Everyone who watches WFFA – Channel 8 news in the Dallas Fort Worth Area had probably seen the incredible termite infestation from last Spring. There was such an incredible infestation of termites they were everywhere and literally covered the sidewalk in one DFW metroplex community. Well that time of year is almost here again and if you havent seen the flying termite swarmers yet this year, rest assured, you will soon.

Swarming Season is when reproductive termites leave the nest in order to find new mates. Every spring termites go looking for other termites that are not part of their “family” because all members of a colony are family. The reason it’s important for the termites to find mates that arent part of their colony is because inbreeding of termites can cause birth defects just like with any other animal. The reason you see so many termites swarming on the same day is they, knowing others will be out, all plan their swarms for spring-like weather on warm, calm, sunny days — right after rain… With it raining as much as it will be for the next 10 days or so, and the seasonable temps. the swarms might be coming sooner than you think! The National Pest Management Association (which we’re a proud member of) estimates that termites cause over 5 BILLION Dollars every year, in just the United States alone! There are signs to watch out for that will tell you that you have termite guests.

1) Seeing straw-size diameter mud tubes that run across bare concrete or masonry that go between the soil and any wooden part of a building, indoors or out.

2) Finding small, thin wings all the same size and shape, from 3/8″ to 1/2″ long on windowsills, counters, and floor areas.

3) Finding thin bubbly distorted areas of paint on wooden surfaces.

4) Observing sagging wooden structures.

If you are concerned your home may become a termite landing ground or if you observe any of these things or even just see some bugs swarming around outside, call our office. We’ll happily scedule a termite inspection to ensure your homes safety and your peace of mind. Your first step to getting more information about termites and our treatment would be to check out our termite control services page. Or, if you’re the type that would rather handle the problem yourself, Check out Our Termite Control Products.

Paper Wasps are responsible for a large number of stingings all over North America every year according to Medical and pest control professionals. The wasps stings are often serious, and can sometimes even threaten life! These “Paper Wasps” build their hives usually very near to structures around humans, often around food or garbage, in the eaves of a house, inside flower pots, or around other kinds of structures around people, and can be a very big problem, especially during the end of summer into the fall moths. Treatment of paper wasps typically includes chemicals like tempo 1% Dust (1% cyfluthrin) for example, but the use of safe, organic products is preferred by almost everyone to keep family and pets safe.

Kimberly Schofield M.S. of Texas A&M’s Agrilife research and Extension center-Program Specialist of Urban Integrated Pest Management, started her tests on March 5th of 2009. She argued the effects of painting the eaves of homes that are riddled with paper wasp infestation with celestial blue Glidden ultra hide 3517 Oil semi-gloss paint would stop paper wasps from building nests in those eaves. This was accidentally discovered by the girl scout Camp Bette Perot in Palestine TX while trying to find a way to stop the wasp sting reports there. Kimberly’s test ran from March 5th until October 7, 2009.

Paper Wasps are a problem, stinging many people all over the U.S. She seen this as a medical problem and so the theory behind this test was the resemblance of the color celestial bluewas so similar to the natural color of the sky, which would influence the paper wasps to build their nests somewhere else. A control building was chosen and maintained without painting the eaves to be compared to the test buildings and the test was prooving very successful for a little over 2 months.

Unfortuantely, on June 20th, the camp treated all of the buildings with Tempo 1% because of many wasp stings being reported, which affected the results of this test. Before the tempo treatment, there was signifficant difference in hives being found in painted buildings compared to the control one. There are plans to continue the test in 2010 using latex-based celestial blue paint to see if the results were improved by the oil in the first test’s paint.

Pesticide dusting works great for killing several types of pests in voids (the spaces inside walls) because they tend to last a very long time, and pesticide dusts will stick to the inside of your walls. You should use a bulb duster such as a centrobulb, or power duster to apply a thin film of dust into all cracks, crevices, and voids in your home, garage or business.

It’s very important that cockroaches, roaches, and other bugs are able to walk through the dust and if the application isn’t even these bugs will just avoid the “drifts” of dust and can actually repel bugs in heavy applications which makes it pretty hard to kill them! One thing to be careful of is the dust drifting too far, for example, you are dusting your basement through a vent, if you spray too much the dust might travel through your walls and come out through the connecting vent in your kitchen getting into food and becoming very hazardous.

Several things to do to ensure correct application rate are: 1.Turn off fans, ventilators, and other air circulation equipment to keep the dust where you put it. 2. Only fill the duster 1/2 full at a time so air can mix with the dust to provide a fine, non-clumped pesticide application. 3. Use a lower pressure duster to avoid too much pesticide drifting. Also always use a NIOSH approved respirator when applying in attics, crawlspaces, or other enclosed areas. 4.Dont remove the duster’s screen as it will stop some clumping issues. 5. Add some bearings, marbles, or change to the duster and shake before each application to mix dust with air, break up clumps, and electrostatically charge the dust so it sticks to surfaces more. 6. If using a hand duster keep pressure until duster is pulled away from the opening so moisture and the dust itself doesn’t get sucked back into the duster.

We at Parsons Pest Management want to make sure you have the tools to get the job done right. At our online store we offer dusters as well as dust that work great with them. One of our more popular dust products is Bor-Actin Boric Acid Dust. Boractin comes in 1lb, 5lb, or 25lb packages and uses Orthoboric Acid to kill roaches, Ants (excluding Carpenter Ants), Cockroaches, Darkling Beetles and Silverfish. We carry a full line of dusting products such as the popular Borid Boric Acid Dust, Another product we hava available is Diatect, and we even carry the organic diatomaceous earth dust product Mother-Earth D Dust which effectively kills a long list of pests!

Well it’s that time of year again… The weather is getting colder, the trees are losing leaves, and all kids of rodents are looking for a warm place to seek shelter. In fact, by this time in the U.S., most domestic rodents have already found the place they plan to spend the winter and could already be hiding in your house! They can gnaw on wires, eat your food and holiday decorations, and they carry over 20 different pathogens of human disease, not to mention ticks and fleas!

Did you know that one pair of house mice can potentially produce a mouse population of 500 in ONE year? Well they can… how would you like to share your house with 502 mice? I know I wouldn’t. AND it’s not just about mice. Chipmunks, ground squirrels, groundhogs, asian ladybird beetles, boxelder bugs, brown marmorated stinkbugs, or one of many other critters could preparing to move in to your house.

If any bugs are “bugging” you or your pet you should check out our Nature’s defender / Best Yet product line, there’s even a product that’s specially designed for your dog or your cat.

If mice or another larger pest are what’s been haunting you, check out our catchmaster glue boards. They are peanut butter flavored (which mice LOVE) and they come in 2 sizes making them effective in the fight for anything from mice to snakes!

There are over 400 products available at our store website including everything from natural solutions to commercial grade pesticides so visit Parsons pest control store today for ALL of your pest control needs!

Bed bugs are active at night. They stay alive by feasting on the blood of humans and other animals. They are silent, tiny pests. You may not know you have them until you wake up and notice they have been snacking on you all night! 

It can be hard to tell how bed bugs work their way into your home. The spread of bed bugs can similar to the spreading of head lice. Exchanging items like clothing, linens or other used materials that have been exposed to the bugs can bring them into your home. If you buy used items like that, you should always wash them in the hottest water they can handle. 

 Another possibility is they were brought home from vacation. It’s easy for bed bugs to spread from hotels to your home. They crawl over curtains, carpet, box springs and work their way over your belongings and come home with you. Not a souvenir you wanted from vacation. 

You can eliminate those icky bed bugs naturally without harming you, your family or pets with Best Yet/Natures Defender In-Door Eradication Kit. Visit Parson’s online Do-it Yourself Pest Control Store to purchase the BEST YET KIT. It includes a specially designed 1/2 gallon compression sprayer, a 1 quart adjustable nozzle spray bottle and a 4 ounce non collapsible aluminum spritzer bottle for use as a travel companion.

Do you see ants crawling across your countertop,  or turn on the bathroom light and spot a silverfish scuttling away or you finally sit down on the patio only to be plagued by a bloodthirsty mosquito – they are called pests for a reason. Scientists have formulated plenty of sprays, baits and potions to kill them or keep them at bay. Those pesticides are not only bad for the bugs but they are bad for you too. Conventional pesticides contain toxic ingredients that affect the nervous system, cause skin irritation, affect hormones and the endocrine system and cause cancer.

There are alternatives to toxic pest control that are naturally and safe for you, your family and pets. Parsons Pest Control offers several of these natural solutions to pest control. CedarCide’s Best Yet In-Door Eradication Kit has everything you need to eliminate ants, silverfish and mosquitoes. Best Yet is made from food grade red cedar oil and melted quartz rock.  Best Yet’s bio based agent instantly kills insects and it can be used on humans as a repellant for mosquitoes, chiggers, no see-ums, flies and other flying pests. 

Visit Parson’s online Do-it Yourself Pest Control Store to purchase the BEST YET KIT. It includes a specially designed 1/2 gallon compression sprayer, a 1 quart adjustable nozzle spray bottle and a 4 ounce non collapsible aluminum spritzer bottle for use as a travel companion.

You will find most of the personal insect repellents on the market contain DEET, which is dangerous to human health and negatively impacts aquatic wildlife. Natural bug sprays rely on essential oils and other natural ingredients—so you can keep the bugs away without contributing toxic chemicals to the environment.

Look for a bug spray that is made with plant-based ingredients. Be sure to read the ingredients list carefully to ensure that the bug spray you choose does not contain DEET and other synthetic, health-threatening chemicals. Look for naturally insect-repellent ingredients, such as cedar oil, citronella oil, rosemary, citrus oil, and lemongrass, which are healthier for you and the earth.

Parsons Pest Control offers many organic products that protect you from insects.  Visit their online Do-It-Yourself Pest Control store for personal protection against mosquitoes, fleas, flies, chiggers, gnats and other pesky insects.

After many years of lying low, bed bugs are now making a comeback! They are showing up in hotels, dorms and yes, even your home.  Bed bugs have become resistant to once effective chemicals and are becoming harder to get rid of. In a way, that is good because it forces others who had been favoring chemical control to switch to organic solutions.

Parsons Pest Management has a simple and natural solution to eradicating those pesky bugs with Best Yet/ Natures Defender In-door Eradication Kit from CedarCide.  Best Yet / Natures Defender kit includes a 1 gallon Best Yet/ Natures Defender, 1-32 oz  bottle Best Yet/ Natures Defender with  an adjustable nozzle spray, a specially designed 1/2 gallon compression sprayer, and a 4 ounce non collapsible aluminum spritzer bottle for use as a travel companion. 

Shop at Parsons online Do-It-Yourself Pest Control store to purchase your kit today!

The world fast becoming aware of the dangers that pesticides have caused in our health, animals and our environment. Nowadays most pesticides don’t even work. Leading scientists and universities agree that insects and their eggs have become completely immune to these toxic materials that have been used for more than 60 years.

People are looking for natural ways to eliminate pests without harming the environment, themselves or their pets. CedarCide has the solution to safe and natural pest control. Their Best Yet In-Door Eradication Kit contains everything you need to rid yourself, your home and pets of mosquitoes, flies, fleas, ticks, mites, bed bugs and other insects. Included in the kit is includes a specially designed 1/2 gallon compression sprayer, a 1 quart adjustable nozzle spray bottle and a 4 ounce non collapsible aluminum spritzer bottle for use as a travel companion.  BEST YET was invented by CedarCide Industries for the US Army for control of Sand Fleas in the Middle East. This product will undoubtedly go down in history as the most effective parasite control formulation ever brought to market. You can find the kit and more at Parsons online Do-It-Yourself Pest Control store.

Mosquitoes are a pest that we would all like to get rid of and unfortunately we can’t just make them disappear. It is best to naturally keep them away. Natural mosquito repellant  is the best and safest are ones derived from plant based oils such as eucalyptus, citronella, peppermint, geranium, cedar and lemon grass. Not only are these plant oils used in lotions, sprays or creams they are also good plants to have around your house to help deter mosquitoes.

One of the best ways to repel mosquitoes is to not attract them in the first place. Follow these few tips to rid yourself of mosquitoes:  Eliminate any free standing water, such as bird baths or any water that stays more than 1 day after a rain. Try also to keep a good circulation of air around your house. Keep you bushes trimmed and trim your larger trees about 10 feet off the ground. Also if you have a pool keeps the chemicals at appropriate levels.

Make your home and backyard a comfortable place to be with your family and friends with mosquito control products from Parson’s Pest Control. Visit their online Do-It-Yourself Pest Control store for products by CedarCide that utilizes cedar oil. It is safe and non toxic to children and pets.