By Daniel Hill When handling fruit flies, how many times have you said to a commercial customer, “It’s a sanitation issue,” pointed out some things that need to be fixed or cleaned and left? If so, you should never do it again after today! I’d like to give you some tips and selling points, as [...]
By Cory Goeltzenleuchter Remember thinking to yourself in math class, “When am I ever going to use these formulas?” Training in our field is very important; we often train on topics such as spill control, the right personal protective equipment, laws and the label. But when was the last time you broke out a math [...]
By David Moore, BCE The bar for the pest management industry is constantly being pushed higher and higher, and documentation is one of those areas where there is little room for error. The conditions we report to our clients are scrutinized and hold both us and them accountable for what we document. This is especially [...]
By Scott McNeely The pursuit of taking pictures of wildlife has been going on ever since the camera was first invented. A number of years ago, I remember going with a friend to drop off a roll of exposed camera film that we had taken out of his “newfangled” game camera to get developed. His [...]
By Pat Hottel, BCE Pests can run, crawl, fly and hitchhike their way into the facilities we service. Some paths are obvious like a door which is left open or poorly sealed, and some not so obvious. Here is a list of the ways pests can enter a building and the methods for preventing entry: [...]
By Steve Bopp, ACE In pest control, we are sometimes challenged with pests that are not naturally found in the areas we are treating, as can be the case with ghost ants. Ghost ants are normally found in mid and southern Florida, as well as Hawaii, but can be found anywhere in the country given [...]
By Bennett Jordan, Ph.D., B.C.E. Termites are cryptic, eusocial organisms that consume wood day and night. That limited information is enough to convey the significant challenge termites present to PMPs. While subterranean termites deservedly receive most of the attention, drywood termites can be exceedingly difficult in their own right. Drywood colonies are considerably smaller, with mature [...]
By Jeffrey White Verifiable training is a critical aspect of creating consistency within a company, as well as protecting the company, employee and customer if a lawsuit should arise in the future. A training process that can be documented at every step will reduce mistakes when services are rendered, reduce liabilities associated with poorly delivered [...]
By William Kolbe, BCE The amino acids in rodent urine and hair will fluoresce (shine) when exposed to certain wavelengths of light found in black light, commonly referred to as ultraviolet light. Black light shines a deep blue and often is used with artistic poster displays. Other substances like starch, bleached sack fibers, optical bleaches, [...]
By Mark D. Sheperdigian, BCE How often have you received an image of a blurry black dot on a bright background with a request for identification? Perhaps you have had to send an image for identification that resembled that description. There are a few principles you can use and share with others to improve the quality [...]