Bug Blog
Ants prefer power napping to regular sleep
It has been proven that power napping can help us be more efficient during the day but worker ants take this to a whole new level. Unfortunately, the Queen only gets frequent naps that add up to eight hours every day. Because ants generally live underground, sleep patterns are not be determined by light and dark cycles. In one colony there are many groups of ants. Each group takes the power nap at the same time while the other groups carry on with their tasks. This avoids any delays as worker ants can take as many as 200 naps per day, each averaging one minute in length. That’s one power nap every 6 minutes, adding up to more than 4 hours of sleep every day. But, the downside of this is that it burns out these little insects easily reducing their lifespan. The ants sleep at irregular intervals and 75 percent of the workers are awake at any given time. It also ensures that enough worker ants are awake at any one time to defend and attend to the colony. The queens can live over six years before they die of old age, whereas workers live on an average of six months.
https://gogreenpestcontrol.ca/ants-prefer-powe…to-regular-sleep/
gogreenpestcontrol.ca Delta Ladner Tsawwassen Randy L. Bilesky BsF CPA
Hybrid Pest Control
Interested in green or earth-friendly pest controls, well most so-called green products haven’t been proven to work consistently and effectively as pesticides that have gone through the rigorous efficacy testing and government approvals. Yes you can go down to your local hardware store and source out those natural products that may work and rarely will you be pest free. Green still is more of a concept than a defined pest control practice and you may have to settle for a hybrid solution to your pest issues using natural and chemical solutions. The fact is if you want to Go Green, you will have to have a higher tolerance for insects and rodents. In fact many green solutions use products that are actually toxic, if it kills insects, and then it’s toxic. The fact is, green solutions in pest control take longer to work and required repeated applications. With a hybrid approach, both natural products and traditional pesticides are used. But truly the best solution is prevention, keeping your property inhospitable to insects and rodents by manipulating the surroundings to reduce favourable conditions: putting lids on garbage cans, keeping foliage well-trimmed, eliminating leaf litter, repairing cracks and crevices around buildings and replacing rotten wood on all structures.
https://gogreenpestcontrol.ca/hybrid-pest-control/
gogreenpestcontrol.ca Ladner Tsawwassen Delta B.C. randy L. Bilesky BsF CPA
https://www.delta-optimist.com/opinion/blogs/blog-hybrid-pest-control-1.23399871
Wasps and Hornets are our friends
Well this year’s hot weather has produced wasps and hornets by the billions, in fact the worst in recent years. By late August, the new wasp and hornet queens begin their hibernation ritual leaving millions of workers to a meaningless existence and a heavy addition to sugar. So, are these creatures really that bad, yes they will sting us if we get to close to their home, but they are here for a purpose. The biggest problems wasps have are us humans. Wasps and hornets are vigorous pollinators next to the other stinging insect – the bee. They are insects of astonishing, diverse and explicit splendour. Wasps are well-organised, accommodating insects engineering complex paper nests that are continually expanding. They safeguard us from garden destroying creatures like caterpillars and greenflies. And lastly, we all know now that added sugar in our drinks is an evil on to its self, so the next time you are drinking your cocktail or refreshment on the deck and have wasps circling you, it is only a reminder that sugar is not good for us but great for them.
Bald Faced Hornets
AKA – bald hornet, white-faced hornet, white-tailed hornet, spruce wasp, blackjacket, and bull wasp. Colonies can contain 400 to 1000 workers and builds a characteristic large hanging paper nest up to 58 centimetres in length. Workers aggressively defend their nest by repeatedly stinging invaders. Males in this species are haploid (carrying two complete sets of chromosomes) and females are diploid (two sets of chromosomes or double the haploid number of chromosomes in the germ cell). Worker females can lay eggs which develop into males. Matricide (the killing of one’s mother) might occur after sufficient workers have been raised and queen-destined eggs have been laid, in order to give workers a reproductive advantage. Nests are layered hexagonal combs covered by a mottled gray paper envelope -this paper envelope is built by collecting and chewing naturally occurring wood fibers. The wood fiber mixes with their saliva to become a pulpy substance that they can then form into place.
August –Bed Bugs!!!
Good night, sleep tight, don’t let the bedbugs bite. But if they do, then take your shoe and hit them till they’re black and blue (or take a spoon and eat them all) – the old saying is becoming more prevalent now that bed bugs are slowly returning in numbers. Bed bugs are found in dirty, as well as, the cleanest bedrooms I’ve seen. It is really important that if you find or are bitten by bed bugs that you get them treated immediately before they get way out of control. These insects move quickly anywhere people are, hotels, motels, medical facilities, movie theaters, thrift stores and used furniture stores. Bed bugs are not poisonous, but for some their bites leave behind itchy bumps that cause severe discomfort. When traveling do a quick check before you unpack: check creases, cracks, and crevasses in and around the bed and headboard. And when you return home take all your travel clothing including shoes, cloth bags and throw them in the dryer at a high for a half an hour. That way if you are carrying any bed bugs or their eggs the heat will kill them.
https://gogreenpestcontrol.ca/august-bed-bugs/
gogreenpestcontrol.ca Ladner Tsawwassen Delta B.C. Randy L. Bilesky BsF CPA
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/august-bed-bugs-randy-bilesky/?published=t
Ants Vs Wasps – and the winner is!
Army ants, known for their aggressive foraging techniques, will go to long lengths to get what they want. The name army ant or legionary ant are named for their foraging groups, known as “raids”, in which huge numbers of ants forage simultaneously over a certain area. The army ants do not build permanent nests rather the ant colony moves almost continually over the time it exists. Amazing pictures show how millions of army ants’ work together to invade a hornet nest. As the invasion takes place, the weight of the ants walking upside down causes the ants to loss grip on the soffit yet the shear strength and bond between the ants creates a hanging bridge. When this type of attack happens, most of the hornets escape but the ants do not leave until they’ve completely plundered the honeycomb, carrying hornets, and their pupae, larvae and eggs. For ants, it is more effective to follow the trail over a bridge that goes down and then up than in an inverted upside down walk. Also, it is more likely that upside down the ants can’t carry significant loads.
gogreenpestcontrol.ca Randy Bilesky BsF CPA Tsawwassen Delta Ladner B.C.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ants-vs-wasps-winner-randy-bilesky/?published=t
Ticks and Allergies to Steak
As with any tick bite, don’t panic when getting it out but also realize that you may develop alpha-gal allergy – tick-bite-induced allergy to red meat. Only some people who’ve been bitten by ticks develop an allergy to alpha-gal, a substance in red meat. There’s no cure for red meat allergy, which include various kinds of red meats, and even sometimes milk. So, wear bug spray if you’re going to be in an area where ticks are common. The use of insect repellents with 15 to 30 percent deet, 20 percent picaridin, or 30 percent oil of lemon eucalyptus will provide the greatest protection. Wear long pants and long sleeves, and tuck your pants into your socks. Keep your lawn grass cut, because ticks love tall grass and clean up brush and weeds. Check yourself for ticks at the end of every day and run the clothing through a cycle in a hot dryer to kill any ticks that may be clinging on, and leave your shoes outside in the sun.
gogreenpestcontrol.ca Ladner Tsawwassen Delta B.C. Randy Bilesky BsF CPA
https://business.google.com/u/2/posts/l/09867655829811115361?hl=en-CA&utm_source=google&utm_medium=MerchantPanelCreatePostAction&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiQyMKqqtHcAhXVIzQIHbNmDdcQ47sCMAB6BAgFEAc
