do all this I suggest also placing all computers, TV’s, and other electronic equipment in the truck as well. Bed bugs are perfectly happy to hide in these items and deposit eggs there too.

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QUESTION:

If those of us who do bee control do not also “open walls” and remove the nest do you have any particular suggestions for how to go about enlisting the services of a contractor. I have had several customers ask me to take care of the construction process/hive removal or have wanted me to arrange to have it done for them. Now, I can see a possible opportunity here to work in conjunction with someone to our mutual advantage. I guess what I’m wondering is if this sounds reasonable and practical. If it is, what do you think might be the best approach to doing it? I don’t want do construction work but I want to see that my customers are satisfied with the work (both mine and the construction guy’s). What are your thoughts?

ANSWER:

This is a good question, and I will say that around my own neighborhood we have sort of an informal list of building and maintenance contractors who we have had good experience with and who we can feel confident sharing with our friends. Word of mouth advertising is some of the best, and I suspect that nearly all pest control companies also have gotten business from referrals by satisfied customers. As with any business there will be good building contractors and really bad ones, and you might just start asking friends and customers if any of them have ever hired someone to do repair or remodeling work and were very satisfied with what they received. I regularly watch the TV show out of Canada of the contractor who goes back in and repairs the work done by other contractors who were so horrifically sloppy, so short cuts do happen.

Bottom line on honey bees is that their wax hive really should not be left in a structure once the bees are eliminated. You are in Arizona, and this becomes really important there where the temperatures that would melt the wax are going to be present more months of the year than in most other states. Once the bees are no longer there to maintain the integrity of the wax hive it will melt and the wax and honey will flow wherever gravity takes them, which results in serious messes and damage to the home’s interior. You should put this recommendation for hive removal in writing and have the customer sign it so you can prove they were told.

The process should be to locate the hive itself so that the minimal damage can be done to open and remove it physically. Then you or someone else can take the hive out and dispose of it and follow up by thoroughly cleaning the surfaces the hive contacted. This removes as many traces as possible of the honey and other substances that would attract ants, carpet beetles, and other scavengers that could come in to do their work. There even are a couple of moths that will feed within old bee hives.

I would think that building contractors, along with most other service businesses, would be hungry for legitimate work, and if you can determine a few that are reputable, licensed properly, will take out the necessary permits and treat your customers with a good sense of Customer Service (since it would be a reflection on you) you could interview them to see if they would be willing to receive these kinds of referrals. I can’t imagine why anyone would turn down the chance to make a few hundred bucks.

We had a local contractor redo the texturing on our sheetrock walls after we removed wallpaper, and other neighbors had used him also with glowing recommendation. I would imagine this kind of person would be willing to do removal of the wall materials to expose the hive, allow you or a cleaning service to come in and remove the hive and clean the interior, and then he could replace that wall surface properly and finish it for painting by the customer or some other contractor. It is really a matter of YOU finding someone you are comfortable with who is willing to accept this kind of small job, so ask around and do the interviews and hopefully you can get a network that will do good work.

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QUESTION:

I recently researched toxicity of rodenticides for a customer and came upon a paper from a large veterinarian school that claims second generation anticoagulants are extremely toxic to pets, and standard known antidotes (vitamin K1) are not as effective as we are led to believe. For me this muddies the water as to which product to use in bait stations. Please provide some clarity on this topic, as the pending new rodent regulations may have us all doing more rodent work for consumers.

ANSWER:

I have always been nervous about the word “antidote” when referring to Vitamin K for anticoagulant poisoning. In my mind, and perhaps in the minds of many other people, the word antidote summons up the vision of a one-time injection of something that reverses the effect of a toxin, and this is absolutely not the case with anticoagulant rodenticides. To me a much better word (instead of antidote) would be “treatment”, because it may be necessary to continue to treat that animal for as long as it takes for the animal’s system to metabolize and excrete the active ingredient, and this (according to some manufacturers) could be as long as 4 months.

Dr. Robert Corrigan states in his book on Rodent Control that this misconception may exist, and that a single injection often is not sufficient. It depends on the species of non-targeted animal (cat, dog, hawk, etc.), the specific active ingredient involved, how much was eaten, the age, health, and weight of the animal. It may be that the veterinarian is going to need multiple doses of the treatment over a long period of time, possible blood transfusions, and possible surgical needs.

The first generation anticoagulants (warfarin, diphacinone) are metabolized and excreted from a dog’s body much more quickly than are the second generation anticoagulants (brodifacoum, bromadiolone, difethialone). The reason these secondary actives are called “single feeding” is because their toxicity is so much higher than the first generation products, and for this reason they require a MUCH smaller amount of bait to be eaten to cause their death. This definitely could translate to their being a much higher hazard to pets and wildlife if used improperly, and also leads to that greater concern of non-target animal consumption and secondary poisoning.

I am not certain that there is any change in how effective Vitamin K is for treating anticoagulant poisoning, other than the need to continue the treatments for a much longer time than may be necessary with first generation active ingredients. This concern with the second generation products is likely a major part of the decision by EPA to completely eliminate the sale of second generation actives to the unlicensed and untrained general public. After June 4 this year the new laws go into effect, and once existing inventories are depleted you will find the important new labeling on rodent baits.

So, without reading the exact wording of this paper you read it sounds to be fairly spot-on correct. However, there has been recent animal-rights activity in the California media that slams rodent baits, and claims that rodenticides are the current Environmental Armageddon, and suggests that wildlife is dropping dead in large numbers due to secondary poisoning. I think this is likely a terrible exaggeration on their part in their effort to be noticed, but the fact is that we need to be very, very careful of how we use rodent poisons, and that secondary poisoning could occur.

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QUESTION:

We were out to a customers house in March 2011 for holes in the dry wall. Nothing was found except holes about the size of the a tip of a pen, round, and all over her dry wall. No bugs were found and little to no frass was found. She had us come out again because there are more holes. We can not figure out what type of bug (if any) could be causing this. Let me know what you think. Thanks!

ANSWER:

We can skip the suspicions that these holes might be caused by someone maliciously walking around and punching them through the walls with a screwdriver, and assume that it is as you have said – the holes are appearing on their own. If this is the case then it would be an insect emerging through them from the wood inside, and my experience with lots of holes about this size has found the culprits to be wood wasps – horntail wasps in the family Siricidae. These are large non-stinging wasps that can be up to 2 inches long, from the tip of their nose to the end of the long ovipositor on the females, and they scare the heck out of homeowners when the wasps begin flying around inside the home. But, they will not reinfest anything in the home and at that point in the life of the wasp its only desire is to get OUT.

There should be at least some bit of evidence of something having chewed its way through the soft sheetrock – white dust on the floor below perhaps. The exit holes of these wasps are perfectly round and clearly chewed open, with no hanging chads or other evidence of something having been poked through it. With this many holes in this home there must be some of the wasps still inside, so inspect the window sills and other bright spots to see if they made their way to these potential escape routes. It also is possible that this could be from beetles, such as long horned wood boring beetles, but even here you should find the adult beetles in the home somewhere. You are in Pennsylvania, so I suppose it could even be Old House Borers which would have some potential to reinfest.

More commonly though, wood is salvaged from a dead tree and milled into 2×4’s that are then used as studs in the walls. Ask if this home is less than 2 years old, and this could be another clue that it is from non-reinfesting wasps or beetles. If a tree is killed by fire or bark beetles it still may be cut down by logging companies and used for lumber, but before it gets cut down the adult wasps and beetles have found it and laid eggs in the bark. The larvae then burrow down and into the sound wood to feed, and often survive any treatments such as kiln drying. They then get built into the home and emerge a year or two later. To verify this you should try hard to find some adult insects. There is very little you can do to stop the emergence of these insects other than waiting for it to run its course. Except for the Old House Borer they will not reinfest, and once all the emerging is completed the holes can be filled with spackle or filler and painted over.

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QUESTION:

What do you think about the use of snap traps in rodent bait stations? Once a dead rat is found by other rats in the station wouldn’t they be repelled from the bait box. The B&G equipment company offers a bait box in which the technician can install Detox blox as a food attractant while a professional snap trap is set.

ANSWER:

In my opinion the presence of a dead rat probably is not a deterrent to future rats visiting that station, although a carcass in a snap trap inside the station might make it a bit crowded for other rats to comfortably fit inside. Studies indicate that snap traps already soiled by the bits and pieces of trapped rodents are actually a bit more attractive to other rats, although this does need to be tempered with good sanitation. Even though a well-used trap might draw more rats too it you wouldn’t want to keep using a filthy trap in an account.

I believe we also have seen that rats can be very opportunistic when it comes to their brothers and sisters, and a dead rodent could well just be viewed as a new and available food resource. I’m not sure there is any feeling of comraderie amongst rats and mice, even though they may live together in groups.

Placing snap traps inside enclosed and tamper-resistant stations does accomplish some very positive things. It puts that trap within a station that rodents seem likely to investigate, and perhaps helps them get trapped before they recognize the presence of this new “thing” in their environment. The station also hides the trap from view of people who either might mess with the trap (a dog or child getting a nose or fingers in the trap), as well as hiding it from view when the rodent is captured. As much as your customers may hate the rats they still do not want to see them trapped, especially if the rat is not killed instantly.

The use of traps still should involve the frequent inspection to remove dead rodents and reset the traps if necessary. Flies will find the dead rodent within a very short time and begin the business of decomposition, and this leads to unbearable odors and more flies (and wandering maggots). You also are generally obligated by laws to check animal traps quickly to ensure you avoid causing suffering to trapped animals. Like it or not there is a whole society of people out there who hate us for killing rats.

If the nontoxic rodent bait is being used only as an attractant to lure rodents into the trap then other attractants might work even better, such as Provoke or Trapper Jack’s. These can be placed directly on the trap to encourage the rodent to investigate the trap itself, rather than the block that may be secured in a separate compartment.

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QUESTION:

I live in Ohio and our senator is trying to get the EPA to allow Propoxur to be used for killing Bed Bugs. I can’t find that much info on this chemical and how it works. What do you think of Propoxur and will it work in the control of this
bad bug?

ANSWER:

Propoxur is the generic name of the active ingredient that was most commonly formulated as “Baygon” insecticides, and it came in aerosol, granular bait, liquid concentrate, and wettable powder forms. It was always a very good material for cockroaches and other household pests, and as far as I know also was good for bed bugs. It is a Carbamate insecticide, and since the carbamates and organophosphates were essentially removed from our urban uses right around the time the Common Bed Bug made its re-emergence in this country we really did not have much chance to take it for a test run against this pest. On a side note it is interesting and sad to see the awful mis-information running around on the internet about this active ingredient – and frankly pretty much any pesticide when you read the strings of responses in Q&A forums. For example “it can be dangerous to our health if it is misused“. Gee, could we say the same thing about aspirin and vitamins?

Dr. Michael Potter gave a talk recently through NPMA where he updated the state of the industry on bed bug control around the world, and suggested that in other countries where organophosphates and carbamates are still legally being used the pest control industry in those countries does not consider the common bed bug to be a particularly difficult pest to control. Of course, one of the theories on why the bed bug made this comeback is the loss of these families of insecticides, as they were traditionally highly effective on this insect. Now the message from our researchers and consultants is that insecticides alone are unlikely to eradicate an entrenched population of bed bugs, and that there currently seems to be no magic bullet product. That being said, MANY pest control companies are having excellent results with the many brand name products currently available, so I wouldn’t put all the blame on the active ingredients we use now, nor would I want us to start thinking that if we can just get propoxur back we can start relying totally on a chemical application. It just is not going to be that easy.

What are the chances of getting propoxur or any organophosphate or DDT back into our use as a stop-gap measure for bed bug control? In my cynical opinion probably zero. Our government decision makers are heavily influenced and controlled by public opinion, and public opinion is controlled by what they read and hear in the media, and the popular media would raise a major ruckus if they thought “banned” pesticides were going to be allowed back into use. The anti-pesticide groups would hit the road again with their campaigns of disinformation and emotional rhetoric and give their dire warnings of how we are all going to die if this terrible nerve poison is back in use. (Gee, how could this be taken as cynical?)

I think propoxur probably would be a very good insecticide to use (if they control the odor concerns with the a.i.), but maybe no better than many of the other products now available if they are used properly and with the additional non-chemical techniques we know are necessary.

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QUESTION:

I have an attic that has very tiny pinholes in the floor joists and lots of dirt around the area. The house is buried on three sides. Any ideas what I might be dealing with other than termites?

ANSWER:

I may need another cup of coffee Kevin, but I am having a hard time forming a picture of this home in my mind, since you describe it as buried on three sides. However, if you have actual dirt around the wood members in the attic of this home this strongly suggests subterranean termites. They would be the only insects that really move dirt up into the structure, and that dirt would normally be in the form of mud tubing created by the termites for their movement on the outside of the wood. If this is just dirt laying around then something else could be involved. I suggest taking some of it and putting it under really good magnification. This is one reason I am a strong advocate that every pest control company ought to have a dissecting microscope in the office. How else are you going to be able to take that necessary close examination of very little things – stuff on glue traps, tiny beetles, etc.

I once was handed a baggie of what looked like dirt, and which was found in piles next to a fireplace inside a home. Under close examination with a dissecting microscope it suddenly very clearly showed that it was not dirt, but instead was thousands of little pieces of insect parts. In this case there was a major ant infestation within the hollow areas around this fireplace, and the ants were tossing out all the debris from their nest, much as carpenter ants do. Since many ants feed on other insects this is what the debris was composed of, but to the naked eye is was just dirt. So, a careful examination may reveal the composition of the dirt you are seeing and give you some hints. If it is subterranean termites you should see only dirt and perhaps the makeup of tiny balls of dirt stuck together.

The little pinholes are interesting, and could be related to the dirt or maybe just a red herring. About the only thing that normally makes tiny holes in wood is where insects have emerged, and this typically would be wood infesting beetles. However, the floor joists are probably fir or pine and this eliminate the possibility of True Powderpost Beetles, since they infest only hardwoods. It could be deathwatch/furniture beetles but they prefer damper wood, and their exit holes are not normally characterized as “tiny”. Look for any evidence of fecal dust outside these holes and take a knife and pick at the wood around the holes to see what’s a little deeper inside. If you find a channel running into the wood from the holes then it could have been an insect. It also could simply be old bark beetle holes exposed when the wood was milled into lumber, and not anything currently active.

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QUESTION:

I have been battling a furniture beetle infestation in a mount of a sheep. I have used residual spray with an IGR and have also used fumigation strips on the mount. It gets rid of the problem for a bit, but this is becoming an ongoing problem. What do you suggest now?

ANSWER:

It may just continue to be an ongoing battle. I spoke with the manager of a mammal and bird museum at the local university and asked him how they keep pests from feeding on the stuffed specimens. His answer was that he knew of nothing that could be applied to the mounts themselves without disfiguring them in some way, so long term protection of them was not possible. They instead put things on display for a period of time and then remove them and put them back into sealed storage where they can be treated in some manner to kill whatever bugs may have gotten onto them while they were exposed. This might be freezing, heating, or fumigating in some manner. Their other hope is that the displays are sealed well enough to exclude carpet beetles and clothes moths sufficiently that these insects do not quickly find the mounts.

Stuffed trophies hanging on walls in a home or business are a very different matter, as these are part of the decor, and typically cannot be removed periodically and stored for fumigation. However, this truly may be the only recourse. I would be hesitant to spray or dust directly onto the mount itself, as this could make a noticeable change in the appearance that would be unacceptable. Sprays, even with IGR’s, would also have a pretty limited residual, so even if you could spray the mount itself it would have to be repeated constantly to keep the protection there. Dusts of inorganic active ingredients (silica gel or diatomaceous earth) would last for many years, but dusting the mount would very likely be out of the question.

One choice in the control program is to keep the home as beetle-free as possible, and by “furniture” beetle I assume you are referring to the Furniture Carpet Beetle. The carpet beetles (genus Anthrenus) are common in the summer and can fly very well, so they will be seeking food resources for their larvae. Since the role of carpet beetles is to reduce (recycle) dead animals they are doing what Nature intended for them to do, and that is to feed on that leftover hair and skin and return it to the soil. Unfortunately, we are not ready for that to happen, so preventing their activity in the home is the goal. You can treat as you have done around the area of the mounts, and this may intercept the adult beetles before they crawl onto the mount. But, as you have said, this is temporary and requires constant reapplication.

You also could place pheromone traps in the home and inspect these on each visit, or sell them to the customer and allow them to check the traps themselves. The moment any carpet beetle adults are captured you then could swing into action with cleaning, localized treating, or removing the mount or sealing it for fumigation with the vapona strips. The pheromone tabs will last for about 3 months, so this too is going to need constant maintenance and replacement, but it may be an important option.

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QUESTION:

I am looking at a bee that appears to be a small bumblebee that bores holes in the ground the size of a pencil. What type of bee is this and what is the best control measure?

ANSWER:

The good news is that there probably is no reason whatsoever to kill these industrious little bees, because they are highly beneficial with their pollinating and pose virtually no stinging threat to anyone around them. The bad news is it may be difficult to educate your customers such that they accept this. Not all bugs need to be killed, and the garden is generally better off with many bugs than with none.

There are a number of solitary bees and wasps that burrow in the soil, and by solitary we mean they are not social wasps, have no “colony” of other workers and queen, and have no aggressive instincts toward people or pets that get near them or that opening in the soil. The only way they would sting would be in direct self defense if they were trapped in a hand or clothing. Bees that do this excavating in soil include Mining Bees (Andrenidae), Digger and Cuckoo Bees (Anthophoridae), Sweat or Alkali Bees (Halictidae), and Leafcutting and Mason Bees (Megachilidae). The female digs a vertical tunnel down in the soil and then small side tunnels off the main one. At the end of each side tunnel she creates a small cavity that she supplies with pollen and an egg, so she is providing food for her offspring but at that point she is done, and she no longer tends them. The larvae develop independently and will emerge in the summer as adult bees that go about their business of gathering pollen for the next generation.

Several kinds of wasps behave in a similar manner except they provide a cache of a paralyzed insect for their larvae instead of pollen, so these are also highly beneficial and highly unlikely to sting. The most fearsome of these is the huge Cicada Killer, which terrifies people but for very little reason. The benefits of these bees and wasps greatly outweighs any health concerns and they really should not be killed.

If the customer absolutely, positively DEMANDS that you do something your only pesticide recourse would be to treat each hole directly, and a contact dust product might be best. Dust into it carefully and then plug the hole to keep the bee in long enough to contact the dust, and late afternoon might ensure the bee is down there. You can also keep the soil so dry that the bee cannot dig a tunnel without the walls collapsing, and in sandy soils this works well. You could cover the selected soil area with something such as plastic sheeting for a temporary and seasonal fix, or bark or gravel or crushed rock for a permanent fix.

But to be really honest, if these bees were working in my own backyard I’d be thrilled, and would just sit and enjoy the show. They benefit the garden and really need to be preserved if at all possible. Hopefully some education and enlightenment will convince the customer of this as well.

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QUESTION:

I have a question regarding a weekly column in my local paper, where the local resource used by this paper dispenses pest control advice which is ill advised. dangerous and incorrect. Last year they wrote about controlling rodents on the exterior of your home with snap traps on fences and along foundations. I wrote them and explained that all traps must be in a tamper resistant boxes to prevent animals other than rodents from being injured. They also wrote about using rodenticides but no mention of bait boxes.
Today they wrote about using Onslaught mixed in cat food or tuna for yellow jacket control. They gave the name of a chemical supplier where Onslaught can be purchased locally and recommended sharing it with neighbors “because it’s expensive and will last for years.” The label states “for Professional use only” and their advice is inconsistent with the label for this use.
I know that the business can’t or shouldn’t sell to individuals without a license, but can these folks give advice in the paper without a license? I would like to know what you think. I would like to contact the paper and the Agricultural Department to report them.

ANSWER:

I have one word on this, and that word is “LIABILITY”. My answer here is probably going to be heavy with personal opinion, but one thing is certain, and that is if you give written advice on the use of pesticides or other pest control techniques you are subject to the liability when people take your advice and something goes wrong. In our current society where lawyers fill the TV ads drumming up business for themselves by advocating lawsuits anytime you feel you were a “victim”, no one is going to assume responsibility for their own actions. If they put that snap trap on the fence to catch a roof rat and their own cat gets its foot broken by stepping on the trap, well someone has to pay, because common sense is no longer expected.

I have seen this problem many times over the years, where news media find a local expert to provide a weekly column or to answer readers’ questions, and too often that advice slips into a folksy style filled with home remedies. Even throwing in a disclaimer about “be sure to read the Label” isn’t going to save them when the lawsuit hits. Homeowners are not trained in using pest control products, and will take shortcuts routinely. This is one reason that WE, as suppliers to the professional industries, will NEVER sell a pesticide to an unlicensed person or business if licensing or certification is required. Unfortunately that statement on so many pesticide labels that it must not be sold to anyone not licensed or certified seems to hold no water. A few years back the EPA was asked to address this, given the widespread sales of these professional-use products on the internet, and the EPA backed out of it saying those Label statements are not legally binding, and they would not enforce them.

But, definitely making recommendations that are inconsistent with the Label is illegal. Onslaught is labeled for use as a yellowjacket bait, and legally can be mixed with these meat products to draw the YJ’s. “Sharing” it with neighbors walks that thin line of legality, but since EPA chooses not to enforce the label statement then I suppose it can be done. It is probably not the brightest thing to do – have one untrained homeowner give some poison to his untrained neighbords and hope everything goes well – and this is going to result in a problem somewhere.

Your best recourse may be to work with the newspaper management itself. Point out where this advice they are printing is illegal or dangerous, and the paper owners had better recognize that they too would be drawn into the lawsuit if someone’s dog or cat died or child was injured. It could even be a song bird hopping along the fence that gets killed in that exposed rat trap, and the neighbor next door is a rabid bird lover who sees this protected bird mercilessly slaughtered in the trap. Of course you, as a licensed pest management professional, would get cited by the local Dept. of Agriculture for doing some of the things these columnists are publicly advocating, but you are licensed and easier to prosecute.

So, work with the paper and maybe even try contacting the column writers, and I edited out their name here, to see if they are receptive to advice from you on where their recommendations could be problems. In California, perhaps more than many states, we had better be thinking in terms of environmental sensitivity all the time, or we will lose more of the tools we have for pest management.

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