Invasion of the Stinging Kind!

Whether it is cyclic or due to global warming, the winter just gone has been pretty half pie. Fantastic for an early flush in the flower garden, but not so good for us when it comes to those stinging, harassing, pesky wasps!

Let me tell you why...

The life cycle of the wasp involves the need for the next generations’ queens to hibernate during the winter months. With our short winter being borderline to a sham, our hibernating queens have made it through easy enough and are now starting to emerge with intent to start a family. The problem is that they are almost 2 months too early! With the surviving nests already at early summer numbers, this only means one thing; it’s going to be a big summer for wasps.

Food attractions

Wasps do a great job of keeping the insect population down but everything is fair game to them, including the monarch caterpillars on your swan plants. To protect your monarch caterpillars, once you feel there are enough caterpillars on the plant you can cover the plant with an old net curtain, tying it off at the bottom so no wasps can get in. Take off the cover when they are in their chrysalis.

Wasps are on the hunt for the bugs and grubs in your garden, meat in your sandwich or fish bait 1km offshore, yes they harass us fishermen too. They are also after honeydew and will travel over 1km from their nest when searching for food. This also makes it hard when we get called out to a property where there is no nest located.

Prevention

So what can be done to reduce the numbers of wasps in the situation there is no nest in sight?

Wasps are attracted to the honeydew found on our giant aphids. These aphids live on those high sap producing trees, such as the willow tree. As you look into a willow you will see wasps bouncing around the leaves and then flying off in different directions. The solution to this is to eliminate the wasp’s food source, the aphids. Contact your local garden store for safe and effective ways to put an end to the aphids.

When to treat a nest yourself

Now for the inevitable, wasp nests and what to do about them! If the nest is visible, by being under the eaves or on the fence etc, then it is more than likely to be an Asian paper wasp nest. These are usually handled quite easily and can be shoved off and squashed due to their small size. We don’t recommend do it yourself remedies, especially in the situation where you are unsure of the nest size.

                                                           

Nests under the ground or in the roof cavity can be hard to decipher the size. This is when it can get dangerous. Our technicians are fully trained and equipped to deal with worst case scenarios. Nothing is too big or too small for us!

Small paper wasp nest.

Large nest found in ceiling cavity, about the size of a beach ball!!

As a foot note, I would like to remind you that wasps are a dangerous pest when they feel threatened and they will defend the hive aggressively. Attempting to eliminate a wasp nest without gauging its size correctly or not using the proper protection or products could result in serious injury.

If you have any questions about wasps, you can call our team at Bug King on 0800 54 64 54 to discuss it further.

Have a happy and safe summer from your local pesties.

Jonathan – Bug King Pest Control.

Is the cat in the roof? Is it a ghost? The wind? Nope, it’s just those pesky rodents having a party in my roof again!

Not only are you feeling the cold, but so are a lot of the winter pests. Rodents look for warm shelter during this time of year, unfortunately this can mean inside your roof cavity, walls, sub-floor and even throughout the internal of your home!

Mice are a lot smaller then rats, this means it doesn’t take a big gap for them to get into your home. Both mice and rats can use tree branches and power lines to gain access into your home. They are also quite the athlete and can jump over 1 metre.

Fast Facts!

·         Mice and rat tails can grow as long as their body!

·         They can carry diseases, such as Salmonella!

·         Age expectancy is between 6 and 36 months. During their life span they can have up to 6 litters of 6-10 babies!

·         A mouse will eat 15-20 times a day, this means they won’t travel too far from nests.

·         You may even find them having a swim in your swimming pool, as they are excellent swimmers!

 A lot of our customers don’t realise they have cracks or holes around the house, until they notice rodent droppings or see a sneaky mouse running from the TV unit to under the couch! They aren’t the most ideal flat mate either, leaving droppings, urinating on insulation (which causes a horrible stench), gnawing through wiring and pipe work and keeping you awake at night running from one side of the roof cavity to the other at 2am in the morning!

Visit the rodent section on Bug Kings website for more information on where and why mice and rats are found in the home http://www.bugking.co.nz/rodents.html

Most of our customers call to inform us there is a noise in the roof and there is a family of rodents living in there. While most of the time this is the case, it can also be birds on the roof outside too! Birds will also make noises which will seem like its coming from inside the roof cavity. The way to decipher if it is birds or rodents is by the time of day the noises are occurring. If it is early morning as the sun is rising and during the day, there is a chance it could be birds. If it is late at night and early morning while it is still dark, the problem is definitely rodents.

Bug King also offers rodent control for commercial properties. See http://www.bugking.co.nz/commercial.html  for more information.

If you would like proofing advice or help to keep rodents out and away from the home, get in touch with Bug King to help give you some peace of mind. We are always happy to help.

Changes to the Food ACT 2014. What does it mean for you.

"What's this 108 page Food Control Plan the council's just handed me? Help!"

Under the new Food Act 2014 you're going to need to have a Food Control Plan in place if you prepare and sell food for general consumption.

Although the official implementation date is March 2016 a number of Food Safety Officers have approached businesses to enroll them in the early adopter program. It appears the communication on this has been poor about what they need to do to complete the Food Safety Plan template.

We have had a number of our customers coming to us very confused and more than a little worried about their compliance under the new act.

So essentially;

• The Food ACT 2014 was passed last year
• Under the act businesses will be classed as high or medium risk
• High risk businesses - one's that prepare and sell meals, sell raw meat, sell seafood
• Medium risk businesses - one's that sell pre-packaged food
• High risk businesses will need to operate under a written Food Control Plan
• Medium risk businesses can operate under a National Program
• Higher risk businesses will  be transitioned to the new Food Control Plans first. This will happen progressively from March 2016
• Most high risk businesses are using the MPI Food Control Plan Template

Now this is where the fun starts! The Food Control Plan template is a 108 page document that needs to be completed by the business owner. Many small business owners, particularly where English is the second language, are finding this a daunting prospect. First impressions are that they will need to invest a lot of time and money to ensure they comply under the new act.

That's the bad news. The good news is you should be doing what the food plan is asking now, it's just a matter of documenting the process to ensure all essential tasks are covered and their is a person responsible for completing these tasks.

You can complete this yourself, which will be confusing and time consuming or you can engage a consultant to complete this for you, again there would be an invest in time as well as significant cost.

At Bug King we're providing free consultancy services for customers on our A.R.M. Assure and A.R.M. Assure+ Pest Control Programs to complete the plan. We're very knowledgeable of the Food Plan requirements and can significantly reduce your investment in time and cost.

If you're looking to review your current Pest Control program or need a program under the new Food Control Plan, please give us a call and kill two birds with one stone.

The team at Bug King

p. 0800 54 64 54     e. info@bugking.co.nz    w. bugking.co.nz

Breaking News - the Kiwi sausage sizzle is almost legal

Hang on, you're telling me it's illegal?

Well......yes. According to the Food Act 1981 it is.

Incredibly, simple activities like fundraising sausage sizzles and cake stalls at school fairs need to comply with the Food Hygiene Regulations (1974) under the Food Act (1981). This means the poor old PTA and Sport's Club needs to have the same systems and processes in place as large business operations like retail food outlets and food processors.

Luckily the authorities recognise the inflexibility of the situation and generally turn a blind eye, otherwise we'd be paying about $20.00 for a sausage outside Bunnings. 

When the new Food Act 2014 finally comes into force there will be a clear exemption for these Kiwi traditions with the only rule being that the food sold must be safe. Viva le sausage and banana cake!

OK, so what's this got to do with pest control?

Well, a formal Pest Control Program will be an essential requirement under the Food Act 2014 if you are classed as high risk. That's;

• You prepare and/or sell meals (retail food).
• You process food and/or sell raw meat or seafood (food processors).

If you fall into a high risk category, you've got a significant work to do to meet the new requirements under the revised act.

Businesses classed as high risk will operate under far more stringent requirements including having a documented Food Control Plan, including a formal Pest Control Program. How well you manage/operate this food plan will have a direct impact on your compliance costs. Businesses performing well will require less frequent checks, business that not managing food safety well will receive extra attention.

Information on the implementation of the new Food Act is available here.

The good news is the new act won't come into full force until 1 March 2016, so you have a good period of time to change processes to meet the new requirements. As mentioned these are significant but we can help simplify the process for you.

The commercial team at Bug King have done a good amount of research on the new act and the requirements of this, Pest Control in particular. If you need any advice on this or an audit of your current processes and their compliance under the new law, please contact the team to arrange a time to discuss and review.

The team at Bug King              0800 KING KING (54 64 54)                 www.bugking.co.nz

New Zealand's deadliest spider?

The legend that is the Daddy Long Legs.

And it is just that, an Urban Legend.

We've all heard the about of the Daddy Long Legs. Apparently they have the world's most potent venom but it's OK, they can't bite us because their fangs are to small.

This is something I believed before I became your friendly pest controller and did a little research.

I don't know where the legend started but the Daddy Long Legs (the correct name is actually the Cellar Spider) can prey on other spiders including venomous spiders. So the reasoning goes, if the Daddy Long Legs can kill venomous spiders capable of killing humans then it must be even deadlier but it can't bite us for some reason.

The actual reason they can prey on venomous spiders isn't the strength of their venom but more a combination of speed and their web spinning ability.

For a good example of this check out the following video of a Daddy Long Legs vs White-tail Spider;

The venom of the Daddy Long Legs has been tested and found to be not that potent, even against other insects and although their fangs are small (about 0.25mm) they can still bite us. The good news is, if this happens the worst effect you'll feel will probably be a mild short-lived burning sensation.

It might even pay to keep them around to help take care of any White-tails..........provided you can put up with all those ugly webs that is.

The team at Bug King              0800 KING KING (54 64 54)                 www.bugking.co.nz

Hunting for bed-bugs?

They're hard to find

This is what you need to look for.

If you think you've got bed-bugs and want to inspect your bed to confirm it......this is a great example of what you're looking for.

The following video has some excellent close up shots of all stages of the bed-bug life-cycle as well as good examples of faecal specks and moulted shells. This is filmed very close up so to get a good idea of scale, the large adult bed-bugs you're seeing are about the size of an apple seed.

The size of these infestations are quite large, so the signs are quite obvious. For a smaller infestation you would be looking for faecal specks in seams of the mattress........or more likely at the head end of the bed-base in/under wooden slats or if a solid base on the underside of the base in the material seams around the staples.



If you don't find any obvious signs you may still have an infestation but it's probably in the early stages.

We hope this helps and as always, please feel free to give the team a call for advice or to help diagnose the problem and recommend appropriate treatments.

The team at Bug King/Chimney King              0800 KING KING (54 64 54)

www.bugking.co.nz      www.chimneyking.co.nz

Oh no it's the ants invasion

Everybody seems to be having problems with ants at the moment.

We're getting a high number of calls about ants at the moment. Why?

Well at this time of year the cold wet weather affects the ants food supply. Diminishing food sources outside are making ants forage indoors for substitutes and our high sugar/carbohydrate, high protein foods make an excellent alternative.

In addition to this rain is affecting ants that nest outdoors and forcing them to re-locate somewhere warmer and dryer.......your garden shed, your home and even your car.

As the little pests have started moving inside we've noticed a significant increase in calls about how to get rid of them......and that all depends on the type of ant. There are a number of different species of ant out there and the methods required to exterminate them vary significantly depending on the species. To make this post simpler, we'll target the information to the two which generate 90% of our ant calls;

1. The white footed house ant.
2. The black house ant.

White-footed House Ant

The white-footed house ant is hands down the most common invader of Auckland homes. This is because they prefer to live in the walls and ceilings of your home. This is a  lot closer to your food than other ants. Which means a far greater probability the foragers will find it, let the rest of the nest know and.....WHAM an

ant party all over the bench in the morning.

White-footed House Ant
Actual size 3.5mm

When this happens people usually pop down to the local hardware store for some bait. When you do this all that usually happens is you start getting piles of ants on the window sills and under light fittings as the ants throw the ants killed by the bait out of the nest. This is because white-footed house ants feeding habits usually mean only the ants that directly take the bait are killed.

The most effective treatment against white-footed house ants is a slower acting contact treatment that the ants will pick-up on their legs and bodies, track back to the nest and pass it on to all other workers and the queen, eventually exterminating the nest.

We also strongly recommend applying a repellent barrier treatment 1-2 weeks later to stop the territory left by the exterminated ants being taken over by the neighbours ants. Do not....I repeat.....do not apply a barrier treatment before you exterminate the nest. All you will do is trap the ants inside the house and
make the problem much, much worse.

Black House Ant

Black House Ant
Actual size 2.5mm

Another common invader of Auckland homes is the common black house ant. These guys usually live outside but can occasionally be found living in the home. If you get an invasion they'll more than likely be feeding on a sugary liquid (beer, cans of soft drink, etc). We don't get as many calls about these guys as there feeding habits mean baits work a lot better on them, however you will need a lot of bait and I do mean a lot of bait. If you're not to worried about them being outside and just want to stop them getting in the home an external barrier treatment is usually sufficient. Alternatively we can find the nest, kill it and apply a barrier treatment around the perimeter of your property to stop the neighbours ants taking over the vacant territory.

These are the main two that will cause problems, however there is another ant that's becoming an increasing  nuisance. The Argentine Ant. This one is a whole different kettle of fish and I'll blog about this separately.

So in summary.

• It's getting cold and wet as Winters almost here.
• This affects the ants food and harbourage, forcing them inside to survive.
• You may be able to get rid of the black house ants with baits.
• Your going to need a professional to control white-footed house ants.

As always, if you need any assistance or advice about ant issues, please feel free to call the team at Bug King on 0800 KING KING (54 64 54)

The team at Bug King/Chimney King

www.bugking.co.nz      www.chimneyking.co.nz