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Archive for June, 2011

Wasps are a common summertime problem for homeowners throughout the country. Finding and removing their nests is usually best left to a professional pest control company for many reasons. Those with children or who are susceptible to allergic reactions must be especially cautious, as a wasp’s venom can cause serious, sometimes fatal, reactions. Additionally, many homeowners may be unable to effectively reach and remove wasp nests themselves.

The best way to prepare yourself and understand what you are dealing with is to first determine the type of wasp you’ve encountered. Wasps are classified as either solitary or social. If you come across a wasp that’s flying solo, and it does not head towards others or an evident nest, you are most likely seeing a solitary wasp. Solitary wasps generally won’t bother you or your family unless provoked; however, unlike solitary wasps, social wasps build nests and congregate in swarms. Once a nest is formed, these feisty pests will continue to return to that location and become territorial. This is when a homeowner’s problems start.

Most wasps prefer to build their bulbous nests in protected, shaded areas such as under eaves, porch roofs, decking, sheds and steps. Wasp nests are often hard to locate because wasps can easily maneuver into small spaces, burrow into the ground or construct their nests high into the canopy of trees. One of the easiest ways to locate a nest is to wait until dusk and observe the wasps’ flight pattern. This will often lead you to the area of their specific dwelling. If you do come across a nest, be sure to contact a professional pest control company. Years of experience enable pest management professionals to quickly and efficiently identify and remove any wasp nests they’ve located on your property.

Most pest management professionals will offer homeowners the option of chemical free wasp removal for foraging wasps that have become bothersome. The most common option used to naturally remove wasps is through the use of traps. Typically these contain a pesticide-free liquid that lure the wasps into the trap and are designed to make an escape improbable. Unlike homemade traps, professional traps are more successful because of their construction and placement. Made of high-quality materials with specially designed apertures, pest management professionals will strategically place these traps around your property where wasps habitually forage. These areas include outdoor bars, gardens, outside eating areas, near patios, and children’s play areas.

In addition to traps, pest management professionals may offer organic sprays as a removal option. Much like chemical pesticides, organic sprays are applied directly to wasp nests and work quickly to kill the wasps. Unlike chemical pesticides, however, organic sprays offer homeowners peace of mind in regards to the impact on their health, the soil, and overall environment.

Typically, the treated nest is left in its location after spraying. This ensures that returning wasps are also eradicated once they enter the nest. Additionally, wasps that return to find their home removed will typically build a new one.  By leaving the treated wasp nests in place, the pest management professional is applying an effective control measure for the future.

The hardest wasp nests to remove are those located within walls. If you hear concentrated and un-nerving buzzing sounds from within a wall, the best way to proceed is to immediately call a pest control company.  Serious damage can be done by wasps that form nests on the inside of walls. Do not make the mistake of trying to kill any you may see outside the wall. This will only result in the remaining wasps moving farther into the wall and adjoining woodwork. Another mistake people often make is using an aerosol spray in this situation. Spraying an aerosol through a hole and into the wall will eventually lead to the adult and larva wasps rotting once perished. Furthermore, extended moisture within the wall can lead to mold and fungus growth.

Removing wasp nests from your property is not something to be taken lightly. As with other flying insects, wasps are dangerous when provoked.  The safest and most effective way to remove them is by simply calling a professional pest control company. Pest management professionals have the expertise and experience needed to accurately assess the situation and take the appropriate steps in permanently remove any wasp nests found on your property.

About Modern Pest Services:Modern Pest Services is a family-owned and operated pest management company serving commercial and residential clients throughout New England since 1945. Modern employs integrated pest management (IPM) practices to provide fast and effective pest control solutions. Visit http://www.ModernPest.com/
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Bed Bugs are heat sensitive, wingless blood-feasting bugs that are found everywhere, including the United States. Initially they start life like a small but visible egg, about the dimension of a poppy seed. From there they feed on blood and become juvenile or “nymph” stage bugs. As they develop into adults, brown or red (fed) bed bugs (Here you can get data about what is bed bug) get about the dimensions of an apple seed. Bed bugs can live up to 20 months and might go without a blood meal for 1 ½ years. The female bed bug can lay over 500 eggs in her life cycle, which hatch in about 10 days, given the best temperatures.

It is believed that bed bugs don’t transmit disease. However, they can cause an allergic skin response and bacterial infection from scratching.

If found on time, bed bugs can be effectively managed.

Bites are normally the first warning sign of a bed bug problem, but not all bug bites are bedbugs. Here you can get data about what is bed bug. Since 1998, Amherst School has had only one bed bug incident, which was confined to a single room. That isolated incident occurred, like most bed bug problems, because they were shifted to one site from another in personal belongings such as back packs, bedding, clothing and suitcases.

Bed Bug Bites

Bed bug bites, unlike bites which you might get from a gnat, mosquito, no-see-um or similar pest generally present with a number of attacks, normally in a directly row on the arms, legs, neck or torso. Bed bugs tend to gather together in hidden, undisturbed places where a person sits or sleeps.

* Bed bugs are typically found on the bed, along the seams and sides of the bed mattress and box springs, on the headboard, and the bed frame.

* When assessing a bed or furniture for the possibility of bed bugs, we find for clusters of live bugs, shedding skins, dark colored fecal spots and the eggs. We look for blood spotting on the bed linens, where the bed bugs bite the host * Bed bugs are also known to cover in cracks, such as in baseboards along the floor at the wall.

* Bed bugs are as well known to conceal in cracks, for example in baseboards along the floor on the wall.

Do you need to know more about what is bed bug.visit more information http://whatisbedbug.com
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Whether it is curiosity, interest, or a genuine desire to study these amazingly fabulous tiny social creatures there is no better way for keeping ants than to do it by using one of the farming methods. Being able to build ant farms from kits can be a cheap and fulfilling alternative to buying ant farms such as ant farm Milton and others, but the farm is just the beginning of a highly entertaining learning center.

If looked after in a correct fashion you could end up with an ant colony that flourishes and lasts for years to come. Watching them live their daily lives is fascinating to say the least.

One of the biggest things to know straight away when it comes to home, office, or a school ant farm colony is that they certainly are not a hands on activity in a very similar way as the fish tank would not be. Any movement or disturbance of the farm is likely to cause a cave in and to the colony this could of course prove to be fatal.

Choosing the type of ant farm for ant raising is pretty much a personal thing based on the level of input and involvement you wish to have.

Ant Farm Kit: There are various types of kit available, and by building the ants home yourself you can save on the initial costs as well as gain from quality and size of the farm.
Illuminated Ant Farm: The name pretty much speaks for itself. Uncle Milton illuminated ant farm seems to be the one of choice here and allows the colony to be seen hard at work both day and night. Comes as a plastic home with illumination lights incorporated into base, generally blue or green.
Gel Ant Farms: A clear plastic environment with a solid gel composite contained inside. The ideal situation here is that once you add the ants to this environment they will not only tunnel within the gel, but this also provides a great food source for the entire ant colony.
Giant Ant Farm: The winner has to be the Uncle Milton giant ant farm. An ideal environment for keeping ants in and allows a larger nest to flourish and even breed in giving you an even better scope for your daily visual enjoyment.

For the different colony housings there are many makes and variations on a theme, but the types depicted above tend to be the three main types of housing for raising ants. With any animals or creatures that we decide to keep they all require food and water, keeping ants is no different and as they can live off of our scraps quite easily this is a zero cost investment once the housing and ants have been purchased.

Keeping ants is a great amount of fun and the learning that can be gained on a day to day basis is an experience in itself, an ideal temperature for them is between 60 and 70 degrees. If they get too cold it will reduce their lifespan rapidly.

One of the best providers is ant farm Milton or perhaps better known now as Uncle Milton ant farms, which produces an amazing array of ant colony environments for keeping ants in. Build ant farm kits that allow you to make your own ant farm tend to be less favourable as they do require a little more initial input even though they may be slightly more cost effective. Find out even more about ant keeping and ant colonies as well as a chance to see the biggest selection of ant farms available: (http://www.theantkingdom.com)

Why not treat your family to one of the most amazing spectacles that will keep you all watching in amazement for ages, time after time. Link to the amazing spectacle website
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Ants travel around in army style colonies and, especially for kids an exciting project is to watch them build their kingdoms. An ant farm is the best way to do this as they can watch the ants from the comfort of their own home, the ants cannot get out, and the kids do not end up having them all over them!

Ant farms also act as a useful school aid. They can be used in science classes, and act as excellent visual aids for teachers trying to explain anything do with ants or other creepy crawlies. Ants are fascinating creatures, and this can all be captured by getting an ant farm. Ants will often build their empires filled with tunnels and path ways for them to use all over the farm. They will delegate roles amongst themselves and kids will love watching and guessing which ant has been sent to do what job.

All types of ants can be put in an ant farm, and they usually grow to anywhere between 2 and 7 milimetres, apart from carpenter ants which have been known to grow up to an inch long in size. There are also a variety of colours that ants can be found in; brown, red, yellow, blue or even green and purple.

Kids will also enjoy watching ants work since they are tremendously strong creatures, being able to lift up to 20 times their own weight. The composition of an ant is also very interesting. They actually have two stomachs. They will use one for their own food consumption, whereas the other will be used to store food it will give to other ants. They cannot see, but instead use their antennas for touching and sensing. They also use these antennas for smelling.

Ants are not able to eat solid foods and so instead, they squeeze any juice they may find in solids. They will eat the juice from anything ranging from a seed or a plant, to other insects. Male and female ants are all born with wings. They will make full use of these wings when they are fully grown adult ants in order to mate and reproduce.

Western harvester ants are the most common breed of ant if you are looking to start up an ant farm. They are stocked by most ant farm suppliers and this is because this breed is great for make tunnels, building, and are not camera shy in the slightest. In fact, they love an audience! This particular breed of ant is also expected to live anything between two and six months, which is a lot longer than other species of ants.

There are a number of things you will be able to feed your ants in the ant farm. Due to there being over 12,000 ant species, it is advisable that you stick to the Western Harvester ant for your ant farm. This species of ant can be fed little pieces of fresh fruit and vegetables. The best will probably be apples and celery, but you must be cautious so as to not over feed them. Be sure you keep a constant watch on the state of the food since if you leave them to get moldy it can become harmful for your ants. You must therefore make sure any moldy food is removed with tweezers. Like all other animals and creatures, ants will need water to drink. They will only need a few drops a day and you must ensure that the water does not form a puddle since the ants are very likely to drown.

For more information on live ants for ant farm check our link.
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The leafcutter bee is a solitary bee which along with mason bees and carder bees belongs to the family Megachilidae.This family of bees is notable for the fact that their pollen carrying apparatus (called a scopa) is restricted to the under surface of the abdomen, rather than mostly or exclusively on the hind legs as in other bee families.The leafcutter bee takes its name from its method of nest-building.

As a solitary bee the leafcutter does not live in a colony like the honey or bumble bee.The female leafcutter is solely responsible for nest finding, building and the welfare of the next generation. However, it is not uncommon to find several in close proximity to one another. In fact in some parts of the world their territories can be quite extensive even covering several acres if the conditions are right. Leafcutter bees like mason bees, can cause damage to property depending upon their numbers and where they choose to build their nests.

Life cycle

If you see neat segments cut out of the leaves of your roses or other shrubs, leafcutter bees are the likely culprits. Using their mandables (mouthparts) they remove neat pieces of leaves or even flower petals in some instances, to construct and line their nests, overlapping the pieces collected to construct cigar-shaped cells in hollow spaces. Leafcutter bees will nest in a variety of places, in the ground, under stones, in cavities in wood and stone, plant stems, and in dead wood. As many as 12 pieces of leaves are used by the leafcutter bee to form each cell. Smaller circular pieces of leaves are used to seal the cells and there are usually 6 to 10 cells per nest.

Before sealing the cell the female leafcutter bee deposits a supply of pollen and nectar, then lays an egg on top, seals it up and goes on to build the next one. Each cell can take the bee around 6 to 8 hours in total to complete and seal off. Once she has sealed the last cell and has laid all her eggs the leafcutter bee has done her job and dies.

These bees are unusual in the insect world as each female leafcutter lays on average only about 15 eggs. Compare that with a queen honey bee who can lay 100′s of thousands of eggs in her lifetime.The young over-winter in their cells as mature larvae and emerge as adult leafcutter bees in late spring-early summer. The last egg laid is the first to hatch and these are usually males who then stay around on nearby flowers waiting for the females to emerge.

Pollination

Leaf cutter bees are considered to be very efficient pollinators and are being increasingly bred in the US and elsewhere as a substitute for failing honey bee colonies, in particular Megachile rotundata, the alfalfa leafcutter bee or lucerne leafcutter bee.This species was imported from Europe and has now been introduced into most major regions of the world, as it is an efficient pollinator of alfalfa, carrots and other vegetables.

Originally imported into North America to pollinate alfalfa, which honeybees avoid as the flowers need to be pried open to reach the pollen, these leafcutter bees have become widespread. The alfalfa leafcutter bee is now managed intensively in North America and has become a multi million dollar business. They are also widely used in Russia and New Zealand and Australia where alfalfa is known locally as Lucerne.

It has been calculated that one alfalfa leafcutter bee can do the pollination job of 20 honey bees. As unlike honey bees they do not collect pollen in baskets on their legs but collect it in hairs on their abdomens and are therefore more likely to spread it about as they move around.

Stings

Leafcutter bees as with other solitary bees tend not to be as aggressive as honey bees and to a lesser extent bumble bees. Both the male and females are more likely to use their mandables, however the female leafcutter does have a stinger but will only use it if squeezed or caught beneath clothing. The leafcutter bee`s sting is not as painful as a honey bee sting but is more like the bite of a mosquito in terms of pain level. Therefore unlike honey bees there is no necessity to wear bee suits when managing leafcutters.

Maggie Roberts is a professional writer and beekeeper, with a particular passion for sharing her knowledge of bees and their role in the natural world. If you would like more information, help to start beekeeping or just to learn more about bees, then see http://www.beekeepingbeesandhoney.com
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