Initial or 1x Service – Box Elder Bugs, Stink Bugs, and other occasional invaders
PS.182
Purpose
To provide guidance and to establish procedures for Pest Technicians as they perform a initial or 1x service for occasional invaders for clients of Good Earth Pest Company.
Safety and Health
Read and understand the current label of each pesticide or material being applied, paying special attention to label restrictions, and required personal protective equipment (PPE).
Materials and Equipment
- Backpack sprayer
- Web mop pole
- Any other material that you may need
Procedure
- Park onsite and confirm the street address to make sure that you are servicing the correct building(s).
- Clock in and review all documents (field sheet, tech notes, and service agreement) from the bid.
- Grab all necessary equipment needed to enter the home. Flashlight, boot covers, and any materials that you may need.
- Greet the client, introduce yourself, and address any concerns/immediate problems that they may have first. Once that is done, continue through the following steps to complete their exterior service.
- Boxelder bugs (BEB) and Brown Marmorated Stink bugs (BMS)
During the spring and fall, BEB and BMS will congregate on the exterior of a home. In the spring they are waking up from their winter dormancy and re-entering the environment. In the fall they are seeking shelter from the cold and are attracted to the warmth of the home, commonly gathering on the sunny sides of the building. To treat them you will use your repellant backpack. Using Demand CS (with exciter for quicker knockdown) treat all the areas that the bugs are present. You will also want to treat the eves and eve vents, around doors and windows, and in all the cracks and cervices the siding and gutters provide. You will want to directly apply the material to as many bugs as you can to get the quickest initial knockdown. The residual effects of the Demand will continue to provide repellency and control for some time after. Being that Demand is a pyrethroid, there are restrictions on areas you can service above concrete or other impervious surfaces, drainage, or other condition that could result in runoff into storm drains, gutters, ditches, or waterways. Consult the label for all restrictions. - Mediterranean seed bugs and Springtails
MSB and springtails are other occasional invaders that will cover the exterior of the building. While the seed bug can fly both pests tend to mostly crawl along the ground in massive waves. It's not so much that they are trying to over-winter in the home as that the home is in their path and gets overrun. For treatment, you will want to perform the steps detailed above for BEB and BMS. In addition, you will also want to treat the foundation of the home (up to 3’ vertically), and a wide band around the perimeter of the structure (up to 10’ out from the foundation). Make sure you are taking all non-permeable surfaces into account while treating per the label. This will give maximum exposure to any crawling pests trying to cross this barrier increasing its efficacy and repellant effect. - Occasional invader treatment clients going on regular service
Occasional invader treatments are repellant heavy by nature and you should always ask the client about their history with ants in the structure. For one time services you need to tell them that if they have ants in the home, the treatment could push them into the living space. For clients starting ongoing service, if they never have issues with ants, we can wait till the next service or spring to do an Initial Carpenter Ant treatment. If they do have ant issues the perimeter and foundation treatments can be switched to a non-repellant like Advion. This will decrease the effectiveness for crawling pests but will allow control of the ants. - Return to your vehicle when done and secure all equipment and make it is safe to travel.
- Reconvene with the client and report all your findings, including the measures you took to address them. Also, make sure to set expectations for the improvement in activity that they can anticipate. If the client is not home and you need to communicate with them, please call or send them a text. Make sure to leave a door hanger so the client can confirm that you were onsite.
- Enter all required information on the material applied into PestPac Mobile. Also, enter notes on the service provided today as well as any client concerns, observations you made, or necessary environmental changes (see PS.102 Entering material information and notes into PestPac Mobile). You are the first tech to be servicing at this account, be sure that you update the location instructions with any pertinent information that other techs should know. Remember: Clients have access to your notes so they should always be professional and appropriate.
- If it was a particularly pleasant interaction be sure to send a review invite via the Podium app (see PS.150 Sending a review invite using Podium Mobile).
- Check off the account on your service route log.
Created
December 17, 2021
Revised
July 19, 2022
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