By Shane McCoy, ACE If there is one thing we can all agree on in the pest management industry, it’s that managing pest problems in apartment buildings is not easy. Pests thrive in apartment buildings because of easy access to food, water, shelter and the added bonus of adjoining walls and shared utilities. If resources [...]
By Pat Hottel Clients will, and must, play an important role in the success of the pest management program at their food plant. Their assistance is necessary in pest prevention, and it often helps in solving pest problems that occur. Pest prevention starts with proper facility design, and whenever possible, the PMP should be consulted [...]
by Shane McCoy, ACE Documentation has always been an important part of a food-processing facility’s operations, but now the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) mandates documentation be even more organized, detailed and accessible. A food-processing facility’s documentation must produce the following trail of information for auditors and inspectors: Show that a pest management program is [...]
By Bennett Jordan, PH.D., B.C.E. Food plants, pharmaceutical facilities, schools and health-care facilities are the most sensitive accounts we service. These specialized accounts also bring increased expectations of us, the pest management professional (PMP), from our clients, auditors and regulatory bodies. Our responsibilities go beyond traditional pest management, and we must consider how our actions [...]
By: Dena Berg-Castano, ACE Canned aerosol insecticides are a staple in many pest management programs. The convenience of these ready-to-use products and the ability to apply and get the product into crevices and voids where pests live make them a go-to in the field. In addition to considering the ease of product application, it is [...]
By Jared Woerth As pest management professionals, we are not new to bed bugs. In fact, 99.6 percent of pest professionals have encountered bed bugs in the past year, according to research from NPMA and the University of Kentucky. As we have learned, heat treatments continue to be the most effective method when eliminating bed [...]
By David Moore When we think of insecticide applications, we all know the label is the law. We typically think that we have to apply a product in a power sprayer rig the same way we would using a backpack sprayer. But there are many situations in which this is not the best method for [...]
By Christian Wilcox, ACE Dealing with invasive species in our industry has become more and more common. Some of the more notable ones, such red imported fire ants, Africanized honeybees, Asian lady beetles, brown marmorated stink bugs and Formosan subterranean termites, to name a few, have become common, if not even daily, occurrences for us [...]
By Mark Vanderwerp A client calls in August complaining about bees all over the dumpster; a restaurant is haunted by bees intimidating patrons on the patio; or a technician is bragging about a large bee nest they’ve removed from the eaves of a house. Sound familiar? The only problem with these examples is that rarely [...]
By Bennett Jordan, PH.D., B.C.E. Glueboards, sticky traps and insect monitors (or whatever you call them in your operation), provide an indispensable, and quantifiable, picture of what is going on at an account while you’re not there (when used appropriately, of course). Glueboards also can provide an early warning for emerging pest problems and help form [...]
