Trafford Pest Control 0161 930 8814

Archive for May, 2011

Being stung by a wasp, hornet or bee is a painful experience and can be life threatening to the one in thirty people who are allergic to stings.

However, it is possible to reduce these risks by taking sensible precautions when outdoors and ensuring that wasp or bee nests are properly managed or dealt with.

If you have been stung by a wasp or bee, please refer to our guide to treating insect stings. This also has information about how to avoid being stung when outdoors.

Wasp Nests.

Take care when dealing with wasps and hornets (a larger member of the wasp family) – they have a potent sting and can attack in large numbers if disturbed.

A wasp trapped indoors can be dealt with using a Wasp & Fly Killer spray.
If you are experiencing high numbers of wasps in your home or garden it is likely that there is a wasp nest nearby.
Wasp pest control.

A single nest may contain thousands of wasps which can swarm and attack if disturbed. If the location of a wasp nest is likely to put people at risk, then the nest should be destroyed.

A queen wasp will start to build a nest in the spring but then as workers hatch they take over nest building.
By early summer, a typical wasp nest will be 30cm across although they can be much larger. Common sites for a wasp nest include under the roof eaves, in lofts or in sheds and out-buildings.

This risk from wasps is particularly high towards the end of summer – it is preferable to destroy a wasp nest earlier in the year before wasps become aggressive.

How to get rid of a wasps nest.

To locate the nest, watch the flight path of returning wasps. If the nest is near the home, keep nearby windows closed. If you suspect the nest is in the loft, take great care in opening and entering the loft space.

Leeds pest control offers a call-out service to destroy wasp nests or any other pest problem in the home. The service is fast, effective and affordable.

Bee pest control in Leeds.

Bees are less aggressive than wasps and much less likely to sting.
Furthermore, since bees are highly beneficial to the environment and some species are under threat, bees should not be killed and nests should be left undisturbed whenever possible.

If a bee nest represents a high risk (such as a nest in the home or a hospital or near those who are allergic to bee stings), the nest can be moved to a safe.

 

Pest control in LondonLeeds wasp nest removal
Article Source

Rat extermination is not as easy a procedure as roach or ant control is. For roaches and ants you can basically spray pesticide and they will be controlled. But it is not so in the case of rats. For rats you will require to adopt a totally diverse approach. Unlike roaches and ants, rats can smell the various dangers around them. They will use each tactic to avoid the different pesticides and sprays, to stay alive. To successfully carry out the rat extermination, you will want to use a variety of do it your self pest control approaches.

When you determine to handle the rat control dilemma your self, the first thing that you really should check out is their place of residence. After locating their living region you must uncover their path into your property. That is how they enter your home. They can come by means of the roof, some holes in the basements or doors. Try to block all the incoming routes for the rats. Usually the rats look to live in a dark places where there is no noise. So you can look into your store rooms for balls of fur. Keep track of all the dark nooks in your residence. Also take notice of their droppings that rats will have left on the way to their holes.

After you have discovered the rats location of residence, you next require to determine on the method of rat extermination that you will utilize. Gather the pest control items that you will be making use of to be a rat killer. There are lots of strategies to control these rodents but which technique to pick will depend on where the rats are residing. You must take into consideration the accessibility of the area. If the region where the rats live is open and huge then you should use a snap trap. In open areas, a snap trap is the most efficient technique to kill the rats. This trap will use bait to lure the rat. Bait is connected to a spring propelled lever which will close or shut down as soon as the rat eats it. In this trap, the death of the rat is immediate with out putting the rat by means of the ignominy of staying in the trap.

Now if the rats are staying in some narrow or closed component of your residence then you should make use of a glue trap. In the glue trap, there is a lengthy strip of glue like substance covered by plastic. In the UK these glue traps are effortlessly accessible at the pest control shops. The plastic gets peeled off and the trap is placed in the rat infected region. As soon the rat actions onto it, it is trapped forever inside it. In this trap the rat is not killed. But the rat can also not escape from the glue trap. There is a plastic bag tied to the glue trap and the rat will be trapped into that. You can dispose of this plastic bag. This will also support in the sense that no other animal will be able to eat the rat inside the plastic trap. By making use of these residence remedy pest control approaches of rat extermination, you can keep your residence free of charge of any sort of rodents.

Hi There
Article Source

Raising bees should be considered as something beneficial to a number of aspects. First, it could be a very good choice for a hobby which can be developed to a profitable small to medium business. Producing quality honey and sell them to a targeted market is something very feasible to accomplish.

Bees are wonderful creatures that play an important role in the pollination of crops. Thus bees are indispensable to ensure a successful harvesting of a farm crops. It is the fact that bee population in some region is declining, hence threatening the supply of crops. Playing this role, bees are also useful to many other plants. Raising bees could be a form of social responsibility as a contribution from your side that aims to keeping nature balance.

Honey and bees have been proven by the medical profession to possess therapeutic values. Honey has been known since ancient time as a remedy for many diseases and to strengthen body immunity. Many natural therapists use bee stings as a cure for some specific illness.

If you find yourself interested in raising bees, here are 5 tips on how to raise bees in a proper and right way.

#1 – Get your beekeeping supplies. Get the things you need to start with, especially those to protect yourself against bee stings. You need a beekeeper suit to cover your whole body while working with your bees. This suit includes a full length jumper, a hat with a veil that can be zipped onto the jumper, gloves and boots. To manage the honey combs in the beehives you may need a hive tool.

A beekeeping smoker is also needed to calm the bees. Smoke creates a feeding effect to the bees, which then overfeed themselves making it hard for them to sting. Smoke also masks the smell of alarming venoms produced by the guard bees, avoiding the bees to go wild.

#2 – Prepare your hives. Hives are the homes of your bees, so prepare it thoroughly. These are actually your ‘honey plants’ where the bees store honey in combs. The number of hives to start with will depend on your purpose. You may need only one or two hives if you decide beekeeping for a hobby. But as a small business you may need at least 10 hives to start with.

What you need to set up your hive is a brood chamber which is the place where the queen bee lays eggs and about five frames which are the place where the bee workers build honeycombs to keep their honey. It is good if you buy one or two extra frames just to anticipate the bees swarming.

Place the hives at the right location. This should be a spot with a study ground where people will not obstruct the ‘traffic’ of the bees into the hives to store honey. It should be kept away from matters that might agitate the bees to sting such us vibrations and loud noises.

It would not be necessary to place the hives near pollinating crops since the bees are able to fly miles away to collect nectar and pollen. Remember to face the hive opening to the east or south, so that it could be warmed by the morning sunlight.

#3 – Get your bees. Make sure that you get them from a reputable breeding source. Buy the European bees strain and avoid the African bees which are known to be highly aggressive and are easily agitated. Buy a colony starter that includes a queen, workers and drones.

The main task of a queen is laying eggs as long as she could, while the poor drone has only one thing to do, mating the queen. The queen will then kill the drone as soon after the mating. Other things such us collecting nectar, guarding the hive, cleaning and feeding the larvae is done by the diligent worker bee.

There will be a necessity to replace the queen bee if she dies. A queen can also leave the hive with a swarm and need to be replaced. This swarming could happen 2 – 3 times during summer. You have two options in getting a new queen. Buy one or you can create one by starting a new colony. In the later case you need to take a frame that contains workers and larvae, and then the workers will eventually feed a selected larva with nutrient-rich food to create their new queen.

#4 – Get your bees start working. To get the bees on working you need to feed them with bees supplement in springtime. You can feed them with pollen supplements as well as sugar and water. The objective is to give them strength prior to the blooming of trees and flowers.

Feeding them with sugar and water also allows them to start building up honey in their honeycombs. As soon as they go out of the hives, they will be able to find the way of their routes of pollen within several days.

You should make a frequent check whether your bees are in good shape and well established in their hive. Remember that during the first year of honey production, the bees need the honey for their own requirement. Hence you should harvest only a little amount of honey and leave a sufficient amount as storage for winter.

#5 – Harvest the honey. Very little could be harvested in the first year, but afterward you can start harvesting substantial amount of honey. Harvesting is indeed the best part of beekeeping.

Check all the honey-filled supers and remove them from the hive at any time to get the honey extracted from the combs. Remove the rubbish or dead bees from the honey comb, and then put back empty frames as replacements.

You will be able to sell the honey in two forms; the liquid honey and the pieces of honey comb. The liquid honey is produced by the mean of a centrifuge to extract honey from the honey combs. While the second form is the original honey comb pieces made by the bees. This form provides some enjoyment to some people who are after the natural honey flavor.

One thing I forgot to mention earlier, which I should address to beginners, is to get a handbook or guide or introductory book. This will provide you with the necessary information on how to manage your hive properly prior to purchasing your bee colony. Happy beekeeping!

Uno Birawan is a writer and wrote a lot about beekeeping. You can find the full scoop of information on how to raise bees in a Beekeeping Book Review by visiting his site www.TheHoneyBeekeeper.com
Article Source

A tiny insect the size of an apple seed is turning vacations into nightmares and giving U.S. travelers the willies every time they enter a hotel room. Cimex lectularius, the common bed bug, returned to American shores in the suitcases of international travelers. Over the past decade this blood-feeding parasite has been hitchhiking its way across the U.S. hidden in the luggage of millions of unsuspecting travelers. Spreading from New York City, the nation’s busiest international gateway, bed bugs have crept relentlessly across American to infest all 50 states.

Over the past few years, bed bug infestations in the U.S. have increased by 500%. Researchers cite travel as the No. 1 cause of bed bug spread and infestation. The New York City Department of Information Technology & Telecommunications recently reported a 50% increase in bed bug complaints at hotels between 2009 and 2010. In heavily infested cities in Ohio, more than 70% of hotels have battled bed bug infestations. According to the NPMA 2010 Comprehensive Global Bed Bug Study conducted in conjunction with the University of Kentucky, 67% of 1,000 pest management firms surveyed reported treating bed bug infestations at a hotel or motel in the past 12 months.

Bed bugs feed on human blood and are not attracted by dirt or filth. “Bed bugs are brought into hotels by guests; it is not a hotel sanitation issue,” the American Hotel and Lodging Association said in a statement. These insects are as likely to be found in a 5-star luxury hotel as a modest 1-star motel. And there’s the rub for travelers. A hotel room that is bed bug free one night can be infested the next. Bed bugs do not live on humans. They crawl into beds to feed, then scurry away, hiding in crevices near beds until the next meal. Suitcases and laptop computers placed on the bed make perfect hiding places for these pests. When travelers check out of an infested hotel room, a few bed bugs are likely to stow away in their luggage, creeping out at the next hotel to infest another room or, even worse, following travelers home.

The growing prevalence of bed bugs in the U.S. is no reason to swear off travel and stay home; but travelers who don’t want to bring bed bugs home with them will want to be proactive before, during and after a trip. Use this handy guide to protect yourself from bed bugs when you travel.

Before you book a hotel room
• Check Bed Bug Registry and Trip Advisor online to see if bed bugs have been reported at your preferred hotel. If you find multiple reports, choose a different hotel. A new iPhone app, Bed Bug Alert by Apps Genius in New York City, also reports bed bug outbreaks in 10 major U.S. cities.

• Call the hotel and ask how often rooms are inspected for bed bugs and whether bed bug-proof encasements are installed on the beds.

Before you leave home
• Install bed bug-proof encasements and box springs on all the beds in your home. 

• Educate yourself about bed bugs so you know what to watch for. Bed bugs are small, flat, wingless insects that feed on human blood. From cream-colored nymphs the size of a poppy-seed, bed bugs progress through 5 larval stages to become reddish brown, 1/4-inch long adults. When they feed, bed bugs leave bloody smears and black fecal dots that look like coffee grounds on bed sheets and mattresses. About 50% of people react to their bites and will exhibit itchy, red, mosquito-like bites, usually in rows or groups of three. Whitish skins shed during molting are another indication of bed bug infestation. 

• Download and print the free New York State Integrated Pest Management Bed Bug Travelers’ Card prepared by Cornell University. This wallet-size card contains bed bug photos and information, making it a handy guide for travelers (and college students).

When you pack
• Pack a small flashlight, disposable gloves and a selection of garbage bags where they will be easily-accessible.

• Choose hard-sided luggage. Bed bugs like to hide in the seams of soft-sided luggage and prefer to lay their eggs on rough surfaces.

• You may want to spray your luggage inside and out with a permethrin-based luggage spray labeled for your particular use. Permethrin provides 2 to 4 weeks of protection against bed bugs. Do not use a house or garden sprays as they have no effect on bed bugs.

• Only pack clothing that can safely be washed in hot water and dried in a hot dryer for a minimum of 30 minutes or dry cleaned.

• Before placing into suitcase, pack clothing and other items into bed bug-proof luggage liners or sealable plastic bags like Ziplock bags. Do not use bags with slider openings as bed bugs can squeeze past sliders to infest bag contents.

When you arrive at your hotel
• Ask to inspect the room before you hand over your credit card.

• Inspect the room following the instructions below.

• If you find evidence of bed bugs, ask for another room in a different part of the hotel or move to another hotel. Do not accept a room that is next to, above or below the infested room as these are the first places bed bugs will migrate as an infestation spreads.

• Repeat the inspection procedure in your new room.

How to inspect a hotel room
• Put your luggage and possessions in the bathtub where bed bugs are least likely to harbor. Bed bugs cannot climb smooth surfaces and prefer to stay near their food source (sleeping humans).

• Put on your disposable gloves and get out your flashlight.

• Start at the bed as 80% of bed bug infestations are found in mattresses and box springs.

• Pull the headboard away from the wall. Bed bugs often harbor in this inaccessible space. If the headboard is attached to the wall with brackets, lift it up and away from the wall (ask a hotel employee for help). Use your flashlight to look for crawling bugs or fecal stains.

• Remove linens and pillows from the beds, inspecting them for bloody smears and black fecal stains.

• Inspect the mattress and box springs, especially seams and piping, for live bugs, shed skins, blood smears and fecal stains.

• Using your flashlight, check the rest of the room, including behind hanging pictures, inside and under drawers (pull drawers all the way out), upholstered furniture, around air vents and along carpet edges.

During your hotel stay
• Keep luggage on luggage racks positioned at least 4 inches from the wall or on hard furniture like a table. If you must place luggage on the floor, place it in resealable plastic bags first. Never lay suitcases or clothing on beds or upholstered furniture.

• Keep suitcases closed when not in use to keep bed bugs from crawling inside.

• Do not unpack your clothing into drawers; keep it inside your suitcase.

• Hang clothing, purses and backpacks in the bathroom or from hangers in the closet.

• Seal purchases in plastic bags.

• Place dirty clothes in disposable bed bug-proof laundry bag or sealed plastic bags.

• Keep shoes in sealed plastic bags.

• Inspect sheets and mattresses for bed bug signs every morning. Request a different room if you wake up with itchy bites or see signs of bed bugs. Some upscale hotels will launder clothing and steam-clean your luggage if bed bugs are found in your room.

When you check out
• Check each item as you pack it, as well as luggage surfaces.

• Seal suitcases in large plastic bags before putting them in your car.

When you return home
• Do not carry suitcases into your house. Unpack on a cleared floor in the garage or laundry room. If you must carry your suitcases through the house to reach the laundry room, seal them in large plastic bags to prevent bed bugs or eggs from falling off and infesting your home. Never unpack on a carpet. Dispose of all bags in an outside trash container.

• Unpack suitcase contents directly into new plastic trash bags, carefully inspecting each item as you unpack it. Dispose of all bags in an outside trash container.

• Sort laundry into trash bags, one load per bag. Even unworn clothing should be laundered. Dispose of all bags in an outside trash container.

• Carry clothes directly to washer and launder in hottest water possible (minimum 120 degrees) and dry at hottest setting for 60 minutes. Remove used bags from home immediately.

• Clothing that cannot be washed should be taken to the dry cleaners in a sealed plastic bag. Alert the cleaners that bed bugs may be present. Make certain that they dispose of all bags.

• Items that cannot be laundered should be frozen in sealed plastic bags for 2 weeks.

• Carefully inspect suitcases with a flashlight, brushing surfaces with a stiff-bristled brush to dislodge any eggs. Vacuum thoroughly and immediately dispose of vacuum bag. Store suitcases in sealed plastic bags in the garage. Never store suitcases in or near bedrooms.

• Vacuum entire house and promptly dispose of sweeper bag in the outside trash.

• For the next few weeks, inspect beds daily for bed bug signs.

What to do if bed bugs follow you home
If, despite all your precautions, you discover evidence of bed bugs in your home after traveling, immediately contact a licensed pest control company with an expertise in bed bug extermination. Bed bugs are extremely prolific insects. During its 6- to 12-month lifespan, a female bed bug can lay 500 eggs with offspring capable of reproducing within a month. Prompt treatment by a pest management professional in the early stages of infestation can save you money and prevent bed bugs from spreading through your home.

Jesse Eaton is a member of the pest professional team at ChemTec Pest Control. This New Jersey based pest control firm serves commercial and residential clients. ChemTec Pest Control is located at 186 Saddle River Road, Saddle Brook, NJ. You can reach the bed bug experts at ChemTec Pest Control at (201) 843-0780 or by email at wecare@chemtecpest.com. Please visit us on the Web at www.chemtecpest.com (http://www.chemtecpest.com).
Article Source

Pharoah ants are about 2 mm longs, and have a two-segmented petiole. Antennae are 12 segments and with a three segmented club at the end. They are yellowish or light brown to reddish. They do have a stinger but are unable to sting. The queens are similar in color to workers but about twice the size. Most ants are omnivores that feed on a wide variety of foods. The light yellow or reddish pharoah ant nests inside of buildings and isn’t picky in its choice of foods. Sanitation is the one essential element to deter the Pharoah ant.

There diet can change based on availability and colony needs such as egg production and larval growth. They rarely nest in walls of buildings, as the Pharoah ant. Summer months the ant colonies dietary needs will shift to carbohydrates, a primary source of energy.

Due to the small size of the Pharoah and they are often confused with the Theif Ant. The nesting habits of ghost ants are similar to Pharoah ants. These ants are notorious for the fact that these ants are know to create satalite colonies. An application of a residual insecticides, often triggers a separation of colonies into numerous satalite colonies. These ants also forage long distances, and forage both day and night. Their trails are often hidden behind baseboards, cabinets and walls where they are using wires and pipes to travel.

Argentine and Pharoah ant colonies have many queens and millions of workers in an enormous conglomeration of interlocking nests. Pharoah ants are monomorphic meaning the workers are all the same size. Their size is determined by the quantity and quality of the food they receive as larva. They will have multiple queens and she lives for approximately 200 days. Larvae that are sufficiently fed can become queens in a pharaoh colony.

The light yellow or reddish pharoah ant nests inside of buildings and isn’t picky in its choice of foods. Sanitation is the one essential element to deter the Pharoah ant.

Effective control of ants is often long term, using a baiting solution in every area where the ants are known to forage. Unlike most ants, the pharoah ant is polygynous, meaning its colonies contain many queens. Pest control of Pharoah ants are usually much harder than other ants because of their ability to disperse.

The Pharoah ant will forage night or day and are a common problem in hotels, grocery stores, hospitals and apartment complexes. Also, the foods eaten by this ant are similar to those of the Pharoah ant. College campuses are excellent breeding grounds for the Pharoah ant, especially the kitchen or dormitories.

The Pharoah ant, also called sugar ants and other trailing house ants can come into your house in search of sugary foods. There is only one sure solution to pharoah ants and that is to use the insect growth regulator methoprene in an ant bait.

Control of the Pharoah ant is difficult and can be time consuming, but by knowing their characteristics and foraging habits one can effective control any Pharoah ant colony no matter what the size.

Online sites like ePestSolutions offer a wide range of pest control products and pest control supplies to control every type of pests and insects. From control of termites, bed bugs and cockroaches to moles, pigeons and scorpions. All insecticides and pest control products are for do it yourself pest control.
Article Source