Six-foot Wasp Nest Found in Attic

A 6ft-high wasp nest has been discovered in the attic of a Southampton pub.

Pest controller Sean Whelan was called in to deal with the 6ft by 5ft (1.8m by 1.5m) nest which housed a total of about 500,000 wasps.

Mr Whelan said after exterminating the insects, the nest had to remain where it was because it was too big to remove from the attic.

Oxford University experts have verified the nest is Britain's biggest ever.

They said they thought it was also the largest found across the world in the past 50 years.

The pub which housed the nest has asked to remain anonymous.

'Bit scary'

Mr Whelan told BBC Radio Solent: "The wasps will never go back in it, so we will just leave it to disintegrate.

"There were actually eight wasps nests in the loft but I actually did not spot [the biggest one] until I killed off the first, second, third...

"I had been staring at it for quite some time but I did not recognise it because it was very big. It was a bit scary [but] it was mesmerizing and very challenging."

"I think it has been a very mild spring and obviously summer has been quite dry - that's helped," Mr Whelan added.

"The experts feel [the nest] has lasted through the winter from last year [and] that is why it is so big."

The nest is 15 times bigger than the UK average and nearly as big as a Smart car, which is slightly longer at 8ft 10in by 5ft 1in (2.69m by 1.54m).

Nationally, pest control experts revealed on Wednesday that the number of calls to remove wasp nests more than tripled last month.

The increase has been blamed on the warm weather and household nests going untreated last year as people have been cutting back their spending during the recession.

Whether it's as small as a nickle or as large as a smart car, call Fort Worth based Assassin Exterminating for all your wasp removal needs.

Bed Bugs, Bed Bugs, Bed Bugs

www.assassinexterminating.com/termites

Talk about sleeping with the enemy.

That's how termite technician Rodney Lewis felt when nasty bedbugs crawled their way inside his own North Dallas apartment earlier this year.

"It was a nightmare," said Lewis, who lives with his girlfriend. "We had to move out. We ended up having to get rid of our bed and couch. It was $1,500 worth of furniture."

Mike Merchant, a Dallas entomologist who studies bugs in urban areas, said Lewis' misery is understandable.
"Most people are horrified by them," Merchant said. "The most private place in the world is your bed, so to think there are bugs in your bed, feeding on your blood at night, is creepy."

Almost eradicated before the 1950s with the now-banned pesticide DDT, the once-forgotten nocturnal bloodsuckers have been making a massive comeback nationwide the past few years, pest control experts say.


The National Pest Management Association released a study in late July that reported an 81 percent increase in bedbug calls since 2000 for pest management companies. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency earlier this month issued a joint statement noting the bugs' rapid resurgence. They warned consumers to use caution in choosing bedbug treatments.

Recently, an Abercrombie & Fitch store as well as a Victoria's Secret location, both in New York, were temporarily closed because of bedbugs.

The appearance of the bugs in North Texas hasn't been as prominent, and local and state health officials say they don't track infestations because the bugs don't carry disease. But pest control experts say the creepy crawlers' numbers here are definitely marching upward.

Adam Romig, spokesman for ABC Pest Control in Dallas, said the company responded to no more than five bedbug calls annually before this year.

"Now we're seeing that many a week."

In April, the Fort Worth Housing Authority struggled mightily in its attempts to eradicate bedbugs from one of its residential buildings, said spokeswoman Alice Sykes.

"We tried everything, and we spent a lot of money trying to treat for bedbugs," Sykes said. "Finally we just said, let's relocate."

Tiny pests

 

Adult bedbugs are round and flat, about the size of an apple seed, and can squeeze through a hole as small as a pencil point. They are found mainly in mattresses and couches, but they also show up in wall crevices, floors and the cracks in wood on headboards.

They don't fly – thank goodness – but are fast crawlers that can make their way onto a bed from the floor relatively easily. Mainly, however, bedbugs are hitchhikers that like to catch rides on humans and animals through clothing, luggage and bedding. They move around primarily at night but are also active during the day.
And while bedbugs don't carry diseases or live on humans and animals as do fleas or lice, they're still unsettling, and unwanted, guests.

Entomologist Merchant and pest control workers said that it's a common misconception that bedbugs only affect those in low-income housing or dirty hotels. Romig said he's heard of them in college dorms and other places where people live close together.

"It can happen in five-star hotels," Merchant said. "People can pick it up at resorts or from secondhand furniture. It can really happen to anyone."

Global travel

 

The primary reason bedbugs are making a comeback is the frequency of international travel these days, he said. Federal officials also say bedbugs' increased resistance to pesticides, as well as a lack of knowledge about how to control them because of their extended absence, have contributed to the pest's comeback.
Brooke Dieterlen, executive director of the Hotel Association of North Texas, said she has yet to receive any reports of bedbug outbreaks from any of the association's 150 members.

"It's just not on our radar," she said. "But all the hotels are concerned. They contract pest control services and are finding information on this as a precaution so they don't have to deal with the problem."

That's of little comfort to Lewis. He said his girlfriend had an allergic reaction to the bugs, whose bites are not painful but cause welts that are "incredibly itchy."

The couple, who had been in their apartment for less than two months, were forced to relocate when their landlord refused to treat for the pests because it's so expensive.

Merchant said the problem in getting apartments to pay for bedbug treatments is fairly common because landlords often think it's the tenants' fault for bringing in the pests.

"It puts landlords in a bind," Merchant said. "It's an expensive problem. It's $300 a visit, and it requires maybe three visits. On top of that, they have to treat their entire building, since bedbugs travel between floors and walls."

Mary Montgomery, 59, was one of the Fort Worth Housing Authority residents who had to move because of the bedbug outbreak earlier this year. Although she was never bitten at her old digs, Montgomery said she couldn't sleep because she was so worried.

"They're so hard to get rid of," she said in a recent interview. "Since we relocated, I can breathe now. I'm not worried anymore."

Termites Return In Full Force In Alabama

With termite swarming season heating up in Mobile and Baldwin counties, many homeowners are wary.

"There was a huge swarm at my place," Michael Hutchison of Point Clear said late last week. "They just covered my house."

"I must have gotten a dozen termite calls yesterday," Floyd Rose of Rose Termite and Pest Control in Fairhope said. "It was a heavy swarm day."

In recent years, the increased presence of the Formosan "super" termite in the Mobile area has only added to concerns.

Formosan termites cause more than $1 billion in damage over 11 states annually, said Terminix spokesman Clint Briscoe. They have afflicted particular damage in humid and warm New Orleans.

The highly destructive Formosan termites arrived from China more than 50 years ago, according to Frank Guillot of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Formosan termite research program in New Orleans.

Guillot advises homeowners to take a measured approach to termite preparedness.

He noted that this swarming season started late: "Usually, by now we would have seen more flight activity," he said. "Formosans swarm generally beginning about the middle of April through the end of June."

Said Ping Hu, an Alabama Extension System entomologist at Auburn University: "I have seen less Formosan termite swarming so far this year than in previous years, because of the cold weather in the winter."

Both the researchers and Rose agreed that homeowners should be vigilant about home inspections and take action if termites are found.

"You can have an infestation without seeing a swarm," Rose said.

"If you see termites in your house," Hu said, "you are definitely infected."

Swarming termites are indicators of a colony, but it's the hidden termites doing the damage, Hu said.

Asked to assess the termite season outlook, Thomas Daugherty of the Mobile County Extension office, said, "It is too early to tell. But typically, Mobile's weather is always appropriate for a bad termite season."

Call Assassin Exterminating Today For All Your Termite and Pest Control Needs

Bed Bugs Force Closure of Fort Worth Apartment Building

FORT WORTH -- The Fort Worth Housing Authority is closing Hunter Plaza because of a chronic problem with bedbugs, forcing residents of the 11-story downtown apartments for the elderly and disabled to find new homes.

Housing authority officials also cited needed utility improvements.

People started moving out March 22, and officials hope to relocate all 219 residents by May, said Alice Sykes, a housing authority spokeswoman. Most are receiving Section 8 housing vouchers to move into apartments.

"First and foremost, our concern is for the health and welfare of the residents," Sykes said. "We're letting them tell us where they want to go. We are helping them locate facilities with vacancies and providing them assistance."

Some residents said they're unhappy with the decision to close. "I feel like all along they had led us to believe this was a temporary relocation. Then we find out it looks permanent," said Mary Siering, a Hunter Plaza resident for four years. "It's not that easy for some of us to go find another place to live."

Sykes said officials have communicated openly with residents throughout the process.

Hunter Plaza sits at 605 W. First St. in a building that once housed the Fortune Arms Hotel.

Constructed in 1951, it was bought by the housing authority in 1972 and residents moved in two years later.

Today, it has 234 units and mental-health services on-site, according to the housing authority Web site.

Councilman Joel Burns, whose district includes Hunter Plaza, said he was aware that the closure would separate many longtime neighbors and friends.

However, "the housing authority has been careful and deliberate in taking every action possible to eliminate the problems at this facility," Burns said in a statement. "The housing authority has assured me that every resident will be placed in a new apartment in a respectful manner."

Uncertain future

Housing authority officials say they have tried to eradicate the bedbugs since they became aware of the problem last spring. Residents were furnished with mattress encasements and free laundry service, according to a housing authority report.

In May, exterminators were paid $27,000 to use a steam treatment on the entire building, the report said. In December, $90,000 was spent to replace carpet with tile. But the bugs remained.

In some cases, management observed bugs on residents' bodies, the report said.

Bedbugs are small, flat, brown and difficult to kill because they hide in the cracks and crevices of beds, box springs and bed frames. They are commonly found in hotels and shelters.

This year, housing authority officials contracted with a pest control company for fumigation services that had proved effective elsewhere, according to a statement. The process requires that the building be cleared and sealed.

"Due to the age of the building and the need to install all-new electrical, water and utility systems; FWHA has determined that this is the only feasible way to eliminate the problem," the statement said.

Sykes said there are no plans to reopen the center after it is fumigated. The housing authority will work with the Housing and Urban Development Department to determine a future use for the building, Sykes said.

"It's too early to say what will happen," she said

Some skepticism

Housing authority staffers are helping residents identify apartments where they would like to live, said Doris Haywood, a Hunter Plaza social worker. After a unit is secured, steps are taken to ensure that residents don't contaminate their new homes.

The night before residents move, movers pack everything in their room and take it to a decontamination chamber set up outside the building. Residents keep some personal possessions, like medications or inhalers, in a plastic bag that is decontaminated separately.

All of their food is thrown away, and the resident is given a $200 food voucher.

Before leaving, each resident bathes in portable showers in the parking lot behind the building.

"We want to make sure they move into their new homes and don't have to worry about this problem following them," Haywood said.

Some residents, though, don't like the process.

"They've got us showering out in the public," said Mardio Mason, 55. "The whole thing is real hard on the older folks. I don't know that closing was the only way to handle the problem."

Others shared suspicion that the apartments' location downtown was a bigger factor than bedbugs or needed repairs. "It makes you wonder if people just don't want us here taking up this spot," resident Angela Watson said.

Updates sent to city

Sykes said many residents have lived in Hunter Plaza for years, so it's understandable that some are unhappy.

"It's their home," she said. "We're trying to communicate with them that this ultimately benefits their safety and well-being."

The housing authority has consulted with Fort Worth's Consumer Health Department to ensure that it is handling the problem properly, she said. Officials are also sending weekly updates on the move-out to Mayor Mike Moncrief.

As of Friday, 21 residents have moved out of Hunter Plaza and most report being happy, she said.

One of them is Duane J. Richardson, 51, who lived in Hunter Plaza for four months before moving into a south Fort Worth apartment last week. He said the housing authority made the move easy.

"They packed my stuff, transported me to my new place, and it was easy," he said.

Richardson said that he has spoken to a few residents who have moved out and that most made the transition well.

"I like it here. It's quiet; there are no bugs," he said. "I think this is what had to be done."

Contact Fort Worth Based Assassin Exterminating & Pest Control Today For All Your Pest Control Needs

Holey Moley

Moles and voles have been breaking into a high-security prison, setting off the very sensitive alarm systems

The country’s most secure prison – the East Jutland State Prison in Horsens – has been suffering from a serious intruder problem, which has caused its alarm system to go haywire.

Unwanted guests have been breaking into prison grounds and setting off the alarms repeatedly, reports public broadcaster DR.

And despite the facility being christened a super prison when it was opened in 2006, it appears its state-of-the-art security systems are no match for small moles and water voles.

‘We have a CCTV and security system that is very sensitive and reacts to the smallest thing, including moles and water voles. We are also located in a low-lying area where it can be difficult to drain the water and that also creates false alarms,’ said the prison’s head of security, Lars Richardy.

The prison is now working with the G4S alarm company to solve the problem, which mainly arises in very wet or dry weather.

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