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September 2006 / Vol.2 / Issue 9

Hello and Welcome to the September Greenpest News. Each month we aim to provide you with some useful information, keeping it short, sweet and pertinent.

1. Pest Talk
3. Customer Question of the Month.
4. Quote of the Month.
5. Monthly Special

Pest Talk

Our long-term readers will see that we have changed our opening section from termite talk to pest talk so that we can more broadly cover up to the moment news and advances in the pest control industry and how it affects or benefits you the home owner.

At Green Pest Control we have a fleet of five vehicles on the road and recent price hikes in petrol have sparked us to change our general pest control rates as of 1 st September 2005 . The changes were overdue anyway as it has been two long years since we last adjusted our prices. Our new prices can easily be viewed on our web site.

In fairness to our full service bait customers, no changes will occur until each client is contacted personally by letter and been given the choice to renew or choose a different plan.

The price of our Green Termite Baits will remain the unchanged at $25 each even though the cost of manufacturing has gone up substantially. Our price to install the baits will also remain at the bargain price of just $150 for an average home.

To minimise the price change for monthly servicing of the baits, we have introduced two new price plans. We now offer Plan 1 clients a choice of one year, two years or three years. For those of you who wish to lock into the lowest price possible you can select a three-year option for just $36.30 a month for up to 30 baits fully serviced and maintained every month for the next three years - no more to pay.

A complete look at our full-service price plans can be found by following this link.

Okay, now for some great news.

Next month we will be announcing a new and exciting development in termite security for your home. We have developed another simple product that we believe will revolutionise both the pest control and building industry in years to come. So. stay tuned!

Customer Question of the Month.

Question:

Hello Jerry,

I was wondering if you could tell me the best time of the year to spray for cockroaches?

Jill F. Aspley

Answer(s):

There are several simple answers that we can give and for a bit of fun we're going to put them down in multiple choice format and let you decide. Then we will let you know which answer is most correct.

Here they are:

Winter time.
Spring time.
Middle of summer.
When you see the dirty rotten little blighters.
Or when there are so many roaches you can't stand it another minute longer!

Which of the above would you choose?

At Green Pest Control we give a 12 month warranty on our cockroach and silverfish treatment, so technically there is no right or wrong time of year to spray for cockroaches. If they come back so do we.

Now let's check for the best answer.

Winter time. During the winter months cockroaches and silverfish and in fact most insects are not particularly active. Consequently, neither are pest control companies. In winter you may be able to get a slightly better price because pest control companies are looking for as much work as they can find. You might also get a slightly better job because the service technician will not be as rushed as he is in the middle of summer.

Modern insecticides are biodegradable. They are designed to break down with time into relatively harmless basic elements. This means that the treatment you have on your home is most effective when it is first applied and less effective after one year. If you have your house sprayed in winter, it will still work the following summer but it will not kill the cockroaches as quickly as it would if it was freshly sprayed.
Spring time. This is by far the most popular time of year for people to get their pest control done. There are plenty of old-fashioned people who believe in spring cleaning. After the cleaning is completed, it's time to get the pest control done. Spring is also the time of year when cockroaches emerge from their winter hidey-holes and begin their breeding cycles afresh.

Other reasons for spring is because it's when some of us get our tax refunds back. While others just want it done before all their family visitors come from overseas for Christmas holidays.
Middle of summer. Cockroaches are seen on a regular basis. Many of them will have laid eggs that have hatched and grown up and laid even more eggs. If you haven't already sprayed for cockroaches in spring, now is the time before the dirty rotten little blighters get right out of hand.

When you see them. Some of our customers call us every two or three years for their cockroach treatment. When we asked them why they don't call us every year we are told, "We haven't seen any since the last time you sprayed. They are only just coming back now". Needless to say, this is a lovely complement about our service quality and the effectiveness of our treatments. It's also a good choice if you are on a budget. However it also means that you are allowing the cockroaches get a little bit of a foothold before you take action to control them.

This is also a common choice for people who want to minimise the amount of insecticide used in their homes. This is not the place where we will conduct a long discussion on the safety of modern pesticides. We would simply say that many people would prefer a very small amount of "safe" insecticide in their homes rather than tolerate disgusting disease spreading cockroaches trooping over their food and utensils while they sleep at night. Cockroaches spread a large range of bacteria including salmonella that leads to food poisoning. They also carry viruses and worms that are pathogenic to man.
When there are so many you can't stand it another minute longer! In the light of the previous paragraph I think you can see that this is not the best of choices. Sadly, for many people who struggle to make ends meet this is the desperation option. What frustrates us the most as professional pest controllers is when we see the same people trying to fix it themselves often having wasted upwards of $50 or more on products purchased at Woolworths or Coles. Whether it be with a tin of surface spray or a pack of cockroach bait stations, the problem with DIY is that you don't get any sort of warranty. You can't take back the empty tin of cockroach spray to the supermarket and ask for a refund because it didn't work.

Summary.

Okay, if you chose number two, springtime, you picked the best option.

That's why it's the most popular time of the year to get your pest control done.

Doing it every year is also wise because you are staying on top of the problem and not allowing the cockroaches to get a foothold in your home. If you can afford it, doing it twice a year will ensure even better control especially if you want the cockroaches to die more quickly.

The fresher the spray, the quicker they die. When your home is first sprayed, an intruding cockroach will probably be dead within a couple of hours. A year later it will probably take the cockroach 12 to 24 hours to die because it will have to spend more time picking up micro-doses of the remaining insecticide before picking up enough for a lethal dose.

The following is a personal anecdote for you.

About 12 years ago during Christmas dinner (at lunchtime) a very large cockroach flew in and walked up the wall in front of my family and friends. As a professional pest controller this was a little embarrassing to say the least. Everyone was expecting me to immediately jump up and kill it. Instead, I explained that the house had been treated six months earlier and that this unwelcome guest was already doomed. Sure enough, the next day we found it dead on it's back. It didn't take away from my embarrassment, but it certainly gave me some satisfaction and absolute confidence in the products we use.

Quote of the Month.

From an email received 12/09/2005:

I love your web site. I spent a lot of time trying to find some information about termites before I found your web page. Your site is clear and easy to understand. Dad said I should ask you if you mind if I copy some of it for my school project? I think that termites are really interesting and very clever.

Thanx, Jessica C, Aged 12, Darwin NT .

We are always happy to help with school projects. Thank you for asking for permission, and thank you for you kind comments.

Monthly Special Promotion - For Newsletter Subscribers Only.

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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.

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See you again next month.

Always... At your service,

Jerry Furnell
Green Pest Control & Green Termite Bait Systems.
Phone 1800 6 12345.