Several federal agencies, including HUD, Dept of Energy, EPA, Health and Human Services and White House Council on Environmental Quality have developed a strategy to reduce number of homes with health and safety hazards. The characteristics that eliminate health hazards include being dry, clean, safe, contaminant free, well ventilated and PEST FREE. The presence of pests is recognized as a health hazard in homes. Professional pest control companies are a major player in keeping your home healthy.
Now that Spring is coming it's a good time to clean out the clutter. Pests like to nest and hide in dead areas where they are undisturbed. Spring cleaning time is a great time to donate unused items to charity.
And, when you start working in the yard, remember rodents and insects like to hide in shrubs and brush that are up next to your house. If you trim back the trees you are less likely to have pests enter your home.
If you're in the Seattle area remember we have a vacuum fumigation chamber in case you find moths in that rolled up Asian carpet or beetles in that piece of antique furniture.
Our fumigation Department has been busy. Recent export fumigations include Sitka Spruce from Alaska to Spain, chick peas (Garbanzo beans) from Colorado to Saudi Arabia, cedar logs to China, building materials to Australia and coffee beans to Chile. Import fumigations include flowers from Thailand and bamboo from China. We continue to fumigate belongings for bedbugs where conventional treatments with insecticides and heat fail.
If we can be of help with service to your home or business give us a call.
800 Got Bugs? (800 542 1234)
Spanish guitars with spruce tone wood
Helping with the family grocery bills
Most of us have never been to Prince of Wales Island, to the west of Ketchikan (although I've been to Ketchikan). It is the 4th largest island in the US (after Hawaii, Kodiak and Puerto Rico). It is bigger than the State of Delaware but has only 6,000 population. The business Brent Cole owns is called Alaska Specialty Woods. He harvests Sitka Spruce that is sold to be used for tone wood by luthiers - the people who make guitars. Brent and his wife moved to Montana after his family turkey farm was sold in Wisconsin. After tiring of working in the oil fields he moved to Alaska to open a taxidermy shop. When that didn't work out he bought a small log company on Prince of Wales. We are happy his business is booming and his spruce is being shipped all over the world to make guitars. We are fumigating a container for him in Seattle as a condition of entry into Spain - where they are noted for fine guitars.
When it gets wet and cold outside you may have more guests than you expected for the holidays. If you need help hanging out the "unwelcome mat" give us a call. And, have a great holiday season, from your friends at Paratex.
Indian Meal Moth
Saw-toothed grain beetle
Holiday cooking may cause us to get into spices and flour products that we don't use regularly. If old we may find they are infested with moths or beetles. There are many different kinds that can infest flour, dry cereals, spices, chocolate, nuts and related. You may only find the larva (worm) stage and not an adult. If you find an infestation throw the product away and thoroughly clean shelves around it. Store this type product in tight containers and keep cupboards clean of spillage. If in doubt throw it out. These pest can keep infecting other products and go deep into cracks making it hard to eliminate them. A couple samples are above.
Have a great Thanksgiving, but don't invite rodents in for dinner. Our furry little friends get cold and hungry this time of year and the inside of your house looks very inviting. It's warm and has lots of good food. At least don't make it easy for them by leaving ways for them to enter easily. Gaps around plumbing pipes under the sink are often a source of mice entering. A little steel wool or foam insulation can plug the gaps. Save a little turkey for your pets - not rodents.
Since it was stormy this morning I pulled out an old sweatshirt to wear, and did't realize what was on it until I went into the post office and the clerk said, "Oh, did you go to Harvard?" No, I assured him I didn't have the scholastic ability to enter that famous school. I do have two business friends who did and can honestly wear the shirt. (One very conservative who I see each Wednesday and the other very progressive who I see each Thursday.) My shirt came when a woman friend went to Harvard to give a talk and brought it back for me. A short time after her return we were in Victoria and walked into a shop in the Empress Hotel with some very expensive paintings for sale. The shop was full of tourists and there were two women sales people "working the crowd." Yes, I was wearing my gifted sweatshirt. All of a sudden I saw one of the women rush towards me almost knocking other people over. She was eager to help me and wouldn't take my "I'm just looking" for an answer. We quickly left the shop and I asked my friend what that was all about. "She zeroed right in on your Harvard shirt," she said. "She figured if you went to Harvard you must have money." After today the shirt is going back in the drawer.
Some pest control companies are using heat treatments to control bedbugs. While this is a valid method we do not recommend it. Putting high heat in a building can cause damage both to the building and its contents. This morning we saw a report where a bedbug heat treatment is suspected in causing a fire in three units(in New Hampshire) and displacing the families. We also have reports of failures in controlling the bedbugs. Lastly it is way too expensive.
Paratex often uses a Vikane fumigation of the belongings. It is 100% effective in killing adults and the eggs. For information on the best method to eliminate bedbug infestations give us a call.
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Inna 
ASB - Seattle 
MES, Inc. 
Kenichi Uchikura 
Yllumière Leir 
PSPINC QR Blog 
PSPINC 
Mayumi Nakamura 
Seattle Execs. 
ClockLink 
Several federal agencies, including HUD, Dept of Energy, EPA, Health and Human Services and White House Council on Environmental Quality have developed a strategy to reduce number of homes with health and safety hazards. The characteristics that eliminate health hazards include being dry, clean, safe, contaminant free, well ventilated and PEST FREE. The presence of pests is recognized as a health hazard in homes. Professional pest control companies are a major player in keeping your home healthy.
Sometimes tiny round holes appear in a piece of antique furniture. These often are caused by a type of powder post beetle called a lyctid beetle. Around the holes may appear a fine powder-like frass. They are found in hardwoods such as oak, walnut and mahogany. They are also found in bamboo. They are similar but not the same as the beetles we find in the softwood substructure of houses in the Pacific Northwest. Lyctid beetles are also occasionally found in hardwood flooring. The interesting thing is it may be years before the holes appear in the surface of the wood. It is the larva (worm stage)that does the damage, eating inside the wood. When you see a hole it means the larva has turned into an adult beetle and emerged. The problem is until you see a hole you don't know the beetle is inside - or how many larva may still be eating inside the wood. Paratex does have a solution - a vacuum fumigation chamber. Fumigation under a vacuum penetrates the wood and kills the larva. There is no pesticide residue after fumigation.
Today we begin fumigating chestnuts in our vacuum chamber. This is required as a condition of entry into the US from all countries except Canada and Mexico. Chestnuts are an ancient food with twice the starch content as potatoes. They are very popular in Korea this time of year and with the Korean population. In addition to roasting them they can be used in soups, in vegetable dishes and added to stuffing. The usual procedure before roasting is to make an X in the skin, then to peel them while still hot.
