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Friday, July 21, 2017
- [Warren] All right, to eliminate pests let's check in with the Vice President of technical services and Rose Pest Solution. That's the only spot to stop, you know. To get rid of these pests. He's a graduate of Michigan State University in pest management. And he's been in the profession since 1983. It's none other than Mark Sheperdigian. Better known as Shep to his friends and those who are over at Rose Pest Solutions. These carpenter ants, why are they called that, Shep? Do they build anything? Or are they busy destroying things as a result of that name?
- [Shep] Good morning, Warren. Actually carpenter ants, they call them that because they do build. They actually mine ant galleries in wood. Normally trees but often times your home. And so they'll build their own gallery, like, let's call that carpenter work, so.
- [Warren] How do you get rid of those, or eliminate them, or prevent them from even getting into your place?
- [Shep] Carpenter ants can be tough, 'cause they're pretty common out there. The thing to remember is that they're tree animals, and they live in trees, they have not just one colony but they have like little branch offices around. So there will be the main colony and then a number of satellite colonies. They choose to put one of those in or around your house you may be seeing them regularly. Keep them out, can't really seal them out. It's good to make sure that you don't have tree branches hanging off the home. So if there's a lot of shrubbery and trees that touch the roof, get those trimmed away and get the sunlight in there. That reduces the amount of pressure that you get. Otherwise, you may need to find that colony and eliminate it.
- [Warren] You know, we've all heard of bumblebees and honeybees and wasps and hornets. I don't think I've ever heard, and we're talking about carpenter ants, carpenter bees, Shep. What do they do and where are they?
- [Shep] Carpenter bees, yeah they look like bumblebees and most people think they are. They are pretty active these days. You've seen what looks like bumblebees flying around your gutters, those would be carpenter bees. And they call them that for the same reason the ants get the name because they drill holes and make their galleries in wood. And they'll drill a perfectly round hole, well maybe not perfectly round. A very close to a perfectly round hole about the size of your middle finger, right into the wood. And they can do some damage. The thing to remember is while the females can sting they don't, they're not very aggressive at all. The males are aggressive and seem to fly at people, but they have a big white spot on their face. If it's in you to remember that white spot means it's a male and can't sting. So as aggressive as it is it's nothing to worry about. If you're gonna treat them, anything, any product, do it yourself product that you got that was labeled for it would work well. But sometimes the damage is extensive and you should call a professional.
- [Warren] We're getting close now to, if we're not already there, Shep, to the mosquito time of the year. We've had some crazy weather, remember those 70s, what was it back in March or April? And then it got cold at the beginning of this month. What kind of impact has that made on the mosquito population? And what should our listeners do as far as those of you at Rose are concerned to keep them away?
- [Shep] The mosquitoes come every year, and the thing to remember is the very first mosquitoes that you see when it seems to be pretty cold, those are frequently snow melt mosquitoes that come out once a year, breeding in the pools that happen when the snow melts in the spring. They only happen once a year and then they go away. It's later on that we get our normal warm weather mosquitoes which are suddenly coming out now. The best thing people can do is go through your yard and do a survey.
Is there standing water? Dump it out.
Are the gutters plugged up? Unplug them.
Make sure that everything is running freely and you don't start growing your own mosquitoes. And then, when you are in mosquito places Wear the appropriate clothing and some repellent. Don't let mosquitoes bite you.
- [Warren] Well do you come out and do the spraying around the I don't know, the patio or the deck, does Rose do that kind of thing? To keep them away for the entire summer.
- [Shep] Ha, the entire summer is a long time, Warren. Uh, we do, there are barrier treatments that you can do. They generally work fast, where people have lots of vegetation around and the mosquitoes get really bad. You can do some marvelous things. It works for weeks, but maybe not all summer.
- [Warren] We're out, out .
- [Shep] But it does a great job.
- [Warren] Outta time now, Shep. If people want more information they just go to your website?
- [Shep] They can, at rosepestsolutions.com
- [Warren] Got it, Shep thanks for checking in with us and keeping those bugs away for the summer as we head to the right now traffic center.
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