How do bee and wasp stings differ?
What’s the difference between a bee sting and wasp sting? I know bee stingers are barbed and stay in, but what about the poison?
For a bee, a sting is all or nothing; the bee loses its stinger and injects a relatively large volume of venom — typically about 50 micrograms.
A wasp, which retains its stinger, injects from 2 to 15 micrograms — but it can do it many times.
Chemically, the venoms are quite different, though the effects are similar. You can be allergic to one type of sting and not the other. Both types are complicated mixtures of chemicals, but here’s a rough idea of what’s in them:
Wasp venoms have enzymes that break down cell membranes, as well as neurotransmitters like acetylcholine and serotonin, which get nerves firing. They also have substances that trigger the release of histamine, producing an intense allergy-like reaction similar to getting hives.
Bee stings are more than 50 percent melittin, a powerful toxin that works by stimulating an enzyme involved in inflammation. Like wasp venoms, a lot of what it does involves making the body release histamine and produce a hives-like reaction.
Both venoms contain hyaluronidase, which breaks down the barrier between cells, helping the venom to spread. Wasps and bees also both signal others of their kind after they sting, so it’s a good idea to get far away after the first sting.
Since the venoms are injected, most folk remedies have little basis in science, but anything that either cools or numbs the wound and takes the victim’s mind off the pain will help.
Bee stingers should be removed, since the venom sac remains attached when the bee flies off and can continue injecting venom for some time. Antihistamines may help a bit, but in case of a severe allergic reaction, call 911 immediately.
Carpenter Ants cause $80,000 in Damage
Fire Lt. Fred Godawa of Daytona Beach blamed a recent fire on a carpenter ant colony. According to this fireman, the ants had build a large home around the electrical outlets in the wall. When the ants hit an electrical wire, the electrical shock ignited the ants, shoot out of the outlet and caught the entire house on fire.
For pest control operators, though this case is rare, it is no surprise. Ants and other pests frequently travel on the homes electrical wiring. These wires become an insect highway. Homes are built with the wiring passing through the framework. Holes are drilled in the wooden studs. These holes make it much easier for pests to travel from one wall void to the next. If they follow the wiring they can easily travel from one end of the house to the other. They can move freely upstairs, down stairs, into the attic, and out of the outlets into your home. For this reason, in wall treatments are highly effective against pests especially when concentrated on these outlets.
Other smaller ants are also known to travel not on the wires, but in the wires. Certain ants are so tiny that they can slip under the protective covering of your electrical wiring and travel through the home on these wires. They too will short out your wiring causing damage to your home’s electrical system. A manufacturing company in Texas was closed down for a few days due to these ants destroying their electrical system. The company would not say how much damage was done or how much productivity was lost.
As the old saying goes,
“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
Ants still prove to be one of the most difficult insects to control. They are highly organized. Some colonies will splinter off into multiple colonies when threatened. Their sense of smell is so keen that the slightest error in a mixture could render the pesticide detectable and therefore useless. And they reproduce so rapidly that killing off a thousand or two today, will be replaced with a thousand or two tomorrow.
Get Ant Control.
Call a professional exterminator and Get Ant Control today!
Guaranteed Ant Control is included with Stop Bugging Me Pest Control’s signature whole house protection program.
Bed Bugs at Move-In – Reduce Your Risk
If you are a landlord, property management company or hotel operator, your best defense is to have a professionally prepared, written Bed Bug Action Plan which includes education, preventative detection using inspections, and well maintained archives of bed bug activity in your location. For landlords and apartment owners this may also involve a ‘Pre-Rental Inspection’ wherein pest control technicians will inspect and confirm that a location does not have bed bugs at move-in time. These steps can help you establish if a bed bug infestation is the result of tenant, their travel patterns or behavior.
Move in / Move out Services
As a property manager it is crucial for you to establish that your property is free of bed bugs at the time a tenant moves in. Being able to establish that a residence is bed bug free at the time of lease will protect your rights and financial obligations as a property manager in the event that unit later becomes infested. Pest Control companies such at Stop Bugging Me Pest Control offer solutions that establish the condition of the unit at the time of move in by conducting a pre-move in bed bug inspection. At the time of inspection, often a letter will be provided stating that on said date, no bed bug, and roach, rodent, etc. activity has been found. This service will secure your rights and reputation, and the accompanying paperwork will establish a proper timeline and provide peace of mind for both you and your tenants.
Education:
Property managers should work to properly educate current and prospective tenants on how to Avoid, Identify and Notify management of bed bug infestations. These educational devices provide the foundation for a proactive, positive engagement between tenant and management.
Avoid Cross Contamination:
One infected apartment can become 2 or more. As a property manager, speed is your best ally. Bed bug infestations are known to expand quickly, and those that are left to linger the longest are usually the worst, costliest, and most time consuming. Bed bugs can move out of one residence and into another through windows, electrical outlets, ventilation ducting, or right out from under the door in an effort to find a new home. Treating and/or monitoring multiple rooms or units with adjacent walls is often a recommended course of action.
The preceding advice had been provided by Stop Bugging Me Pest Control. Stop Bugging Me Pest Control is a locally-owned full service pest control company servicing Seattle, Bellevue, Everett, Tacoma and the rest of the greater Puget Sound. Providing service for both residential and commercial customers, Stop Bugging Me has solutions for all or your Pacific Northwest pests – ants, rodents, spiders, bed bugs, fleas, mites, bees, wasps or anything else that may be bugging you or your tenants.
Website: www.stopbuggingmenow.com
Phone: 206 749 BUGS (2847) – Seattle; 425 284 BUGS (2847) – Eastside, Everett and Bellevue; 253 398 BUGS (2847) – Southside, Tacoma.
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Exterior And Interior Pest Treatments From Stop Bugging Me Pest Control. Two Options Available.
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For $99, your home gets an all-around exterior pest treatment for up to 1,700 square feet (a $299 value).
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An interior or exterior home treatment from Stop Bugging Me Pest Control rids your manor of creepy-crawlies, killing insect colonies on site and preventing future recurrence. Over the course of about an hour, the licensed technician will glaze the perimeter of your home’s foundation, spraying about a foot outward and a foot upward, extinguishing unwanted spiders, centipedes, roaches, and other unsavory, multilegged beasts, and keeping them out of your house. With more than 20 years of pest-extinguishing experience, Stop Bugging Me Pest Control will eradicate your pesky problem quicker than you can say “achaearanea”