Termites don`t play fair...
...neither should you!
Call us today 1800 6 12345
Greenpest Videos
Testimonials
How to Install, Check &
Treat a Green Bait System
How to Install
Ec2c Termite Windows
October 2009 / Vol.6 / Issue 10
Hello and Welcome to the October Greenpest News. Each month we aim to provide you with some useful information, keeping it short, sweet and pertinent.
Pest Talk
Problem Bees.
Spring is in the air. This is the time of year when most insects start to get busy with one aim; to multiply. In most cases, insects do not bother people but those insects that do are considered pests. In this month's newsletter, we are going to discuss redback spiders and bees. Redback spiders are obviously a pest because they present a real danger to small children and pets. On the other hand, most of us don't feel that bees are pests, but for some people these can become an issue.
This is the time of year when bee hives send out new queens looking colonise new territory. They do not usually travel too far from the original nest and surprisingly they very often travel on the very same path that the new queens took the previous year and the year before that. Because of this interesting phenomenon, it is not uncommon for some home owners to have the same bee problem every year.
Let us explain that. New queens will instinctively fly along the same path looking for a suitable place to establish a new colony. As they travel they are accompanied by a small swarm of protective workers. In many cases they will alight upon the exact same weep hole underneath the window of one particular home every year. Very often this weep hole will be facing the north direction towards the sun. They enter the weep hole and their instinct tells them that this is a good place to build a new beehive and they set to work. The home owners return to discover hundreds of bees swarming around a wall, sometimes even blocking the entrance; bees that weren’t there in the morning when they left for work.
As we all know, bees produce honey and when they are correctly farmed by beekeepers they are not a pest but a valuable source of revenue. However when they are buzzing around one’s front door, then they are a problem, especially when they are angry and protective of the entry point to their new hive.
Sometimes bees go undetected because they established themselves in a part of the home that no one notices. We remember one particular case where the home owners were unaware that they had bees in their walls, when one day thousands of them suddenly emerged into the toilet whilst it was occupied. That was a very frightening moment for the occupant and if she hadn't remained calm there is a good chance the bees would have stung her. It is a pretty good rule to remember that most insects only sting or bite when they feel threatened. Leave them alone and they will leave you alone.
In another instance the bees had been in one home for a very long time. They occupied the interstitial space between the ground level ceiling and the second storey floor of a two-storey house. There was a bedroom on the ground floor directly underneath the area where the bees were collecting and storing their honey. The plasterboard ceiling above the bedroom became impregnated with the honey and eventually the honey dripped through on to the bed below. This house had bees three years running and the problem was finally prevented by blocking up all the weep holes on one side of the house.
The following series of photos shows a beehive that was established underneath a seldom used barbecue in Sydney. The owner controlled the bees by letting a flea bomb go underneath the barbecue and running clear while the poison did its job.
Many of us would say it is not a good thing to kill bees, but when they are in place where they are a nuisance or a threat to our lifestyle then they must either be eradicated or removed. If you do have a bee problem it's a good idea to call the local beekeepers first to see if they would like to come and collect the bees. If they are interested, they will come and smoke the bees out and gather up the queen and relocate her to a proper beehive. In most cases they are not interested in gathering the bees because they have enough hives already. That is when you need to call your pest controller to resolve the problem.
The best time to eradicate the bees is just after sunset because all of the workers will have returned to the hive. Bees are very sensitive to most pesticides and they are easily killed. It's very unfortunate any time that we have to do a treatment for bees but when they become a safety issue or a threat to your home then they become a pest and as such have to be treated as a pest.
There are very few people that have an issue with eradicating redback spiders, a member of the black widow family. They are notorious for their painful bites and powerful venom. Many spiders can bite and many have venom but redbacks have the worst reputation because they so often end up biting us. The reason for this is that redbacks like to build their messy webs in small protective cavities. Spiderlings travel by what is called ballooning where they pull silk from their spinnerets and let the wind take them, where they land is generally where they set up home. Around your home they will often build their webs in timber and rock walls, the weep holes of the house, around guttering and in the roof void. And from there they will drop down through the bathroom ceiling fans/vents/down lights and enter the home.
They will build their webs underneath tables, chairs and kitchen cupboards. They will build their webs amongst boxes stored in garages. Outside they will build their webs on children's swings and toys, on pool fences, underneath wheelie bin lids, pot plants, underneath barbecues, and inside shoes.
If you like to leave your shoes outside then it pays to check them carefully before you put them on each day. A redback spider can move in overnight. If you're going to leave your swimming costume to dry on the pool fence, then just check it carefully before putting it on the next day. If you are going to leave children's bicycles/toys outside on the veranda or in the yard, then beware that redback spiders like to nest underneath the seat or inside hollow body. If you like to move pot plants around your house be careful picking them up as redback spiders like to nest under the lip of the pot. Outdoor furniture is a particular favourite hiding spot and many a redback bite occurs in the middle of a family get together.
Redback spiders are generally a timid spider but will bite if they feel threatened. Most people get bitten simply because they place their fingers near to where the spider is. Some people get bitten because they think it is fun to try and catch a redback spider in a jar. You would be surprised how often this happens. We don't suggest that you make your children fearful of spiders but we do advise that you should educate your children to be cautious of spiders. Most non-webbing spiders (like Huntsmen) are perfectly happy to run away from us and leave us alone, but like most creatures in nature, if they cannot flee then they will try to defend themselves. It might be fun to act like Steve Irwin and pick up a huntsman spider to show off or scare the girls but if it isn’t handled correctly the huntsman will likely bite. If you try to pick up a redback spider it will bite nearly every time, so don't do it.
The good news is that professional pest controllers are very good at treating your house for redback spiders. The most important thing in the treatment is thoroughness and that is based on experience and knowledge of the many places that redbacks like to hide.
If you come across a redback spider, we suggest that you leave it alone and call a professional to treat your whole home. If you do decide to kill it, the best method is to grab a can of fly spray and give it a quick squirt (no it won’t die any quicker if you empty the can of spray) and then just wait for it to die. It will pay to keep an eye on it because sometimes they will leave the nest and make a run for it. If you're not careful you may walk back into the room and step on it before it is dead and you will end up getting bitten anyway.
The warm weather means that the tick season is here again. If you have pets, then we hope you read the following and act responsibly. It’s especially important if you live in or near bush, or if you walk your dog anywhere near bush or long grass.
The following information is reprinted from our August 2006 newsletter.
If you live in or near the bush or on acreage then you will be well aware of the problem of ticks and just how difficult they are to prevent. There are several products available from your vet or pet suppliers that can be applied to the skin of your pet, Frontline and Advantix® to name just two. There is only one problem. If you also want to keep the dreaded paralysis tick Ixodes holocyclus off, you will need to reapply the solution to your animal's skin every two weeks and that can become very expensive.
Tick control products are not cheap.
So, what else can you do?
Here are some ideas.
- If possible, control where your animal goes. Keep your pet away from long grass and low shrubs.
- The corollary is to keep your grass cut, yard fenced and shrubs pruned or staked so the animal can't get too close.
- If you have a lot of shrubs then you may wish to have them sprayed with insecticide. We offer this service to all our clients in SE QLD. The side benefit is that it also helps to control spiders, flies, sandflies, mosquitoes. It will also kill other parasitic insects that might harm the shrub, grasshoppers, aphids etc. Unfortunately it doesn't last for too long, and it may kill some beneficial insects too.
- You should also check your animal every day for ticks. Of course they love this, running your fingers through their coat looking for any small lumps. Especially check around their ears and between their toes.
If you do find a tick on your pet, don't dose it with methylated spirits and try not to disturb it too much just in-case the tick injects saliva into the skin, which could make the situation worse. The best way to remove it is to spray it with an aerosol insect repellent preferably containing pyrethrin or a pyrethroid (available in supermarkets - just read the label). The combination of hydrocarbons and the pyrethrin acts like a sleeping pill, and prevents the tick from injecting its saliva. The tick should be sprayed again about a minute later and left to die. After 24 hours it should drop off naturally or be gently removed with tweezers by grabbing the tick by the head (avoid squeezing its body) and then just pull it steadily until it lets go and pops out.
It is possible that you might slip up and pull off its body leaving its head embedded in the skin. If you do, apply a little Detol cream. If there is any infection over the next few days, see a vet.
For many of us with pets, we are thinking, what a hassle, I'll just buy the tick control product and put it on the animal. If that is your inclination, please remember that the labels on the products don't guarantee to keep ticks off and that they still advise daily grooming/checking of your pet, just in-case.
There are also tick collars but they are not cheap either and only last a couple of weeks before they need replacing. Finally there are tick and flea sprays and a few flea shampoos that help. Problem with all of these is that they are slow acting and if your dog is like ours and enjoys swimming regularly then their overall effect is greatly reduced.
Two days after removing the tick from our dog I woke up in the early hours to find a tick on me. Turns out that it took a bite on my arm first, then my neck, then settled on my chest. The dog sleeps beside the bed and the tick probably made its way up my arm after I patted the dog before going to sleep.
For the first 36 hours the bite was painful, and now three days later, including the other two spots where tick took samples, there are three pea sized lumps that are extremely itchy.
Removing the tick from my chest 24 hours later was not easy, even though it was dead from the fly spray squirted on it after it was discovered at 3am the previous morning. The first two bleary eyed pulls with the tweezers only resulted in painfully pulling out some hairs. Believe me, that'll wake you up. You need to grab the head of the tick very firmly and apply constant steady pressure until the mouthparts which are shaped like grappling hooks finally release.
They are similar in appearance to bed bugs, except that bedbugs 'bite and run' every night, whereas a tick 'bites and rides'.
This is a
picture of the little lady who paid me a visit.
Oh, didn't you know? It's only the females that put the bite on you!
Monthly Special Promotion.
This special is no longer available. Please go to our current newsletter for this month's special.
If you wish to read previous newsletters, or if this newsletter has been forwarded on to you and you would like to subscribe, please: Click here
Got a question or some feedback? Please send it here: Feedback/Question
The Greenpest News is Published by J & A Furnell Nominees P/L; Shop 23a Franklin Square, 60 Railway Street, Mudgeeraba, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The opinions expressed in this newsletter are those of Jerry Furnell. The reader is encouraged to seek further information from appropriate government and statutory departments before taking any action based on this material alone.
Privacy: We're committed to protecting your privacy. We do not sell, trade, rent or otherwise disclose any personal information you provide to us. This newsletter is sent to our customers, subscribers and potential customers who have made enquiries with us.
Unsubscribe: If for any reason you do not wish to receive this email please simply hit your reply button and enter unsubscribe.
To update your details please click here.
See you again next month.
Always... At your service,
Jerry Furnell
Green Pest Control & Green Termite Bait Systems.
Phone 1800 6 12345.
Copyright 2009 Green Termite Bait Systems & Green Pest Control. All rights reserved.
International Orders Welcome
