7 Pest Control Ideas to Help keep your home Pest Free

Pest Control

Pest can be a thorn in the flesh most of time, they can destroy things beyond our wildest imaginations, this article will provide you 7 ideas to help keep your home pest free.

1. Get rid of their food

keep food set aside in covered packages or the fridge ; get rid of particles , crumbs & grease particularly from cracks & crevices. Do not forget pet food left behind or uncovered bags left in the laundry room or perhaps garage. For a consistent pet food infestation put pet food bowl in a bigger shallow pan fill up with water to set up a natural barrier. Getting rid of as much as possible cuts off the pest's food source.

2. Get rid of their water

 Look for areas of too much moisture like under sinks, shower/bath areas, hot water heaters, over-irrigating at external perimeter, & air-conditioning units re-direct or eliminate to get rid of pest's water source. Gutters holding decomposing organic leaf matter ought to be cleaned on a regular basis.

3. Get rid of their homes 

Inspect storage areas at interior & exterior & either place away from the structure such as firewood or place in plastic airtight bins to get rid of pest's harborage areas. Keep this in mind includes the garage & attic particularly if cardboard storage boxes are being used. Plastic is advisable as cardboard is the perfect home because it can be a food source & a "nursery" for pests.

      We Service the following areas in the Hills District:

Baulkham Hills	Beaumont Hills	Carlingford	Castle Hill	Granville
Kellyville	Westmead	North Rocks	Wentworthville	Northmead
Annangrove	Dural	Bella Vista	Winston Hills	Greystanes
Rouse Hill	Oatlands	Parramatta

4. Get rid of branches & tidy plants too close to structure. 

Keep trimmed approximately 2 feet away to minimize easy traveling from plant/tree to structure entry points.

5. Get rid of entrance points.

Inspect structure exterior & close up noticeable entry points around electrical conduits, pipes, windows & doors . Foam sealant in a can is a quick as well as affordable fix. Weather stripping at windows & doors would not only keep out pests but enhance energy efficiency.

6. Get rid of over the counter pesticides when you are not getting results. 

Use pesticides with care - know how they work & why. Understand how to use them & what pests they have an effect on. Inadequate use of pesticide is not only a waste of money but an environmental hazard for yourself & pets. It is very important understand how to make use of the pesticide, where it can be applied, just how much & how frequently to use it. Over application is just as bad as under application. Using the wrong products at the wrong areas will simply cause the pests to spread & increase in numbers.

7. Get rid of unlicensed applicator's who are "doing it on the side" the liability is unquestionably not worth the savings if any. 

The consumer has no option - what if the applicator is hurt within your property? What if misapplication of pesticide leads to injury/damage to you or your neighbors or pets? Or even more severe yet is using pesticide you cannot see incorrectly in your home? An authorized, insured & bonded state controlled Pest Management provider must comply with thorough requirements to get & preserve their licenses. This is to safeguard the consumer. Know your pest control provider & make sure they are genuinely state licensed & covered by insurance. Check if they are part of industry related organizations & consumer protection organizations like the Better Business Bureau.

Brought to you by Proven Pest Control. Serving New South Wales as a guaranteed, trustworthy business and will eliminate your pests of concern at an affordable cost.

9 EASY STEPS TO MAINTAIN A CLEAN KITCHEN

Pest Control

It’s that time of the evening when you have just finished dinner and wanting to relax, but the kitchen is filled with dirty dishes that need cleaning.  Do you clean them after dinner, before you go to bed or the next day?  We each have our own preference. When the kids were babies I used to do them the next day as I was just so tired after dinner.  Now I prefer to do the dishes directly after dinner as I like waking up to a clean kitchen and if I left it any later I know I would have the ‘I can’t feel bothered’ feeling, so for me the best time is as soon as we finish dinner.

I find if I start the day with a messy kitchen, I am starting the day with a messy mindset. Below I have shared my 9 easy steps to maintain a clean kitchen, this may help you to create a new routine to control the mess in your kitchen.

      We service all areas in the Western Sydney area including:

St Marys	St Clair	Seven Hills	Riverstone	Quakers Hill
Orchard Hills	Londonderry	Kings Langley	Glenwood	Glenmore Park
CraneBrook	Penrith	Warragamba	Blacktown	Bringelly

9 EASY STEPS TO MAINTAIN A CLEAN KITCHEN

I mentioned above that I prefer to wake up to a clean kitchen, it’s because I am a messy cook and when I make dinner I use every pan and bit of bench space available. You can see why waking up to this mess would drive me a little crazy, no room to make breakfast or prepare lunches.

THIS IS HOW I MAINTAIN A CLEAN KITCHEN:

1. I only do the dishes once a day.  Life is too short to be washing dishes more than that, I have better things to do.  I don’t mind dirty dishes piling up in the sink through the day, waitingfor the evening clean.  I do however, pack the dishwasher through the day as dishes are used.
2. Straight after dinner I start cleaning the dirty dishes. I wash all pots, pans, cutting boards, Tupperware, lunch boxes and drink bottles. Then place remaining dishes such as crockery, cutlery, cups etc into the dishwasher.  I do place casserole dishes in there too if there is room, read more about packing dishwasher here.
3. Clear away the clutter left on the kitchen bench. Your bench will not look tidy until all clutter is removed.  I have a basket where I place all the clutter like kids toys, books, paper…stuff they leave around the house.  The kids clear the basket each night and put their belongings away.  I don’t put it away as they need to take responsibility for their own things.
4. Wipe over the bench using homemade all purpose cleaner, clean the dining table and every day or second day wipe over stools removing any spills of foods.
5. Empty sink.  Squirt all purpose cleaner onto sponge and wipe over the sink to make it sparkle clean!
6. Turn on dishwasher.  Every few days I place all sponges into the dishwasher, this is to clean and disinfect the sponge.
7. I don’t dry dishes.  I allow them to drip dry overnight and then I put them away in the morning when I am waiting for the kettle to boil for my morning cuppa.
8. The kids unpack the dishwasher the next day. They have unpacked the dishwasher since the year they started school, it’s good for them to take responsibility and help around the house.
9. Then I place all breakfast and lunch prep items into the empty dishwasher and wipe over kitchen bench.

All done! It only takes 15 minutes in the evening to tidy up after dinner, then I can rest and relax for the remainder of the evening.

CLEANING CHECKLIST

A cleaning checklist which includes daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual tasks.  This checklist will help you remember cleaning tasks and create a routine to suit the time you have available. SEE MORE ABOUT CHECKLIST HERE.

HOW TO CLEAN THE DISHWASHER

Our dishwasher is used once a day.  It usually cleans our breakfast dishes, dinner plates, cups, mugs and cutlery.  With all this there isn’t enough room for anything else.  However after time the dishwasher itself gets a little grotty and needs a good clean. READ HOW TO HERE.

TASKS TO DO CHART

My kids have been helping around the house for years.  It first started because they wanted to help me unpack the dishwasher and set the table, then there was fighting about who was going to help (lol, I wish that was the case now).  So I created a responsibility chart to stop the squabbling and I really enjoyed the kids taking responsibility and helping me around the home.

I write down the tasks, then in the circle I put one of my kids initials under each day of the week.  So the tasks are spread out amongst each of the kids. CHART AVAILABLE HERE IN RANGE OF SIZES AND COLOURS.

CREATE A NEW HABIT AND ROUTINE FOR YOURSELF

Make your benches and sink sparkle EVERY NIGHT before you go to bed so you rise to a beautiful clean kitchen, your day will be so much better for it.

Brought to you by Proven Pest Control. Serving New South Wales as a guaranteed, trustworthy business and will eliminate your pests of concern at an affordable cost.

Termites are cockroaches now? How did that happen?

Termites are cockroaches now? How did that happen?

Back in the days of my TAFE course in urban pest management we were taught all about the various orders of insects within Class Insecta. These included Hymenoptera (ants, bees and wasps), Siphonaptera (fleas), Thysanura (silverfish), Diptera (flies), Blattodea (cockroaches) and Isoptera (termites).

Insects are all members of the Class Insecta and each order within that class groups the most closely related insect types. It was often said that termites and praying mantis were closely related to cockroaches although this was not taken too seriously in some circles. However, it turns out that the family tree of Class Insecta has had to be re-written. Studies comparing various cockroach groups with various termite groups have reached the conclusion that termites are not their own order, but are intact. Social cockroaches. 

One study from the Natural History Museum in London (Inward et al. (200T) Biology Letters 3. 331- 33.5) carried out molecular phylogenetic analyses on a range of insects from mantids to cockroaches and termites and came to the conclusion that termites no longer merited their own order. Basically an analysis of specific gene loci found that there is sufficient commonality of genes to indicate that termites belong within the order Blattodea. 

Work published this year by mostly Australian researchers, Stephen Cameron from QUT, Nate Lo from Sydney University. And Theo Evans from National University of Singapore, has confirmed this result (Cameron et al. (2012) Molecular Phylogenetic and Evolution 65, 15:1-173). Thus the relationship of termites as a special kind of social cockroaches exactly matches that of ants as a special kind of wasp.

The closest relatives to the termites are the wood roaches (Cryptocercus), which makes sense in that they have a similar diet unlike the other cockroach species. Much of the early speculation as far back as the 1930s about cockroaches and termites being related came from the fact that Cryptocercas and early termites (our very own Mastoterrnes darwirtiensis) shared several groups of symbiotic gut protozoa. 

So they used the same sorts cal protozoa to break down wood in their gut, and bacteria in their fat-bodies (which function like livers do in humans) to recycle waste nitrogen. Cryptoceras also exhibits some sub social behavior caring for its young, unlike other cockroaches. Primary reproductive of Mastotermes also have many physical similarities to sub-adult Cryptocercus. 

This resemblance reflects a larger evolutionary trend: termites retain ever more juvenile characteristics in more evolved groups. (And dogs are like young wolves.)

The evidence suggested that the order Isoptera should be downgraded to the family Termitidae. This caused plenty of angst as the seven existing termite families were already well known and the name Terrnitidae was already in use. 

Consequently, the possible downgrading of Isoptera caused some consternation in the taxonomic world with some believing Isoptera should remain an order despite the new evidence.

The fate of 'Order Isoptera' has been partly spared from the chopping block. However, it has been demoted lo an "epilamily" and renamed 'Termitidae" which sits joist above the family level to cover all the termite families. 

Therefore all the termite families we know such as Termitidae (including Nasutitermes), Rhinotermitidae (Coptotermes, Schedorhinotermes, Heterotermes), Kalotermitidae (Cryptotermes) and Mastotermitidae (Masotermes) remain as they were. The American Entomological Society, the largest insect society in the world does not yet recognize this change. However the Royal Entomological Society (UK). 

The Australian Entomological Society and various others are more accepting. What does this mean for the pest control industry? Well not much as it happens. The termites don't know they are now cockroaches so they are unlikely to change their behavior any time soon. 

It is an interesting story to educate clients with but no one would want to give the impression that a termite infestation is equivalent to a cockroach infestation, it makes for an interesting topic for conversation among PCOs though. Just saw a place that was being destroyed by cockroaches!"

With thanks to Dr Theo Evans for his additional input.

                                 

                                           

  

Cockroaches - A Selection of Gels

Cockroaches - A Selection of Gels

Advion provides a thorough knockdown

Indoxacarb, the active ingredient in Advion, targets cockroaches' metabolic activation processes, effectively controlling target cockroach species within the gosford area and distinguishing them from non-target insects. Non-repellent cockroach gels such as Advion work by attracting cockroaches to feed on them.

Proven Pest Control, only uses the most advance chemical and treatment methods

The gel is placed where the cockroach will come into contact with the insecticide in the gel matrix. Advion possesses a delayed toxicant with non-repellent chemistry, so cockroaches that have consumed Advion will carry it back to harborage areas, and via their natural behaviour to preen and groom, share it with other cockroaches. This delayed mortality results in significant reductions of large cockroach infestations.

Arilon Insecticide is recommended to assist and speed up the control of the colony in these early stages of treatment. Importantly. Arilon possesses the same toxicant as Advion allowing for faster colony control.

Advion combines convenience and ease

Advion can be applied indoors and outdoors, and is ideal for use in commercial premises and residential properties. Advion also makes inventory management easy for pest managers by providing a single product that is both fast acting and effective on a wide variety of cockroach species. 

Even with less bait, studies have shown that Advion provides better control of cockroaches than other cockroach bait products. In addition, Advion recently received HACCP certification enabling its use in food handling facilities.

Greater control with less bait: German cockroach field trial — USA

• Apply Advion either as a single treatment or adjacent to a non-repellent (e.g. Arilon Insecticide) sprayed zone to increase traffic in the barrier treated area
• Apply cockroach gel as spots (approximately 0.5 rum diameter)
• Spraying with Arilon is recommended with Advion Cockroach Gel when large populations of cockroaches exist for speedier control.
• Place gel spots wherever cockroaches harbor

Maxforce Complete controls large cockroaches and ants

Maxforce Complete is registered to control large cockroaches as well as ants. Maxforce Complete is a food bait attractive to large cockroaches, as well as protein and fats and oil feeding ants to give the professional pest manager everything they need to control these difficult pests. 

The new bait is a unique mixture of food ingredients that covers the full spectrum of feeding preferences. The bait granules are also in a wide range of sizes that will suit the smallest ant species through to the largest, including large cockroaches. 

Paul Conradt, national sales manager at Bayer Environmental Science said. The idea of using a solid granule to treat a liquid feeding insect is an important concept to grasp. The solid granules are carried by foraging workers back into the colony and are fed to larvae in the nest. The larvae turn this solid granule into a liquid food which is then fed to colony members including the queens. This brings about a total collapse of the colony providing far superior control to conventional treatment techniques: 

Maxforce Complete is a granule bait, and complements Bayer's gel range of cockroach baits, Maxaarce Original, Maxforce White and Maxforce Goad.

Cockroaches wont escape

 
Imperator

For fast and effective knockdown of cockroaches and a wide range of other insects, pest managers can't go past Imperator," said Romain Broch, sales and marketing manager with Liphatec in Australia. 

Imperator is a ready-to-use smoke generator that releases very fine particles for maximum penetration into cracks and crevices. When using imperator it means that insects have nowhere to run and nowhere to hide," said Mr. Broch.

Brought to you by Proven Pest Control. Serving New South Wales as a guaranteed, trustworthy business and will eliminate your pests of concern at an affordable cost.