Relocating bee swarms, funding bee research and promoting beekeeping are just some of the ways Abell Pest Control, Ontario, Canada, protects pollinators and raises awareness of the worldwide bee population decline. As part of its Abell Saves Bees program, the company distributed 10,000 wildflower seed packets this summer to celebrate World Honey Bee Day (held in September).
Abell Saves Bees was started in 2017 after the company completed a swarm relocation and began reviewing its role in saving and protecting bees, said Mike Heimbach, director of business development and marketing, Abell. “As pest control professionals, we know a lot about insects. And, while we’re often charged with controlling insects that pose risks to people, we’re also highly educated and really fascinated with the ones that are beneficial to the public,” he said.
The packets, sent out as part of various mail campaigns, allow Abell customers to plant a small wildflower garden for wild bees. Planting the flowers is especially important in urban centers where bees do not have as much access to wildflowers, Heimbach said.
The company hopes the wildflowers will promote bee health awareness while also generating interest in the University of Guelph’s School of Environmental Sciences Honey Bee Research Centre, where Abell pledged $25,000 in scholarships over five years for bee research.
An Abell employee relocates a bee swarm. Swarm relocation is an important part of the Abell Saves Bees program.
An important goal for the Abell Saves Bees effort is to fund and promote research surrounding bees and the declining worldwide bee population. In addition, Abell aims to spread bee welfare awareness by encouraging its employees and the public to get involved. One way Abell does this is by building beehives and participating in beekeeping. According to Heimbach, the company now has six beehives throughout Canada. “Every cause is important, but this is a cause that people at Abell really get behind and there’s been a lot of people wanting to start beehives,” Heimbach said. “It just creates a lot of really interesting activity for us.”
Another aspect of Abell’s bee work, and the root of its Abell Saves Bees effort, is swarm relocation. The company routinely gets calls about honey bee swarms and relocation requests from the public, Heimbach said. To properly manage swarms, Abell will coordinate beekeepers who can properly move the swarm to a safe location and will cover the costs for individuals who made the initial call.
“It’s functionally very important, too, because swarms, they can get into people’s homes and bad places and cause a lot of problems,” Heimbach said. “And if you capture them while there’s still a swarm instead of waiting — if you’re willing to do that — then you’re going to save a beehive swarm that could end up getting destroyed otherwise.”
Heimbach added that he is always happy to talk to groups about honey bees and that he and Abell are continually seeking ways to promote pollinator protection. — Erin Ross
Steps for Control of Fire Ants in Residential Locations
Fire ants are a common pest across much of the southern United States. Quite often, they enter structures seeking food, water and shelter. When it comes to treating fire ant infestations for a typical home with a monolithic slab, there is a process that has served me well. Below are the steps I take to combat fire ants in these types of homes:
STEP 1: CHECK THE PERIMETER. The most likely entry point for fire ants is along the exterior of the home. Inspect the perimeter looking for mounds built right up against the foundation and ants trailing into a weep hole between bricks or under the siding. The location of ants on the exterior may not be near where ants are found inside the home. Fire ants are very good at traveling inside walls and under flooring and popping up in seemingly random locations in the house. Once mounds and trails are located, they should be treated directly. Additional treatment to the yard and the interior of the home may be necessary. Follow product labels for application sites and rates.
STEP 2: CHECK THE BATH TRAP. If fire ants are not found on the perimeter, the next place to check is the bath trap. This area is located where bathtub drains enter the floor. Because there is accessible soil in this area, an active mound may be present. Fire ants entering the bath trap also may be found in other, sometimes distant, locations within the home. Treat with a product that will provide a quick knockdown to achieve immediate results. Since fire ants are capable of moving extra soil into this area, this soil should be removed after treatment. If the bath trap is not accessible, an inspection door can be installed with the permission of the homeowner. If not possible, then move on to the following steps.
STEP 3: CHECK OTHER PLUMBING PENETRATIONS. If you don’t have success with the first two steps, things can get more complicated. Locally, we often find fire ants in bathrooms with garden tubs. A garden tub is usually mounted in a corner with two exterior walls. Fire ants enter around the plumbing or bath trap and build mounds between the basin and walls of the tub. In some cases, panels can be removed to allow this area to be inspected and treated. In others, the panels are caulked or the tub is a solid piece that sits on the slab.
If accessible, the ants can be directly treated. This is a good situation to use a dust because it provides long-term control. Always check the label to make sure a product can be applied in the desired location. If this area is not accessible, then the best remaining options are baits and non-repellent perimeter treatments. In both cases the goal is to impact ants from under the tub as they forage out into the yard. Application is most important on the exterior walls near where the tub is located. This treatment may require additional time to be effective, but it will be successful. Baiting on the inside where ants are seen is also an option, as long as there is not a risk to children or pets and the product is labeled for application to that site.
STEP 4. LOOK FOR THE UNSEEN OR UNEXPECTED. If ants are not found in any of the areas discussed previously then it is likely that ants are entering through a crack in the slab or other opening under the walls and flooring that will not be able to be detected. In those situations, I resort to a baiting or non-repellent liquid treatment as discussed in step 3.
This technique was used recently in a home where a wood floor was placed on top of a slab. Boards were glued to the floor several inches apart with the main floor installed over the top of these runners. The very beautiful and expensive wood floor had occasional knot holes that extended all the way through the floorboards. Having exhausted all these ideas, we tried applying a granular bait through the knot holes and were able to control the fire ants. The ants seem to have found a crack in the slab and were actively foraging in the void between the slab and floorboard runners.
FINAL THOUGHTS. Each situation is unique and there certainly will be challenges that extend beyond these steps. Fire ants can be found living in a variety of locations, which adds to the complexity of treating for them. However, one factor in our favor is that fire ants are extremely good foragers and will gladly accept bait placed in active areas. When it comes to fire ants, there really is value to thinking outside of the box and placing bait where the ants will find it.
Bart Foster earned his bachelor of science and Ph.D. degrees in entomology from Texas A&M University and currently serves as training and technical manager of Beaumont, Texas-based Bill Clark Pest Control. Bill Clark Pest Control is part of the Copesan network of local service providers.
Copesan is an alliance of pest management companies with locations throughout North America. To learn more, visit www.copesan.com.
Product Stewardship and Bait Rotation: Why Does it Matter?
In recent communications with some manufacturers, I inquired about how much money is spent bringing a new product to market. For a single product, they told me it costs upwards of $286 million and 11 to 12 years of research and development. Some of the larger companies are investing $1 to $3 million a day in research and development. Now, obviously there is a big difference between $3 million a day and $280 million over 12 years. That is because there is significant research invested into things that never make it to market, things that only make it to agricultural or turf markets or other parts of the world. This investment is huge, and we as pest management professionals have a duty to respect the products we are given and protect their effectiveness for as long as possible.
BAIT MATRICES. One of the most important things to consider when selecting a bait is the bait matrix. A bait matrix is the food attractant that draws the pest in or provides the yummy bits for the pest to eat. Nutrition requirements change for pests throughout the year. For example, ants are not that different from humans. They require a diet of proteins, carbs (sugars) and fats in varying quantities to stay healthy. These dietary needs may fluctuate as the seasons do. Additionally, the species of ant will have differences in dietary needs and preferences.
Just as your food preferences change, pests also will shift away from a food matrix that they have liked for extended periods of time. Do you really like to eat the same thing for every meal of every day? Of course not! I love pasta, but there are just some days that I want to choose something else.
Something else that might cause bait aversion are sub-lethal effects. I had a sub-lethal effect with some Mexican food once and it kept me from eating it for a while. Pests are no different. If they get sick from eating a food, they likely will not eat from it again.
It is critical to implement bait rotation into your program. Regularly swapping between active ingredients, and even more importantly the class of the active, is important to prevent insecticidal resistance. Swapping between matrices is equally important to provide for pest nutritional needs, food preferences and to preserve the investment of the manufacturers. If the pests tire from eating the baits, the baits stop working.
PROACTIVE PLACEMENTS. Another consideration in product stewardship is the elimination of proactive placements of baits. This is really a core tenant of IPM. If you do not have a pest, what are you baiting for? What species are you expecting? What is driving the choice of bait to use? If you cannot answer these questions, then your bait placement is wasted. Your money is wasted.
A secondary consideration related to product stewardship is that old bait is not palatable to pests. Have you ever been to an account where there is old bait dried up in the cracks and crevices? If pests would not still eat it, why is it there?
This lack of palatability goes back to the first topic, bait aversion. Let’s say I am treating a park local to you and me. I think you might visit it someday, so I leave out a delicious, yet laced-with-a-toxic-product hamburger for you. Even if you come by just a day later are you going to eat it? No! And you don’t even know that it’s toxic! Proactive placements do not work and should be stopped!
RODENTICIDES. I recently took a poll in an online group and asked about bait rotations. I admit, there was not a high response rate. I do not know if that was because people did not see it or if people were afraid to answer the question. But what I found through the responses I got was that people tended to rotate insect baits, but not so much their rodenticides. Rodenticide rotation is slightly different than insecticide rotation, but nonetheless just as important.
There has not been a new active in the rodenticide market in some time, but there are new bait matrices. We, as an industry, seem to rotate baits when we think there might be resistance. Do you have accounts where you have seen a decline in feeding on the exterior stations? Have you considered that the lack of feeding on your baits might be because rodents are choosing to feed on different things and not that you have controlled the populations? Our rodenticide manufacturers invest lots of money into making different types of rodenticides to allow for a proper rotation. The formulation of the blocks (or soft baits) are different. The compositions of seeds, meals and odors are different. The actives are different.
You may be saying right now, “Yeah, but most of what I use is a second-generation bait, so switching actives to another second gen won’t help!” You would be incorrect. Even between the different actives there are slightly different receptors in the rodents that will make a difference in your results. Do not forget that there are other options as well. There are still first-generation products and non-anticoagulants available to mix into rotations if needed.
RESPONSIBILITY. Each product that is passed down to us from a manufacturer is a $286 million gift. We as industry professionals have a duty to protect those gifts for as long as possible. One of the easiest methods is by rotating products. Keeping a rotation plan in place prevents pests from growing accustomed to any bait matrix. Consider a quarterly rotation to get started.
If we as an industry do not protect these products, we will either continue to lose tools from our toolbox, or the cost of our products will continue to rise.
The author is senior technical services manager at Rollins in Atlanta.
Education Made Easy
Features - PCT Event
PCT’s Virtual Rodent Control Conference will be held in December. Attend from your home or office!
Rodent control is one of the pest control industry’s most dynamic and profitable vertical market segments. Even in the midst of a pandemic, rodent control and public health continues to generate headlines, with rodent activity increasing in many urban areas as a result of the traditional food sources for these pests being disrupted by restaurant closures and stay-at-home orders.
With the industry’s increased emphasis on rodent control, it should come as no surprise that a significant amount of innovation is occurring in the marketplace, including new and improved rodenticide formulations; the introduction of IoT-based rodent monitoring systems; and the latest advancements in trapping technology. If you are thinking about expanding your rodent control service offerings or learning more about new opportunities in this dynamic marketplace, you won’t want to miss PCT’s Virtual Rodent Conference featuring an impressive speaker faculty of leading rodent experts on Wednesday, December 2.
Sessions and speakers include:
Dan Moreland
Rodent Control: A State of the Market Report
Speaker: Dan Moreland, Publisher, PCT Media Group
Kevin Van Hook
Wildlife Exclusion: Keys to Success
Speaker: Kevin Van Hook, Regional Vice President of Operations, Home Services Region, Arrow Exterminators
Dr. Bobby Corrigan
60-Minute Master’s Class: Rodent Management
Speaker: Dr. Bobby Corrigan, President, RMC Pest Management Consulting
Hal Coleman
Marketing Tips & Strategies to Grow Your Rodent & Wildlife Business
Speaker: Hal Coleman, President, Coleman Services
Dr. Niamh Quinn
Rodenticide Pathways & Non-Target Exposure: Lessons from Calif.
Speaker: Dr. Niamh Quinn, University of California Cooperative Extension
MGK recently introduced Sumari Insecticide, an all-in-one solution that provides fast-acting and long-lasting residual control of ants, including multi-queen species, MGK says. Sumari incorporates NyGuard IGR (insect growth regulator) for maximum efficacy, the company adds.
“The development of Sumari was driven by the feedback we received from pest management professionals. So, we are super excited to offer Sumari as an ant control tool designed to enhance PMPs’ business,” said Steve Gullickson, president of MGK.
Sumari was created specifically for PMPs. During development, the MGK team identified several areas PMPs found challenging with ant control.
“With Sumari, treatments can be made with confidence even outdoors against challenging pest ant species, including multi-queen and multi-nest colonies, for 90 days,” said Jessica Strange-George, research and development department manager at MGK. “Excellent formulation stability means less tank agitation, and the combination of long-lasting residual and IGR reduces time spent tank-mixing different formulations. Sumari provides everything you need in an ant control concentrate in one bottle.”
Sumari’s versatility distinguishes it from other products, MGK says. In addition to ants, Sumari kills a wide variety of pests, including aphids, flies, fleas, mosquitoes and more. With no signal word and minimal PPE requirements (no gloves, goggles or respirators), mixing and application are simplified, saving PMPs both time and money, the company says.
“We designed Sumari to simplify ant control. With its flexible label, PMPs only need one product for indoor and outdoor use, including outdoor broadcast applications,” said Brian Krelitz, senior marketing manager at MGK.
Bell Laboratories introduces the new Protecta EVO Tunnel, a versatile yet economical way to protect traps at accounts, the company says.
Protecta EVO Tunnel can be used indoors or outdoors, and can be secured to fences or pipes via cable ties in both the vertical and horizontal position. With a low and discreet profile, the EVO Tunnel provides tamper-resistant coverage of a variety of rat and mouse traps.
Trapper EVO Tunnel accommodates two Trapper T-REX rat snap traps or two Trapper T-REX iQ rat snap traps, which are secured into the EVO Tunnel base. The EVO Tunnel also can provide cover for mouse-sized products such as two Mini-REX mouse snap traps, two Trapper Mouse glue trays or two Trapper MAX glue boards. The Protecta EVO Tunnel opens and locks quickly with Bell’s EVO key, and EVO TUNNEL stations are stackable for easy handling.
When the EVO Tunnel is used in tandem with the Trapper T-REX or T-REX iQ, the result is a system that meets stringent NAWAC animal welfare standards established in New Zealand and recognized around the world.
Protecta EVO Tunnel is the latest addition to the extensive range of EVO Tamper Resistant rodent bait stations from Bell Laboratories, including Protecta EVO Express, Trapper EVO Ambush, Protecta EVO Circuit, Protecta EVO Landscape, Protecta EVO Mouse, Protecta EVO Edge and Protecta EVO Weighted Landscape.
Fipronil-Plus-C is a unique formulation of fipronil in combination with cellulose technology that allows for the active ingredient to be applied at lower dose rates with high efficacy against listed pests, the manufacturer says. Fipronil-Plus-C is labeled for both indoor and outdoor use; it has reduced toxicity; it is protected from UV and microbial degradation; and offers long-lasting protection. This results in less callbacks and significant savings for the PMP, Arizona Chemical reports. Visit the company’s website to read testimonials and see labels, SDS and other information on the new product.
BedBug Central’s product line SenSci introduces Peel & Stick Filters from Ascent Consumer Products to help ensure companies and clients are protected from the spread of COVID-19, as well as other airborne particles, the company says.
“As soon as we saw the product, we knew we could make a difference in the fight against COVID-19,” said Phil Cooper, owner of BedBug Central. “This product gives us the chance to be a part of the solution and help stop the spread of COVID-19.”
Ascent Consumer Products, the Peel & Stick filter’s manufacturer, selected BedBug Central through its SenSci product line, to be the master distributor for their filters through all business-to-business channels.
The Peel & Stick filters, which are made in the U.S.A., feature a three-layer breathable material with a 60-hour lifespan. They filter out 99 percent of airborne particles, bacteria, dust, mold and pollen down to 0.1 microns, in a study conducted by Nelson Labs. These filters can adhere to any facial covering to increase the mask’s efficiency, up to a N95 level, BedBug Central reports.
Mark Paine, vice president of Ascent Consumer Products, explained that the Peel & Stick filters help provide increased protection against viruses, like COVID-19 and other airborne particles. “The only other filters available on the market are not made in the U.S.A., do not have the peel and stick, and are active carbon filters only,” Paine said. “The CDC, FDA and WHO are saying that one layer of protection is not enough and you need a minimum of two layers. Our three-layered breathable filters plus the one additional layer of the mask, offers you the best level of protection currently available.”
Rob DiJoseph, president of BedBug Central, added, “The Peel & Stick filters significantly raise the bar when it comes to the safety of the mask-wearer and the people they come in contact with. By adding the filter to any mask, the wearer is increasing their mask to the efficiency of a N95 level without sacrificing the limited supply of actual N95 masks for health-care professionals and first responders.”
The Peel & Stick filters are packaged in 36-count packs.
While inspecting attics for opportunities to incorporate EPA-registered TAP Pest Control Insulation services, Pest Control Insulation says it is often wise for pest management and wildlife professionals to determine the temperature and moisture or humidity readings in the attic as well as look for existing or potential water leaks. PCI now carries a full line of pin and pinless moisture meters by General Tools & Instruments to assist with inspections. PMPs can measure temperature, relative humidity, moisture levels using a pin sensor, and moisture levels using a pad sensor, regardless of the application and moisture level.
“The complete line of moisture meters and replacement parts are simply another innovative way we support the pest management and wildlife industry,” says Jay Mancin, chief financial officer for Pest Control Insulation.
Bart foster, ph.d.
Glen Ramsey, B.C.E.
