By Bill Kolbe, BCE If bad winters sound discouraging, watch the award-winning movie March of the Penguins. Morgan Freeman narrates this epic adventure detailing the hardships Emperor penguins endure as they take their annual 100+ mile trip to find a mate. In the Antarctic, every March since the beginning of time, their quest to start [...]
In areas where imported fire ants are found there is always a risk of fire ants entering buildings. With health-care facilities, there is the added risk of fire ants stinging patients who are unable to move or alert others that they need help. Such occurrences can cause serious injury or death for those who are [...]
Jim Nase, Moyer Indoor/Outdoor Pest Control, discussed the experiences he and his companys has had using electronic trap monitoring. Pest management in retail and office facilities in a podcast with PCT magazine. Nase wrote the September PCT "Tech Talk" column Electronic Trap Monitoring — Time-Saving Technology. Nase, an Associate Certified Entomologist, is the Service Manager at Moyer Indoor/Outdoor Pest Control located in [...]
Throughout the summer of 2015, PCT magazine delivered outstanding content on using bait formulations for a variety of pests. In the May issue, there was a section dedicated to the 20 year anniversary of Sentricon and a “State of the Ant Market” report sponsored by Syngenta. In the June issue, several articles and advertisements discussed [...]
Most pest management professionals in the business of handling nuisance wildlife control are aware of devices that can send alerts to them electronically when a trap door closes. But what about alerts for other devices like rat snap traps, mouse snap traps, tube traps and body grip traps used for more common pest scenarios? The [...]
As resistance to multiple pesticides increases in bed bug populations, there have been a number of pest management companies that have switched their treatments to heat chamber treatments. Although fumigation is the most reliable way to completely eliminate a bed bug problem with a single treatment, not all companies have the resources to establish fumigation [...]
Training programs for new service specialists in the pest management industry are different for each company, but usually involve some combination of classroom instruction, online learning, and/or reading and evaluation of company service protocols. Although these components vary, it is common practice to have new service specialists ride along with an experienced, high-performing field technician [...]
Homes, workplaces and other public settings are indoor environments that may harbor organisms responsible for allergen production and allergen accumulation. As pest management professionals, we may be asked by our clients to rid those environments of allergens when health professionals prescribe the reduction and elimination of occupant exposure to allergens. Through understanding allergens and their [...]
Every exterior pesticide application is affected in some way by the weather. The weather conditions that may cause drift are wind, precipitation and temperature inversions. Applications involving small particles of spray, mist or ULV applications are subject to being blown off site to non-target sites by wind or a combination of weather conditions. Most pesticides [...]
Sprayers of all kinds will always repay neglect with irksome malfunctions. As we round the bend into this year’s outdoor invader season, when we’ll depend on sprayers for spider, occasional invader and ant treatments, here are some pointers on keeping handheld, backpack and power sprayers in good health and ready to serve you. Nozzle Worn? [...]