The 12 Key Factors with Jeff McGovern Big Secrets of Pest Management

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The 12 Key Factors with Jeff McGovern Big Secrets of Pest Management

Susan Broadbent @Bug_Education bugsfordinner.com

This podcast is very helpful. I find it to be supplemental to my CEU’s, textbook readings, and current informative newsletter from the University of Florida. Keep up the great work!
Regards,

Luke E. Hall, President
Certified Pest Control of Naples, LLC.

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Book of The Week
FREE: The Future of a Radical Price by: Chris Anderson

Pest Alerts
Hemlock Woolly Adelgids Hitchhiking on Birds
https://entomologytoday.org/2016/08/01/tree-killing-hemlock-wooly-adelgids-hitch-rides-on-birds/
Experimental Evidence for Branch-to-Bird Transfer as a Mechanism for Avian Dispersal of the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (Hemiptera: Adelgidae)
http://ee.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2016/07/25/ee.nvw083

News
Aptive Environmental is suing the city of Macedonia because of an ordinance that forbids door-to-door sales in Macedonia OH claiming the ordinance is unconstitutional because it violates the free-speech and due process rights.
https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/2998446/Macedonia-Lawsuit.pdf

Rollins, Inc. Reports Second Quarter and Six Months 2016 Financial Results
The Company recorded second quarter revenues of $411.1 million and a net income increased 6.0% to $47.8 million.
http://www.rollins.com/tools/viewpdf.aspx?page={F1C19D4C-A723-4AEB-930C-2E0D1C3B97E2}

Main Topic
The 12 Key Factors for Pest Management
There are tens of thousands of different species of pests (rodents, insects, etc.). Add to this information all the chemicals, supplies, and products that you, a Pest Management Professional (PMP) or exterminator might use, and pest control can become confusing. Maybe this is why many people think that Pest Management is difficult to understand.

After hearing about all of the parts of pest control and the many names for pests and solutions, some people think that the simplest answer is to hire a PMP and forget about the whole thing. “Let them worry about it.” That is really not the best way to react. If you really want effective pest control, it needs to be a partnership between the PMP and the client. Everyone has responsibilities and, in most cases, the client has far more opportunities for success than you think.

There are several key factors THE BIG SECRETS of pest management. Once these are understood and used properly, a facility that is well protected from pests can become a reality. To say that a facility is ‘totally pest free’ means– at that moment in time– no pests were found. Any facility can come under pest invasion at any time. It’s how the situation is managed that measures the success.
To help you understand them, the 12 key factors for pest control are grouped in sets of four. The first group of four lists the basic needs for a pest:

ACCESS –– A way into your facility
FOOD –– Something to eat once access is gained
WATER –– Something to drink once access is gained
HARBORAGE OR HOME – A place to live inside your facility

A fairly simple group of words, but they are truly what anything needs to become a pest or unwanted visitor. By dealing with these resources, pests can be defeated. They cannot survive anywhere without all of these. A pest control program takes away some or all of these factors. There is a problem. Pests can be very small and these first four factors can be easy to miss. Remember the size of pests when you are looking for the factors that you can use to control them. Look for small amounts of food– it does not take much to feed a pest.

We also need to look thoroughly, so we move to the second group of four factors: where to look. Again, it’s a short list of four words or statements.
UNDERNEATH
AROUND
BEHIND
ON –– TOP – OF

Now that we know where to look, we want to start looking for or inspecting the facility for various signs of pest activity. It may be any number of things from the actual pests themselves: their droppings or waste, signs of damage they have caused. Damage can be to product, the facility or equipment.

The most critical tool for inspections is a good flashlight. To find pests or their signs, you need to be able to see where they hide because most pests love dark, hidden places. Dark hidden places are also hard to clean, so there is probably food and water available, as well as harborage.

It takes practice and time to understand what is happening. The inspection skill is a learned one. The more one inspects, the better one becomes at the process. Careful inspection and understanding the situation is critical. It can be really simple. It all begins by looking UNDERNEATH, AROUND, BEHIND AND ON TOP OF everything.

The final four factors are the solutions to use to prevent the pests from using the resources that they have found.

CLEANING
SANITATION
MAINTENANCE
PRODUCT ROTATION or first in first out (FIFO).

All of these activities should be common practices to head off the pests before they become a problem inside a facility, especially a food area. Both the facility operators and PMP must work together to eliminate or at least minimize pest issues. This means that cleaning regularly and thoroughly, storing food and supplies off the floor, and using FIFO will help you prevent pests. Other control methods, including mechanical traps, electronic fly control, and even chemicals (if needed) can then be used to make an even more successful program.

PMPs must provide the client with regular feedback on the operation and control methods so the access, food, water, and harborage issues can be controlled. Clients need to work with their PMP by reporting locations and types of problems. If a pest problem is found, there might be the need for interventions including chemicals or trapping devices to deal with pest populations quickly. However if the first four factors, FOOD, WATER, HARBORAGE, and ACCESS are not handled, no amount of PMP support or intervention will eliminate or even hold off the problem for long.
BE PROACTIVE –– Don’t React.

Prevent the problem and you won’t have to fix it.

If you would like to get trainning from Jeff you can contact him at:

Jeff McGovern