Monday, March 18, 2024

Identify cockroaches through IPM

Michael Boyd

Michael Boyd

As a former technician, I’ve encountered numerous instances of active cockroach infestations within residential settings. Addressing such issues requires a systematic approach.

Identification is the first crucial step in an integrated pest management (IPM) strategy. Through meticulous monitoring, document both live and dead cockroaches, as well as the presence of fecal matter. This sets a threshold for your action plan, so you can then move on to treatment and prevention.

The most important preventive step in cockroach IPM is cleanliness and sanitation. Remove all food and debris from affected areas of harborage and use a vacuum with HEPA filtration to remove dead cockroaches and their castings. Follow up with a thorough cleaning, using environmentally friendly cleaning solutions. This will reveal otherwise hidden points of entry or moisture sources, which can be repaired or simply filled with caulking. Clean and dry trash cans, and move them away from food sources.

After appropriate treatment, use glue boards to monitor progress during follow-up visits.

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from Pest Management Professional https://www.mypmp.net/2024/03/18/identify-cockroaches-through-ipm/
Sacramento CA

Aprehend: Free training for PMPs

IMAGE: APREHEND

IMAGE: APREHEND

ConidioTec, makers of Aprehend, offers a free series of seven short videos on its YouTube channel that discusses information essential to successful treatment for bed bug prevention and elimination. Starting with bed bug biology in segment one and ending with Aprehend storage and handling, viewers will finish the series with understanding and confidence for success with Aprehend. The entire series is 36 minutes in duration.

Topics included: customer prep, assessment-based pest management, strategic barrier placement, complimentary products, and customer education. Also, find tips and tricks that make pest management professionals’ (PMPs’) bed bug work faster and easier.

This Aprehend Training video series is essential for new Aprehend users, as a brush-up, or anyone doing bed bug work. Viewers can watch at their convenience, whether that’s in the evenings via mobile device or as a team at the weekly staff meeting.

The Aprehend Channel offers more than Aprehend Training. Find a playlist with ConidioTecTips — useful hints to boost efficiency and efficacy in the field. Another playlist is devoted to Aprehend equipment use, and yet another for troubleshooting and maintenance of your Aprehend equipment. There are even overview videos that explain Aprehend, which can useful for PMPs when their clients ask, “What is Aprehend and how does it work?”

ConidioTec also offers free live zoom bed bug training for your team. It can be personalized and focused to fit your needs. Contact them at orders@conidiotec.com to set it up.

About Aprehend

Aprehend is manufactured by ConidioTec, a privately held company based in Centre Hall, Pa. Its initial product, Aprehend, was launched in 2017 based on technology licensed from Pennsylvania State University. Aprehend is now sold throughout the U.S. and Canada and is increasingly relied upon for challenging infestations in residences, multi-unit housing, rental properties, long-term care facilities and commercial properties.

Bit.ly/3VVq0hk

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from Pest Management Professional https://www.mypmp.net/2024/03/18/aprehend-free-training-for-pmps/
Sacramento CA

Friday, March 15, 2024

Dusts contributing to cockroach control

Dr. Cisse Spragins

Dr. Cisse Spragins, founder and CEO, Rockwell Labs

Dusts can be excellent tools for cockroach control. Both boric acid and silica dusts, for example, are odorless and non-repellent and will not interfere with baits. Boric acid is the best option in damp areas like commercial kitchens and needs to be ingested to kill.

Self-grooming insects such as cockroaches pick up the dust when walking through it and ingest it when grooming.

Boric acid dust that is super-fine milled will stick to insects. When applied to areas with organic build-up, it effectively turns the gunk into “bait” upon which cockroaches (and small flies) feed and die.

Silica dust kills by contact, causing rapid dehydration and death. It’s an ideal choice for areas that aren’t washed down regularly, such as multi-family and residential accounts.

Both types of dust are mineral-based, so they don’t break down. They are effective until physically removed.

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from Pest Management Professional https://www.mypmp.net/2024/03/15/dusts-contributing-to-cockroach-control/
Sacramento CA

Using abamectin for pest control

Sylvia Kenmuir, BCE

Sylvia Kenmuir, BCE

Abamectin is a unique active ingredient, despite being a long-standing tool in pest management. Derived from a soil microorganism (Streptomyces avermitilis), it functions as a broad-spectrum nerve toxin. When formulated into dry flowable bait, it can reduce exposure to non-target insects.

As a dry flowable bait, abamectin can be effective against ants, cockroaches and other crawling insects. The beauty of the formulation is that it allows the product to penetrate deep harborage sites.

Cockroaches have two ways of interacting with abamectin-based dry flowable formulations: they either directly consume the bait, or the fine particles will cling to their bodies as they crawl through a treatment. Later, as they preen themselves, cockroaches will ingest the bait. It’s essential to note that dry flowable baits are not insecticidal dusts, so review the label and apply in accordance with the label instructions.

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from Pest Management Professional https://www.mypmp.net/2024/03/15/using-abamectin-for-pest-control/
Sacramento CA

Marketing blueprint helps guide growth

PHOTO: THE PEST POSSE

PHOTO: THE PEST POSSE

To set yourself up for success in 2024, you need a plan. On a recent Pest Posse TV live stream — a monthly segment I host with The Pest Posse Co-owner Culley Christensen — guest Casey Lewis, CEO of Rhino Digital Media, discussed a marketing plan spreadsheet he developed specifically for pest control companies.

This spreadsheet serves as a comprehensive blueprint for both the marketing agency and the pest control company, facilitating the clarification of goals, strategies and budget allocation. Through annual discussions about objectives and required resources, the spreadsheet offers a structured approach to collaboration and accountability. It enables the tracking of progress, identification of areas for adjustment, and a focus on business development rather than solely on operational tasks.

Lewis emphasized the significance of setting clear goals for effective planning and execution, as well as the necessity of defining revenue targets with precision and understanding how they translate into actionable steps.

Hitting sales goals

Pest control companies must concentrate on generating new revenue streams and maintain consistency in their sales efforts throughout the year, especially considering seasonal fluctuations in demand. Understanding the average customer value and conversion rates is crucial for achieving sales goals. Lewis underscored the importance of thoroughly assessing all leads, even those outside your immediate service area, to enhance conversion rates and optimize marketing endeavors. Other points we discussed include:

  • A comprehensive marketing plan and budget are indispensable.
  • It’s crucial to track sales and marketing efforts accurately to gauge success.
  • Implementing mechanisms to manage and measure marketing endeavors, rather than relying solely on intuition, is essential.

Monitoring progress

Lewis also brought up several points about the importance of both ongoing training and evaluating sales processes. This is the checks-and-balances process to ensure what you’re implementing is working. He also advised:

  • A strategic, long-term commitment to marketing is necessary, including budgeting funds for marketing activities.
  • Try using tools such as Google Locker Studio to monitor leads, sales and return on investment (ROI). Doing so can provide insights into the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns.

Watch a full live replay of this episode at PestPosseTV.com at pestpossetv.com/programs/2024-marketing-blueprint.


PHOTO: THE PEST POSSE

PHOTO: THE PEST POSSE

Tune into Pest Posse TV

April guests include:

  • April 1: Erin Gilchrist, IntelliShift, marks Distracted Driving Awareness Month
  • April 8: Dr. Tim Husen, BCE, PHE, PCQI, Syngenta, presents “Cockroaches 101”
  • April 15: Heather Patterson, CSI, offers company updates
  • April 22: FLYght Duo field installation and review
  • April 29: Secret weapon for commercial kitchens

Watch all this and more at PestPosseTV.com

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from Pest Management Professional https://www.mypmp.net/2024/03/15/marketing-blueprint-helps-guide-growth/
Sacramento CA

Rockwell Labs: EcoVia MT Mosquito & Tick Control Concentrate

IMAGE: ROCKWELL LABS

IMAGE: ROCKWELL LABS

EcoVia MT Mosquito & Tick Control is an advanced, specially formulated botanical concentrate for mosquito and tick control. It is exempt under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) 25(b) provision. EcoVia MT delivers quick kill control and residual repellency for optimal mosquito and tick management. Its concentrated formula results in low use rates (0.33 ounces per gallon for mosquitoes and deer ticks), and it mixes easily and stays in solution. Like other FIFRA 25(b) products, there are no notification requirements (recommend verification with your state regulations), and no water set-back or pyrethroid application restrictions. It also offers minimal risk to pollinators. EcoVia MT can be applied in compressed air sprayers, mist blowers and foggers. Its water-based formula will not leave behind an oily residue. Available in a 16-ounce and a 64-ounce tip-n-measure bottle, this Green Zone product is suitable for green service programs.

About Rockwell Labs

Founded in 1998 by Pest Management Professional Hall of Famer Dr. Cisse Spragins (Class of 2018), North Kansas City, Mo.-based Rockwell Labs offers products that are conceptualized, developed and formulated in-house. New products undergo extensive testing in-house, in the field and at major universities before they are produced and launched in the professional market.

RockwellLabs.com

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from Pest Management Professional https://www.mypmp.net/2024/03/15/rockwell-labs-ecovia-mt-mosquito-tick-control/
Sacramento CA

Thursday, March 14, 2024

PMP responds to news of U.S. plague death

Dan Baldwin

Dan Baldwin

The New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) announced March 8 that a Lincoln County man died of plague after being hospitalized for the disease.

The case is the first human case of bubonic plague in New Mexico since 2021 and the first death since 2020.

Plague is a bacterial disease of rodents and is generally spread to humans through the bites of infected fleas. It can also spread by direct contact with infected animals, including rodents, wildlife and pets. Dogs and cats that are allowed to roam and hunt can bring infected fleas from dead rodents back into the home, putting household members at risk.

NMDOH staff is conducting outreach to area residents. An environmental assessment will also be conducted in the community to look for ongoing risk.

The last human plague case in the state was a Torrance County resident in 2021. In 2020, there were four human plague cases: one in Santa Fe County, two in Torrance County and one fatal case in Rio Arriba County.

Pest Management Professional turned to one of its frequent contributors and Editorial Advisory Board member Dan Baldwin, BCE, CCFS, CP-FS, REHS/RS, vice president of technical services for Hawx Pest Control in Tombstone, Ariz. Here is his take on what these recent incidents could mean to the professional pest management industry:

Collectively, we have short memories, forgetting how not so long ago, pests represented much more of a threat to human health here in North America. 

Much of the population doesn’t know that the plague involved rodents and fleas, that Hanta involves rodents, and just think about how a few years ago, Zika was the lead story…until Covid. 

Thanks in no small part to the efforts of pest prevention professionals and public agencies, much of the population lives in areas that are far from natural reservoirs of organisms that cause serious illnesses, but that doesn’t mean that the hazards don’t exist, it just means the risk of encountering one of these reservoirs is relatively small for most people. 

Just because the North American reservoirs are small and isolated, however, doesn’t mean they don’t exist. Neither does it mean that a pest-borne illness isn’t always one series of interactions from becoming a public health crisis. 

No, you really shouldn’t deliver that message to your customers, there’s no need for scare tactics. What you should do, however, is be mindful of the hazards. But as professionals, we’re guilty of forgetting, or perhaps minimizing the association between pest activity and disease.

When we perform a service to eliminate a German cockroach infestation, do we recommend clean up and santization services? When rodents or other wildlife pests are involved? Do we always wear the proper PPE, recommend clean up and sanitization? What about flea control services after a rodent infestation? Sanitizing after a rodent service? Gosh I hope so. I guess that brings us right back to the plague, doesn’t it?

There is a background level of plague in the U.S., with an average of seven cases per year. New Mexico, from where this latest case originates, has the highest number of cases, with over 250 cases from 1970 to 2020. 

The underlying message is that, although we are fortunate to live where vector borne illnesses are rare, the potential for encountering pathogens exists; we need to be mindful of that while serving the needs of our customers. 

What are your thoughts on plague on the industry? Sound off below or email pmpeditor@northcoastmedia.net.

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from Pest Management Professional https://www.mypmp.net/2024/03/14/pmp-responds-to-news-of-u-s-plague-deaths/
Sacramento CA