Work in March

Pest Control

Cockroaches

Bed Bugs

A year in pest control

Thank you for coming to my website and reading my blogs, I hope you have found them intesting and informative. The year has flown by and it has been a busy year in the world of Bespoke Pest Control, I took over the pest control of a hostel for foreign travelers in West London which had a problem that was not being dealt with by its previous pest control company. After a few months of regular visits, the number of complaints by guests had reduced greatly and now that an extensive mouse proofing program has been carried out within the property the mouse problem is under control. I carry out monthly inspections of this property to help maintain a high level of pest control.

In the latter part of 2015 I also took over a contract for mice in a restaurant in the Euston area of London which closed (voluntary) because of the problem with mice. I went in and treated the property and helped advise the owner on proofing work to help reduce access points for the mice. The environmental health department inspected the property a few days later and agreed to allow the restaurant to reopen its doors for the busy weekend business trade, after two weeks of intensive treatment and proofing the property was mouse free and happily trading with no pest issues. I still carry out monthly visits to help keep this restaurant pest free.

It was a busy summer for wasp nests and surprisingly for bed bugs as well, when I first started in the crazy world of pest control back in 1994 and working in the North post codes in London I treated very few properties for bed bugs. Last year I treated ten in and around Hertfordhire, I think this has to do with the increase in people travelling around the world and picking up these pesky creatures from hotels and backpacking hostels. As well as these there also seems to be an increase in carpet moths which I have yet to find an answer for and of course rats. The mild weather and heavy rains are encouraging more rats into houses and commercial properties. They are now breeding at an alarming rate because of the warmer winters, increased food supplies due to bin collections being reduced, more litter and food debris on our streets.

It seems that 2016 has carried on where 2015 left off with mice and rat treatments on the increase, so if you have any pest control problem or queries please give me Stephen a call on 07919 441895 for advice and to book an inspection for your property.

RATS

There are two main species of rats in the UK, the Black rat (Rattus rattus) that is mainly confined to ports and a few isolated islands and the common or brown rat (Rattus Norvegicus) which is found in drains, homes and businesses

Rats can carry numerous diseases that can spread to humans via their urine these include Weil's disease, listeria and salmonella. Rats also cause a huge deal of damage to buildings, it is estimated that damaged wiring by rats is responsible for 25% of electrical fires in buildings. They like to gnaw through electric cables, water pipes and gas pipes as well as floorboards and roof beams.

If rats find a way into your home, they will happily live under the floorboards, in wall cavities and roof spaces and as a recent customer found out if they die within your property the smell is overpowering.

Controlling a rat problem can be difficult, they breed quickly and are highly adaptable and mobile, How do you know if you have rats, apart from the noise they make and the smell of a dead rat you should look for their droppings which are dark brown and range from the size of a large grain of rice to that of a current

As winter is approaching rats will be looking for a warm nesting area to carry on breeding, if you think you have a rat problem give Bespoke Pest Control a call for free advice and a survey of your propery. We could save you a lot of time and remove your worries and possible damage to your home or business.

WASP INVASION!!!!

Wasps, nobody like wasps.

According to reports today Britian will be bombarded by wasps this year, the weather conditions over the winter and spring has lead to ideal breeding conditons for WASPS. A colder winter followed by a mild spring has increased the number for Queen wasps surviving.

A mature wasp nest can contain thousands of wasps, I would not advise treating a wasp nest your self as they can become very aggresive very quickly. The wasp nest will not necasseraly need to be removed but it should be treated as soon as possible by an expert in wasp treatments.

The number of wasp nests treated last year went up by nearly 80% from 2013.

If you think you have a problem with wasps, watch them especially in the early morning or near dusk when many leave or return to the nest. This will help you see where the possible nest entrance is. If you think you have a wasp nest in your loft/attic try to avoid disturbing the nest and aviod holding a tourch as wasps are attracted to the light.

Wasp have a stinger as a means of self defence and can sting more than once. If you are stung it is likely that a raised welt will emerge and a tiny white mark maybe visable where the stinger punctured the skin. Mild and moderate reactions to wasp stings are normal and can be treated at home, was the area with soap and water to try to remove as much as the venom as possible. Apply a small ice pack to hlep reduce the swelling, if the itching or irritation becomes a problem apply calamine lotion or baking soda which helps nuturalise the sting.

Over the years we at Bespoke Pest Control have delt with many wasp nests, if you have a wasp problem please call and we can offer you advice on the best course of action to rid the wasp problem in your property

Cockroaches

These little beauties are German cockroaches (blattela germanica) they love to live in nice warm areas of buildings, around fridge motors, beind ovens, in electrical items etc. They are 1cm to 2cm long and are light brown to almost black in colour. German cockroaches are omnivorous scavengers. They are attracted particularly to meats, starches, sugars and fatty foods. Where there is a shortage of foodstuffs, they may eat household items such as soap, glue and toothpaste. In famine conditions they turn cannibalistic, chewing at each other's wings and legs.

My first real dealings with German cockroaches was in a hotel in North London that housed overseas students. I had been called out to inspect a room where a couple of roaches had been seen the night before. The manger insisted that there had been little sign of roaches in the room so off I went, the room was a one bed it had a wardrobe, a sink, a fridge and a little cabenet with a tv on top. Being freshly trained I looked around the room and thought "fridge" so rather foolishly as it turned out I just pulled the fridge out and……woosh there were cockroaches everywhere not one or two but hundreds, I had left my sprayer in the hall. Cockroaches were running everywhere and most worrying of all they were running up and down my overalls….panic I ran into the hall way taking my overalls off as fast as I could, jumping up and down trying to get them off me. Eventually I had killed most of the cockroaches that were on me, I put my overalls back on, put on my mask, picked up my sprayer and went back into the room. All the roaches had gone back behind the fridge so I carfully inspected the rest of the room, there were cockroaches everywhere, in the TV, around the sink, in the bed. The Tv was on a little cabenet where the student kept some food, I could see cockroaches running in and out of the packets of pasta and sugar.

At this point I went downstairs to get the manager to show him how bad the problem was, I also insisted be brought up a bin bag so we could remove the contaminated food items. By the time we got back to the room all the cockroaches were back hiding and the manager could not see what the problem was, I picked up a bag of pasta and put it in his hands, "There are no cockroaches here" he started to say when the packet almost walked off his hannds as there were so many cockroaches in the packet. I have never seen a man throw so much stuff into a bin bag as quickly as he did that day, I treated the room and laid insect detectors to help moniter the problem. I then went and looked at the next door rooms and those above an below this room, there were cockroaches everywhere, every room I went into had cockroaches and there was over 30 bedrooms in this hotel. Did we get rid of the infestation you are asking, no we did not, the property was on for the minimum they could get away with price wise and to remove the problem would of taken lots of man hours at the time, so they cancelled the contract and I never went back. I often wonder if that hotel which I still pass when I am driving towards Swiss Cottage still has a cockraoch problem?

Pest Control

Welcome to Bespoke pest controls first blog, I thought I would start by introducing myself and give a little bit of background information about how I got into pest control.

In 1994 I was made redundent from my gardening job, I was looking around for another job when a friend suggested I join him at Rentokil pest control working in thier North London Branch. I past the interview and went on to complete their intencive 6 week in house training program. Each week I had to pass an exam on different aspects of pest control from health and safety to working with chemicals and idenifiying insect pests such as cockroaches.

Over the coming years, I became a advanced tecnichian which meant I could train new starters and work in more demanding areas of the job. I also learnt how to instal bird proofing and worked on some large projects to stop pigeons.

Pest control is a funny job that you never think you will land up in but, once you do it is a very rewarding job that gives great job satisfaction when you help a customer get their property back from cockroaches, mice, rats or bed bugs to name a few pests.

I hope over the coming weeks, months and years to help you understand about pests, how I can help you stay pest free and recount some of the more bizzare stories from my twenty odd years within the industry.

Stephen