White Footed House Ants

White-Footed House Ants

What are white footed ants?

White-Footed house ants have become quite well in established in the Auckland region. They are one of the most common invaders of ants in homes and businesses in NZ. They got their name from the yellowish lower legs. Despite their small size of 3.0mm to 3.5mm long, they are a huge nuisance, especially when they are found throughout the kitchen pantry in large numbers!

Nesting

White-Footed house ants are found both indoors and outdoors. They enjoy nesting within walls, ceiling cavities and sub-floors. Here they are safe from the environmental factors like the rain and wind. One ant nest can have many queen ants and up to 2 million individuals!

A lot of our customers notice piles of dead ants, bits of wood and dust right under light fittings or window sills. Ants like to have a clean nest, so they will clear out any scraps and dead ants from their nest.

They don’t cause damage, however if they were to be nesting along power boxes it may cause short circuiting.

Diet/Do it yourself baiting

White-Footed house ants have a sweet-tooth. They enjoy a good meal of honey dew and nectar. They also love a good feast on ant bait you buy from the supermarket, or your local hardware store, as it is full of sugary goodness for them.

Do it yourself baiting can make the problem you have a whole lot worse! The ants that you see out and about are worker ants. This type of bait will usually only kill the ants that have taken the bait, not the colony. The ants unaffected by the bait realize something is going on and they may decide to relocate to avoid extermination. Or they may start laying more eggs to repopulate!

Treatment:

The best way to attack a nest is to do it slowly. Applying a treatment that is invisible to ants is the most effective way to wipe those little suckers out once and for all. The ants will walk through the treatment and tread it back to the nest to pass it on to the other workers and the queen. Slowly but surely this will exterminate the nest.

When you’re away, the fleas WON’T play!

Warm, summer days often bring a surge of flea infestations to many of our customers. Often people who didn’t even realise that they had fleas are greeted by hundreds of fleas as they return from their holiday.

We also have lots of customers who book in a treatment as they are leaving for holiday. It may seem like a good plan to get a flea treatment as you’re about to go on holiday and you’ll surely come home to a lovely, flea-free home...

But, as you walk in the door, what are you greeted by?

Yup, you guessed it, FLEAS! And lots of them, no less.

But why is this the case? And how can we prevent it?

Unfortunately, the holiday plan doesn’t often work as well as everyone would like. When you go on holiday, so do the fleas. When our houses have no activity in them, those pesky little fleas go dormant and on your return they are starving!

Adult fleas feast on warm blood and if they do not have a host they can go into a dormant  state which can last up to two years. Normally, flea eggs hatch in one to twelve days and the larva eats debris from animal hairs or vegetable matter. It generally takes about 3 weeks for the larvae to reach adulthood.

When no one is around, however, the adults in their pupal stage will just stay and wait until a host is present. If there is no movement in the house, they’ll go dormant, and won’t be hopping on the carpet and coming into contact with our treatment.

You open the front door after your amazing time away, and the fleas detect you by picking up vibrations. This triggers them to come out of dormancy and look for food. This is why, when you get home from your relaxing summer holiday, you get swarmed by fleas even though you may have had a treatment done.

Even a milder flea infestation, that you may not have even noticed, will appear severe as they jump on your legs looking for lunch!

So what can you do to prevent this from happening?

• If you didn’t realise that you had fleas, and they are all of a sudden everywhere once returning home, call us to book in a treatment, on 0800 54 64 54.
• If the property is empty or you’re planning a trip away, its important that someone goes around each day and has a good stomp in every room so that the fleas don’t go into the dormant state. The more active they are, the faster they will come into contact with the treatment.
• Rather get your house treated when you return from holiday or just a day before. This means that there is no chance of the fleas entering the dormant state and we’ll be able to eradicate them at a much quicker rate.  

If you’ve got a flea problem, call us on 0800 54 64 54 and we can discuss a solution with you.

Borer; it’s that time of year again!

Borer; it’s that time of year again!

October and November is the time of year when Borer beetles start emerging from the wood. This is when most homeowners start to notice the first signs of Borer.

Borer is scary; well that’s how it comes across until you know all the facts and that we can do something about it!

Borer in the roof cavity and under the floor are usually picked up on if you have insulation installed, or if you have an electrician or builder do some maintenance.  Borer throughout the house is usually picked up on between October and February. This is when the borer throughout the home emerges from little holes in the wood causing piles of fine sawdust.  However if you are noticing borer holes this doesn’t mean you have active borer. It could be an old infestation that has already been treated.

Borer damage can also leave a line pattern as
shown above. This is usually inactive
and was present when the timber was milled.

Active borer will leave little circular 

holes on surface of the wood as seen here

Borer in the roof or subfloor can be treated at any time of the year. This is because the wood in these areas is usually unpainted; meaning the treatment we apply will penetrate the wood and kill the borer.

Borer internally, also known as borer on the wing must be treated between September and October before the borer flight season. This is because throughout the internal of the home the wood is usually vanished or painted and products cannot penetrate into the wood. Internal borer must be treated every year for 4 years continuously which will kill the lifecycle of the borer. You will also be happy to know it will help reduce flies over summer too, as it is also effective on flies that come in contact with the treatment.

At Bug King we offer a pre inspection before treatment. This is so we can examine the borer activity and provide you with an accurate quote, as it may only be a small portion of the home affected, or an old infestation that doesn’t require treatment at all.  If you are worried and would like to book an inspection or just chat to someone about any borer concerns, call the team at Bug King on 0800 54 64 54.

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