What Property Managers Need to Know About German Yellow Jackets

What to Know About Yellow Jacket Wasps
What to Know About Yellow Jacket Wasps

Property managers have numerous responsibilities. If you’re a property manager, chances are you have a wide variety of tasks to complete on a daily basis. Unfortunately, German Yellow Jackets have no sympathy for your schedule and interrupt without the slightest provocation.

Rather than adding another burden to your overloaded shoulders, our Stern Environmental NJ Pest Control team helps you stay on task and takes German Yellow Jackets off your uninvited guest list!

Why Yellow Jackets Make Lousy House Guests

First of all, German Yellow Jackets don’t allow blocked entrances or closed doors to stop them from getting to a hive. They’ll eat through interior walls and invade other rooms to achieve their purpose. Blocked entries only encourage their resourcefulness. Likewise, sprayed insecticides are no deterrent because they will then seek another route.

Also, like guests that tend to overstay their welcome these uninvited pests don’t respond well to criticism. They’ll pursue their confronters for long distances when they feel their hive has been threatened.

Yellow jackets love to occupy homes that have been “lived-in” before. Previous nesting places for hives are open invitations for German Yellow Jackets. They like reinhabiting so they can focus more on colonizing – often in the thousands!

Stern Environmental’s NJ Pest Control Gets Pests to Buzz Off

Finally, you’ll be able to tackle your normal “to-do” list by enlisting Stern’s NJ Pest Control experts! Click here and find out more!

Common Sense Tips for Dealing with a Potential Bed Bug Infestation

Common Sense Tips for Dealing with Bed Bugs
Common Sense Tips for Dealing with Bed Bugs

NJ pest control experts know bed bugs are a pain. The biting, itching, and overall grossness of an infestation inspires people to do some crazy things. Worse, it’s not uncommon for the general public to overreact when bed bugs are reported in the vicinity, assuming every itchy bump on their body a bed bug bite. How bad is your bed bug problem – and do you really have one at all?

Common Sense Tips for Potential Infestations:

Don’t assume

Just because you have a few itchy bumps or bites doesn’t mean you have bed bugs. Misidentifying pests won’t resolve your pest/bite problems, so until you’ve determined the issue keep your home clean.

Bed bugs like to hide in cracks and crevices. Steam-clean regularly and empty vacuum cleaners frequently.   

Gather evidence.

If you don’t see traces of bed bugs inside the box spring or under the mattress, bed bug traps and monitors can help identify hidden pests. 

Be wary of DIY solutions.

Pesticides labeled for bed bug eradication available at local hardware stores are frequently misused. Worse, many bed bugs have developed a resistance to these chemicals, to which you may be uselessly exposing your family.

Rent? Property owners are legally responsible for resolving bed bug issues. State health inspectors can offer help or mandate remediation.

Are those bed bugs bites?

Resolve your fears with the help of the NJ pest control experts at Stern Environmental today.

Incredible? A County in California Says Climate Changes “Make Pests Hungrier”

Keep an Eye Out for Increased Pests This Spring and Summer
Keep an Eye Out for Increased Pests This Spring and Summer

The impact of global warming on humans and the environment has been a controversial topic for some time. What implications does global warming hold for NJ pest control? Experts predict the results could produce a ripple effect touching other environmental issues.

Some Like It Hot

In general, warmer temperatures tend to boost insect appetites and stimulate their reproduction. Pests currently consume 20 percent of corn, wheat, rice and other crops cultivated for food. But for every increase of 2°F above global historical average, that amount is projected to increase 10 to 25 percent.

Fighting Higher Pest Populations

There are a couple of options that may mitigate this change with varying degrees of success:

– Farmers may increase use of pesticides, but that could present even greater risk of environmental damage. In addition, scientists believe there’s a possibility that insecticides have already reached optimum effectiveness.

– Populations of predatory insects such as spiders, grasshoppers and beetles will also grow due to higher temperatures. Their presence can serve as a natural suppression of more destructive pests.

Year-Round NJ Pest Control Services from Stern Environmental

Our professional NJ pest control technicians have extensive experience successfully removing bed bugs, cockroaches and other insects as well as larger wildlife such as raccoons and squirrels.

Do you suspect an infestation in your home, office or business? Contact us today to schedule a careful and thorough inspection.

Incredible? NYC Says “We Are At War!” – Against Rats That Is

Don't Let the Next Ratatouille Movie Go Down at Your Home!
Don’t Let the Next Ratatouille Movie Go Down at Your Home!

Climate change isn’t just fueling wacky weather patterns. In recent news, it has been pinpointed as the likely cause of New York’s rising rodent epidemic. Buoyed by warmer temperatures, the rat population in the Big Apple is burgeoning, leading to a rise in rat-related complaints.

Surge in Rat Activity Nationwide

Warmer temperatures are lengthening the breeding season, with rat populations rising as the absence of cold temperatures fails to slow reproduction. While NYC and NJ pest control companies have seen an increase in rat-related calls to the city, up 10% in 2016, they are far from alone.

Other big cities, including Boston, Houston, Philadelphia, and Washington are also witnessing a surge in rat activity and subsequent complaints. Service requests are through the roof, and beleaguered pest control professionals are struggling to keep up.

This Means War

To combat the pestilence, NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a $32-million plan in 2017 aimed at eradicating the rodents. In addition to sanitation and building improvement initiatives, city exterminators can now gas rats to death in their burrows in heavily-infested areas rather than resorting to ecologically-damaging poisons.

Despite such tactics, de Blasio fears rodents will prevail, taking advantage of a city that is highly-populated, laden with old, holey-buildings and a wonderland of waste.

Battle weary? Don’t give up yet. Turn the tide against rats with the help of the NJ pest control veterans at Stern Environmental today. 

Incredible? Chocolate Being Tested as Rodent Control Bait

Incredible? Chocolate Being Tested as Rodent Control Bait
Incredible? Chocolate Being Tested as Rodent Control Bait

Who doesn’t love the luscious taste of chocolate? Apparently even rodents have a fondness for the sweet treat. Could chocolate become an effective tool in our NJ pest control treatments?

The Lure of Chocolate

In an effort to reduce use of poisons, the biosecurity team in Greater Wellington, NZ has been conducting a novel experiment using chocolate as bait in self-setting rodent traps. Testing is taking place at Te Ahumairangi Hill, a heavily wooded area running through the Town Belt of Wellington.

Results are being tracked by ink-covered cards placed in tunnels to capture footprints. So far the test has been a success, with the rodent population remaining at low levels.

Benefits of “Sweet” Traps

Senior Biosecurity Officer Paul Horton explains the benefits of using chocolate as a rodent lure:

– Birds aren’t attracted to the smell of chocolate, making them less likely to get caught in traps.

– Chocolate bait lasts for six months and traps can kill two dozen rodents before being replaced, reducing the need for staff to spend time checking them.

Urban Ecology Manager Daniela Biaggio adds that this innovative plan is a safe way to maintain diversity of wildlife in an urban environment.

State-of-the-Art NJ Pest Control 

Stern Environmental Group uses the most current and effective methods in our NJ pest control programs. Contact us today to get peace of mind with a pest-free home, office or business.