Commack Patch: Expert Tips for Dealing with Bedbugs

Expert Tips for Dealing with Bed Bugs

Bed Bugs have, according to these exterminators, become a problem in the last five years. These tips will help you learn your options when dealing with these pesky critters.
By Victoria Reitano Email the author July 28, 2010


Many associate bed bugs with cramped, urban apartments or cheap motels, but as these exterminators explain, they could be lurking in your mattress.

Bob Wiemer, entomologist and general manager of Suburban Exterminating in Smithtown, Kevin O'Connor, entomologist and owner of Eliminex Pest Control in Smithtown and Arthur Katz, president of Knockout Pest Control, provide expert tips for how to deal with bed bugs in Commack.

Wiemer has had many calls from Commack residents in the past five years. "You get a few calls every day about bed bugs now," Wiemer said.

O'Connor agreed and said that bed bugs reintroduced into the United States are also resistant to many of the pesticides previously used. This means that treatments have also changed.

O'Connor and Wiemer said many people will notice raised, red marks on their skin and possibly, blood on their sheets as the first indicators of a possible bed bug infestation. The critters are not, however, limited to the mattress. Both have seen cases where bed bugs have crawled into clock radios, bedside picture frames and crown molding in the room. The bugs will also, Wiemer said, go into other rooms of the home should the bedroom become too crowded for their needs.

Wiemer said these creatures are quite hardy – they can live without feeding for up to two years. He said he has seen instances where the bed bugs are actually visible and jumping around the room during a treatment.

Bed bugs look like, Wiemer said, flattened ticks – before they have fed – and are light brown in color. O'Connor said he has personally noticed an uptick in cases in the summer – with the rise in heat and also with the amount of children and families vacationing. Wiemer also said that college students moving in and out of dorms sometimes bring the bugs into the family home.

The exterminations agree that ridding your home of the pests is not a do-it-yourself project – there are many things that can be done and most times a professional is required to do it.

Katz and Wiemer use carbon monoxide technology – dry ice or Cryonite – to freeze the bed bugs and their eggs. This allows humans to remain in the home and it does not leave any watermarks.

All three companies also use bed bug trained dogs to determine if the area is infected and also to verify that the area is not infected after treatments.

Treatments vary in price and length of time, but all three agree it can take between 1 and 3 visits to clear a residence of a normal bed bug problem.

Are Pesky Insects Driving you Indoors this Summer?

Are Pesky Insects Driving You Indoors This Summer?
by Bob Wiemer

Suburban Exterminating Co, Inc. offers some tips to avoid pesky bugs. (infovisual.info.com)Southampton - Are pesky insects driving you indoors this summer? Don't let bugs ruin your outdoor fun. As General Manager of Suburban Exterminating Co., Inc. I can recommend the tips below for homeowners to keep pesky insects and bugs away from their outdoor living spaces so they may gather without being eaten alive.

• Eliminate any standing water. Biting insects, particularly mosquitoes, breed primarily in stagnant water. If you notice swarms outside your home, look for sources that may have collected rainwater such as garbage cans, birdbaths, basketball hoops, tire swings, tree hollows, improperly drained gutters, picnic umbrellas, receptacles, fountains or ponds, and pool covers.

• For special occasions outdoors, have a party spray done 24 hours prior to the event. Botanical products can be employed and this method is effective at lowering the populations for a short time period.

• Insect Zapper or electrocutors can offer relief for evenings on the patio when directions are followed. Lights should be placed about eye level and away from sitting areas to give the most protection.

• Consult a professional about mosquito magnet CO2 devices, which can be strategically placed on the property and set on a timing device to control mosquitoes.

• Inform the local Board of Health if neighboring properties (sumps, parks, ponds, marshland, etc.) are causing mosquito infestations.

• Surround the deck or patio with citronella candles or torches. The scent is a deterrent and provides additional illumination

• Yellow jacket and flying insect traps are ideal for control at picnics, camping, and cookouts. Hang these around the perimeter of your yard and empty once a day and they will help reduce the population if they continue to be maintained.

• Put mosquito netting around porches.

• Avoid using scented soaps, lotions and shampoos and wear lightweight clothing that covers most of your body, as temperatures permit.

• The use of natural repellent materials available at most stores will further reduce the chances of being bitten.

Suburban Exterminating can also thoroughly inspect properties for breeding sites and provide a written report with recommendations for remedies. For any assistance with your insect problems, don't hesitate to contact our Residential Long Island Exterminators

Established in 1960, Suburban Exterminating Co., Inc. is Long Island leading full-service pest management company providing services in all phases of pest control to homes and businesses and is dedicated to exemplifying quality, professionalism and respect during the execution of a multitude of extermination services. A recent recipient of the International Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Excellence Award, it was the first New York company to be certified as “Green Shield” making the company a leader in environmental stewardship. For more information go to www.suburbanexterminating.com.

Newsday Article - Removing Honeybees from your home.

Newsday

Home work: Removing bee colonies from your homeAugust 20, 2010 by JESSICA DAMIANO / jessica.damiano@newsday.com



You might have seen honeybees busily scurrying from flower to flower in your garden. They're collecting pollen and nectar to feed their queen and brood, or baby bees, and keep their colony thriving, all the while inadvertently pollinating your plants so you can get more flowers, fruits, herbs and vegetables. You even might have seen a honeybee colony nestled into a garage door jamb or hanging like a pouch from a tree branch. Generally, they're not a problem, as the bees don't tend to be aggressive unless they feel threatened.

Deborah Aldea of Syosset found herself in just that predicament last spring, when she and her brother noticed hundreds of bees entering and exiting the house near the living room window. The pair treated the area with hornet spray, to no avail. And when they called an exterminator, they learned the insects weren't hornets at all; they were honeybees.

Aldea called Suburban Pest Management of Smithtown, which is experienced in removing hives without sacrificing bee colonies. After examining the situation and opening up a wall where bee activity was suspected, the company's apiarist, Craig Byer, discovered the colony extending into the ceiling from behind a second wall Aldea didn't even know existed. Byer gingerly removed the nest, including honeycombs, nectar, pollen, honey and brood. The combs were placed in empty frames, and a special vacuum was used to suck the bees gently into a box. Then, he transported the bees to Suburban's apiary in Smithtown, where the colony settled into a new hive.

Honeybees need an opening of only 5/8 inch to enter a structure and build a hive, so proper sealing is vital. It's important to call a pest control company or beekeeper to confirm that what you're dealing with are honeybees.

"Other pests can be killed, and there will be no concern about nesting material left behind," Byer said. "But with honey bees, the nesting material will become a nesting site for other species, like hive beetles, wax moths and others," so it must be removed to avoid future infestations.

Inspection tips:Suburban Pest Management offers these inspection tips for finding a nest if you suspect honeybees have colonized in your home:

1. Look for a continual flow of bees in and out of an entry point in the exterior of the building.
2. Listen for a buzzing sound coming from within the walls.
3. Inspect for stains that may develop from honey or nectar.
4. Check for warm spots on walls or ceilings, as a hive will maintain a 94-degree temperature, even on the coldest days.

Call Suburban Exterminating at (631) 864-6900 or (516) 864-6900 for identification of your pest. 

STINGING PESTS: YELLOW JACKETS

Yellow Jacket Wasp**

The Yellow Jacket Wasp family belongs to the Social Wasp category.


Description:Social Wasps have the typical “wasp” body type: a very distinct head with chewing mouthparts, short-elbowed antennae, and large compound eyes. The thorax and abdomen are brightly marked with yellow, red, or brown on a black background. The wasps have four clear or smoky brown wings. They have a short, narrow attachment between the thorax and the abdomen. The abdomen is spindle-shaped and tipped with a long stinger.
Yellow jackets are usually marked with bright yellow and black patterns, appear hairless, and are about 3/8 to 5/8-inch long.

Biology:Social wasps have large nests containing three types of individuals, or castes: queens, workers, and males. The males and queens are produced in the colony in late summer. They mate, and fertilized queen overwinters in a protected site. In spring, she seeks an appropriate nesting site in which she builds a paper nest using chewed up wood fibers. Eggs are laid in the cells of the nest, and the young larvae are fed bits of chewed up meat and insect parts by the queen and later by the workers.

Habits:
Yellow jackets build their flat paper nests in stacks, which are surrounded by a paper envelope. They usually build their nests below ground and in other protected locations. Social wasps use their nests only one season.

Unlike bees, these wasps aggressively defend their nests and can inflict multiple stings. They produce very large colonies with some yellow jacket nests containing as many as 30,000 individuals. These insects are considered to be beneficial because they feed their young a wide variety of insects. They become a nuisance, however, when they build nests in or near structures; scavenge for food in recreational areas and in other places frequented by humans; and seek overwintering sites in structure.

Looking for a yellow jacket exterminator? Contact Suburban Exterminating today for all your pest control needs on Long Island.

**Stayed tuned - More Stinging Pests to come....

Carpenter Ants

CARPENTER ANTS

Description:
Carpenter ants are among the largest ants found in the United States, ranging from 1/8 to ½ inch long, the queens are slightly bigger. The workers of an established colony vary in size. They are commonly black; however, some species are red and black, solid red, or brown in color. They have one node in the petiole and a circle of tiny hairs on the top of the abdomen. Their thorax is evenly rounded when seem from the side.

Biology:
The adult winged female or queen loses her wings soon as mating with the smaller male and selects a secluded nesting site where she raises the first brood of workers. These workers are very small but assume the care of the larvae and the queen after they mature. Future workers are larger than those from the first brood because they receive better care. All workers are wingless.
Mature colonies range in size from several thousand workers to an average of 20,000. When raised at 90°F, black carpenter ants complete their life cycle (egg to adult) Swarmers do not appear in the colony for several years, usually from three to four years up to sic to ten years. Swarming for these species occurs May through August and February through June, respectively.

Habits:

Carpenter ants are social insects that usually nest in wood. They commonly excavate galleries or tunnels in rotting or sound trees and, in structures, readily infest wood, foam insulation, and cavities. They prefer to excavate wood damaged by fungus and are often found in conjunction w2ith moisture problems.
The workers excavate the nest, forage for food, and care for the young. Carpenter ants feed on sugar solutions from honey dew-producing insects such as aphids, sweets, and the juices of insects they capture. They do not eat the wood as they excavate their nests. They actively feed at night well after sunset continuing through the early morning hours. Foraging may extend up to 300 feet and, upon close inspection, can be seen on the ground as narrow worn paths.
Carpenter ants enter structures through gaps or cracks while foraging for food. However, the appearance of large numbers of winged adults inside a structure indicates that the nest(s) exists indoors. The workers push wood shavings and pieces of foam insulation out of the nest through slit-like openings in the surface of the wood or other nesting site material. This material, which may contain fragments of other insects, and structural moisture problems are things to look for when trying to locate a colony in an infested structure. Rustling sounds in wall voids are another indication that there is a colony in the area.

Carpenter ants are known for causing serious damage to homes and business on Long Island. Contact Suburban Exterminator to get rid of these pesky insects today (631) 864-6900 or (516) 864-6900

Pest of the Month for March: TERMITES

Subterranean Termites

Description:
Eastern subterranean termites are found from Ontario southward and from the eastern United States seaboard as far west as Mexico, Arizona and Utah.
Termites are social insects, which live in large colonies. There are three castes: swarmers or reproducers, workers, and soldiers. Termite antennae have bead-like segments. The winged swarmers have a pair of equally sized long wings that are attached to the last two thoracic segments. The wings break off after swarming. The abdomen is broadly joined at the thorax unlike the narrow abdominal attachment found on ants.
The winged swarmers are dark brown to almost black and about 3/8-inch long. The wings are brownish gray with a few hairs and two dark veins on the leading edge. They have a very small pore on their heads. The soldiers are wingless with white bodies, rectangular yellow-brown heads that are two times longer than their width, and large mandibles, which lack teeth.

Biology:
Subterranean termite colonies usually are located in the soil from which the workers build mud tubes to structural wood where they then feed. Subterranean termite colonies are always connected to the soil and/or close to a moisture source.

Termites digest cellulose in wood with the aid of special organisms within their digestive system. The workers prefer to feed on fungus-infected wood but readily feed on undamaged wood as well. The foraging workers feed immature workers, swarmers, and soldiers with food materials from their mouths and anuses.

A mature queen produces 5,000 to 10,000 eggs per year. An average colony consists of 60,000 to 250,000 individuals by colonies numbering in the millions are possible. A queen might live for up to 30 years and workers as long as five years.

Habits:
Subterranean termite colonies are established by winged swarmers/reproducers, which usually appear in the spring. Swarms usually occur in the morning after a warm rain. A male and female that have swarmed from an established colony lose their wings and seek a dark cavity inside which they mate and raise the first group of workers. Both of these swarmers/reproducers feed on wood, tend to the eggs, and build the initial nest.
After the workers mature, they take over expanding the colony and feeding the swarmers, as the colony becomes larger, light colored supplementary reproducers are produced to lay eggs, which then become workers. The soldiers, which are also produced as the colony increases in size, are responsible for repelling invading ants and other predators.

If you have a termite problem on Long Island, visit our Long Island Termite Exterminator website for more information on control, prevention, and extermination.

DON’T LET THE BEDBUGS BITE – SOME TIPS TO KEEP THE BEDBUGS AWAY

Bedbugs are rapidly developing into an epidemic and as many experts have stated, the situation will get worse before it gets better. The Harvard School of Public Health says, "bedbugs are increasingly becoming a problem within residences of all kinds, including homes, apartments, hotels, cruise ships, dormitories and shelters."

Long Island Bedbugs may be found anywhere, anytime covering all social and economic groups. The best resorts and hospitals, even movie theatres and modes of transportation, can have infestations. “Simply put, you can never predict where they will turn up,” says. Lynn Frank BCE, Entomologist and technical director of Suburban Exterminating Co., Inc. If you are taking up residence in a college dorm and are concerned about bedbugs, there are things you can do to minimize the risk of an infestation.

Frank urges college students to arm themselves with facts about bedbugs and become aware of what they can do to protect themselves and their belongings.

What is a bedbug?
A bedbug is a small insect that feeds on the blood of humans and animals. They live in the folds and crevices of mattresses, bedding, clothing, and carpets, and can also be found inside backpacks, purses, box springs, furniture, electronic equipment, and other hidden, dark crevices.

How do I know if I have bedbugs?
Bedbugs usually leave red, itchy bite marks on the skin and may become severely inflamed. The pests can sometimes be spotted hiding in cracks and crevices during the day and may leave molted skins, feces and old eggshells in harborage areas. There may be a sweet, sticky smell.

TIPS TO KEEP THE BUGS AWAY
Wiemer has compiled tips on what to look out for and what to do in case you encounter these pests:

1. Determine if the University performs regular inspections of rooms.
2. Locate and properly identify the insect - Do not assume that “bites” are caused by bedbugs. Even medical professionals cannot positively identify bedbug bites.
3. DO NOT TAKE ACTION ON YOUR OWN if there is a confirmed identification of bedbugs - Do not panic and seek help immediately. The dorm and university should be informed and fully involved.
4. The university should have a professional pest control company respond immediately and begin bedbug treatment.
5. Do not throw items away or move out all belongings - This may spread bedbugs and transport them to a new location.
6. Encase the mattress and box springs - A properly designed encasement will prevent bedbugs from nesting inside and will make control measures (if they become necessary) easier and more effective. Encasements may be purchased at stores such as Bed Bath & Beyond.
7. Stay clean - The less “clutter” in the room, the less harborage sites for bedbugs.
8. Heat control – Wash and dry any items you think may be infested for at least five minutes on a hot cycle.
9. Store items in sealed plastic bags to contain or prevent items from infestation.
10. Inspect new items being brought into the room. Examine seams, zippers, corners for signs of bedbugs or live insects. Do not accept any item you think might be infested.

Go to www.suburbanexterminating.com for more information