Pest Control Community

We at American Pest Management are proud to announce our business partnership with Hann and Hann Construction, Inc. Hann and Hann is a well respected company in the Washington, DC and Baltimore markets. It is very important in pest control to be able to partner with a client and remove contributing factors to pest problems. These factors can range from water problems to missing door sweeps, problems with holes in mortar, or several other things. Now we have the ability to refer a company that can take care of most of these issues for our clients. We have chosen Hann and Hann because of their reputation for excellence and their company philosophy of taking care of their clients’ needs from start to finish and beyond.

Hann and Hann provides services to both residential and commercial clients. They are a full-service company which can handle jobs which are very small all the way up to extremely large jobs. They provide handyman services, contruction services, roofing, siding, windows, doors, gutters, wallcovering, painting, termite damage repair, concrete, asphalt, and many other services. We will be referring our clients to their company in the future for all of these jobs. The following is a little about their company:

Founded in 1974 , Hann and Hann has enjoyed a reputation for providing exceptional
quality and service for Residential and Commercial Properties, Hospitality, and Government properties throughout the Washington DC / Metropolitan region.

Striving to stay attuned to their changing customer demands and needs, they’re constantly adapting to ensure a satisfied customer on every job they perform.

From the initial phone contact with their courteous office staff, through the scheduling and performance of the work, and ending with an extended written warranty, you will understand why Hann and Hann Construction’s services are used by thousands of customers every year.

With well over 250 professional full-time mechanics trained for their customer’s specific type of work, Hann and Hann is ready to meet those customer’s needs.

Hann and Hann has two offices to serve its customers needs;
Rockville MD. and Springfield VA.

Please call American Pest Management for more information or to schedule an appointment for construction services.

TAGS: American Pest Management, Hann and Hann, business partnership, residential, commercial, handyman services, construction services, roofing, siding, windows, doors, gutters, wallcovering, painting, termite damage repair, concrete, asphalt

The warm weather gets all plants and animals growing and moving in the spring of the year.  Ants are no exception and it seems that in recent years ants have risen to be the number one household pest in the mid-Atlantic region.  To most, an ant is an ant is an ant.  In reality there are several different species that enter homes and become pests.  The one species that bothers most homeowners to the point that they make the call to us for help is the Odorous House Ants.

Odorous House Ants are so named because the ants emit what’s been described as a rotten coconut or pine scent when crushed with a finger and sniffed.

Odorous house ants will nest in virtually every imaginable location. They commonly nest outdoors under pavement, stones, mulch, woodpiles, flower pots, and house siding, foraging indoors for food and moisture. Nests also occur indoors within wall cavities, appliances, potted plants, etc., especially near sources of moisture. The nests tend to be mobile; colonies relocate fast and often in response to changes in weather and disturbance.  This behavior explains why they might suddenly appear after a period of intense rainfall or after a few weeks of drought conditions.

This particular ant is difficult to control, especially by householders. The better baits to try are sweet baits.  As with all ants, activity indoors can sometimes be reduced by removing ready access to food and moisture (water leaks, spillage, trash cans, pet food dishes, etc). Temporary relief can sometimes be had by wiping away the invisible odor trails with a kitchen cleanser or mild detergent. Do not disturb foraging trails, however, if you are using bait. Caulking obvious ant entry points also may be helpful, along with trimming back shrubs and limbs touching the building. In nature, this ant feeds extensively on plant nectar and honeydew excreted by plant-sucking insects such as aphids.

If you are suddenly inundated with hordes of small brown ants (1/8^th inch, 3 mm long), the chances are that the Odorous House Ant has found something to its liking in your house.

TAGS: Odorous House Ant, bait, outdoor nests, indoor nests

You may have seen or heard information about this honey bee mystery, and this link to CBS News provides a nice summary.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/05/02/tech/main2756454.shtml

The long-awaited, warm days of Spring mean open windows at my house, and that has led to a few unwelcome guests.  My daughter spotted one of these adult stink bugs (or pentatomids) in our bath tub, and judging from the phone calls I have been receiving at the office, we are not the only ones to find  one.  Last Fall, this garden dweller probably hunkered down for the winter in a crack or crevice around my bathroom window.  When things warmed up, it began to stir and had the misfortune of crawling indoors instead of back out into the garden.   The disagreeable odor these bugs can emit when stressed or crushed earned them their name, but they are not really an indoor pest.  They feed on plants, and while they might damage plants they will not harm wood, fabrics, or food products.  The best solution is to scoop them up and put them back in the garden where they belong.  

TAGS: stink bugs, pentatomids

April showers bring May flowers, and swarming termites.  Winged termites, aka swarmers or alates, are mature adults leaving their parental nest to found new colonies.  Thousands of them may emerge at one time, and can be homeowners first clue that there are termites nearby.  The vast majority of termites in any given swarm will die.  Outdoors, they are likely to be trapped in a spider web or eaten by birds.  Because termites maintain their nests at close to 100% relative humidity, those that emerge into our comparatively dry homes desiccate quickly—they are literally toast.  While there is virtually no chance that swarmers in your house could establish a new colony, their presence is an indication that a mature, healthy colony is located in the area.  If swarmers have emerged in a basement or subgrade space, a careful inspection should be conducted along exposed joists, exterior walls, and any boxes or paper goods sitting directly on a basement floor.  Look for the termites themselves and for the mud tubes they construct.  These emergence tubes can be somewhat remote from the main nest area, but swarmers mean that the colony is not too far away.  The extension site at North Carolina State University has some great pictures of these tubes: 

Termites, ants, mice, and all the other pests that you would rather never have as a house guest are attracted to structures because they find food, moisture, or a place to hide or live. It can be one of these items or a combination of two or more that draws pests to your house or garage. If you want to have fewer pests in and around your home, use the following check list and begin the pest proofing of your home.

1. Clean rain gutters twice a year. (May & November)

2. Keep all food trash in a pest proof container.

3. Seal all holes in the foundation near ground level.

4. Keep all trees and shrubs pruned away from the house.

5. Caulk all cracks around doors and windows.

6. Install door sweeps on all exterior doors including the garage door.

7. Make sure attic and soffit vents are screened.

8. Make sure all water drains away from the foundation.

9. Stack firewood away from the house and 12″ off the ground.

10. At least once a year walk around your house while it is raining to affirm that water is getting in the gutters, down the spouts, and away from the foundation. The base of the house should be the first area to dry once the rain stops. Correct the deficiencies that you find.

TAGS: firewood, rain gutters, caulk, pest proof containers, American Pest Management, Termites, Ants, Mice

Clover Mites

Each spring in the DC/Maryland area clover mites appear on the exterior of structures. It is likely that these tiny red mites have over wintered in cracks and crevices of the building. They are usually most numerous on south to west faces of a structure and rarely numerous on the north side. Typically, the mites come from the ground and crawl up the side of an office building or residence, but if there are planters or moss on the roof, balcony or deck, large numbers of mites are possible in the upper levels.

Operating windows (windows that open) are rarely effective at keeping clover mites out even when they are closed. These tiny mites can usually find an opening around the edges where the window opens and gain access to the interior.

If your building has fixed, non-operating windows and clover mites are getting inside there is likely an installation flaw. Sealed systems are designed to exclude things even as small as clover mites. The caulking or sealing system around the windows is defective if clover mites are getting in. If the mites appear in areas near doors or other wall penetrations, they probably entered through small openings even if the door or penetration appears closed or sealed.

Other Key Clover Mite Points:

1. Clover mites do not bite humans. They are plant feeders, usually feeding on grass, and will not reproduce indoors.

2. Pesticide treatment is of little value indoors. The mites can be removed by vacuum and they will die in the bag or sticky traps or water traps can be placed on windowsills to capture the mites. Left alone, most mites will die within 48 hours indoors unless they find a very moist environment.

3. Avoid the urge to squash a clover mite. Their body fluids can stain the surface they are on when squashed.

4. Pesticide treatments on the exterior are generally effective in quickly reducing the numbers of mites, but total elimination with one treatment should not be expected.

Long Term Solutions

Although caulking or sealing obvious cracks or holes in a structure will help reduce clover mites, it will not usually stop them totally from entering a structure with operating windows. If you have fixed windows and the mites are getting in, the window system should be evaluated to determine how the mites are getting in and if a cost effective repair is possible. In either case, clover mites are usually greatly reduced if an 18 to 24 inch gravel barrier is installed around the perimeter of the building.

TAGS: clover mites, American Pest Management

We have been receiving a lot of bees and wasps calls lately and I wanted to touch on what is happening right now in stinging insect world. In the fall of last year, the wasps mated and the pregnant future queens abandoned their nests and found a nice warm spot to stay for the winter in order to survive. A lot of times they find areas like behind siding, inside chimneys, or other sheltered areas where the heat from our homes provides them shelter. When the spring comes and the warmer temperatures come back, the pregnant queens emerge from their hiding spots and start to look for a nice spot to build a nest. This generates a lot of phone calls to pest control companies because they may be flying around the house on the exterior or even inside the house via the chimney. Unfortunately, in most cases, there is no nesting site which can be treated because the queens have not started to build a nest yet. Most of the stinging insects seen flying around a home this time of year represent a future colony. We can treat carpenter bee holes now, but yellow jackets, hornets, paper wasps, and other social insects have not developed nests yet. Once the queen finds a place to build a nest, she will start the process. After some of the eggs hatch and the workers are born, they will take over building the nest from the queen and the nest will be built much faster. The best solution is to call American Pest Management and ask about a maintenance program which can be established to cover treating future nesting sites.

TAGS: bees, wasps, stinging insect, nests, colony, carpenter bee, yellow jackets, hornets, paper wasps, American Pest Management

One pretty cool part of my job at American Pest Management allows me to travel around the world to do training at embassies for the Department of State. As a company we have made around 70 official visits to either Embassies or Consulates around the world.

Last week we visited Cairo, Egypt for our third time to hold a training seminar. As usual we had a great time and met some tremendous folks who work overseas for the US Government.

So what about the bugs in Egypt? Guess what they have them too. Actually we find that most every Capital city in the world has similar pest problems. Last week we found plenty of American Cockroaches living in the sewer system. Ants were all over the place on the exterior of the buildings but didn’t seem to be invading the inside at this point in time. We found one swimming pool that had been drained for maintenance that was writhing with Mosquito larva. We actually find this a lot, make sure if you have a swimming pool and for some reason you stop operating it normally that you get the mosquito issue under control. Hmm just thought of something I don’t think we saw a rat while we were there. I almost always see one on each trip. I know they were around, just didn’t run into one I guess.

Well that’s the Cairo, Egypt bug report. I’d say they are pretty much on par with D.C. as far as bugs. Now traffic is a different story. The traffic there is horrible. Makes DC traffic a pleasure.

Matt Nixon
CEO
American Pest Management

TAGS: Mosquitoes, Rats, Ants

The Odorous House Ant.

Your worst nightmare. You wake up one morning and stroll into the kitchen in a sleepy stupor. You open the cabinet to reach for the honey to discover with horror a seething black mass of small, writhing ants. Welcome to spring!

With recent questions raised from the community with regards to distinguishing Odorous House ants from similar ant species, I created the following document:

odorous-house-ant.pdf

If you cannot open the above document, please go here for a free download of Adobe Reader:  http://www.adobe.com/products/reader/