Massey Blog

There are several pests that can creep into your stored holiday decorations.  So when your putting away your holiday decorations for the year, consider the following tips to ensure your decorations are kept safe from pests until the next holiday season:

• Remove old cardboard boxes and old wrapping paper from your storage area
  
• Place items made of wool or silk into ziplock or sealed plastic bags
  
• Store your decorations in plastic storage boxes that have tight fitting lids instead of cardboard boxes.  Make sure the lids are well sealed to keep silverfish and other small pests from entering.
• If you label your boxes, cover the label with clear tape and if you include a detailed contents sheet, make sure to place it in a sealed ziplock bag.

We hope you had a safe and happy holiday season!

As soon as you start bringing boxes and decorations down from your attic you should be aware of some common “occasional” pests that can develop in or near these belongings.  Warm attic temperatures here in the Southeast provide the perfect conditions for pests to harbor. 

Here are some of the most common pests found in attics:

• Silverfish which grow to about an inch in length and are silver in color.  They have long antennae and antennal-like hairs on the opposite end as well.  Silverfish like to eat the glue in cardboard boxes, the binding in books and glues on envelopes, stamps and papers. A silverfish can easily hide in the folds of a box and escape into the room once you bring down the boxes.
• Cigarette beetles live inside boxes that contain potpourri and holiday ornaments made of painted cookies covered with sugar or sparkle.  These beetles are small, about 2 mm, oval in shape and the color of semi-sweet chocolate.
• Casemaking clothes moths have been encountered more frequently in the Southeast  These clothes moths will fly into an open container or oriental carpet being stored in attics and garages to deposit eggs.  The eggs develop into small caterpillars that eat any cloth material, then develop into adult months.  

If you experience any of these pests, call us at 1-888-2MASSEY (262-7739) for an immediate response or sign up for a Free Pest Inspection.

We hope you have a happy holiday season!

When thinking about Pest Prevention for businesses, first think about the complexities of providing Pest Prevention Services at your home. Think about the wooden structures inside the walls and roof in the skeleton of your home. Voids, cracks, crevices; these are pest hiding spots that aren’t visible to the naked eye. Now add in your thick lawn and plant bed areas where pests find food and shelter outside. Keeping pests out of your home is a challenge worthy of a professional.

Now take the same pest challenges found in the home setting and add in 300 guest rooms, a large banquet kitchen, 27 floors, surgical suites and industrial or food processing capacity. The challenge of keeping pests out of businesses is very complex and requires dedicated Pest Management Practices.  Consider the impact of pest activity on the businesses described. Will a guest or customer be satisfied with your business if they encounter pests during their visit or stay?  Even worse:  what if a pest is found inside or on a product that your business produces.

An effective Pest Prevention Program will not only protect your business from unwanted pest activity, but will protect your business’s image and reputation.

Massey's PrevenTech Commercial Division specializes in Pest Prevention for businesses.  Call us today or sign up for a Free Inspection to find out how our Pest Prevention Program works for your business.

Contrary to the old superstition that Earwigs enter people’s ears while sleeping, they are completely harmless to humans and beneficial to nature because they feed on other pest insects.  Earwigs are small, dark brown, short-winged insects easily identified by the set of small pincher-like extensions at the end of their bodies.

Earwigs are commonly noticed in and around homes around periods of drought.  They require a high level of moisture to survive and during drought periods will seek moisture inside the home to live.  Their normal habitat is around mulched areas/plant beds, under debris piles or stepping stones, in and under potted plants and in cracks and crevices.

Here are a few tips to ensure Earwigs and other pests aren’t entering your home:

• Identify and seal points of entry, even areas just small enough for a credit card to pass are big enough for earwigs to enter
• Inspect weather stripping for gaps
• Thin back mulch beds, to reduce high levels of moisture
• Ensure mulch is pulled back six inches from the foundation walls
• During periods of heavy rain – adjust your irrigation system so that excess moisture isn’t accumulating
  

If you see Earwigs or other pests in your home, contact Massey Services for a Free Inspection.

Spiders can become an annoyance when they create webs in various corners and crevices of the home. Eventually, abandoned webs collect dust and debris, which create cobwebs. In reality, spiders are considered beneficial because they feed on insect pests and other spiders. If you see small pod-like structures in the webs, they are likely spider eggs. When spider eggs hatch, the tiny spiders easily enter homes through screens or around loose fitting doors and windows. Keeping your window screens secure and patched (if necessary) will keep larger spiders out of homes. If the insects they eat are not plentiful, spiders are less likely to infest a home.

 

When you see spider webs developing, contact Massey Services. We'll provide a thorough, free inspection and a plan to spiders, plus other pests, out of your home.

Rats and mice are rodents that are very common in the Southeast. They tend to enter homes in search of food and shelter and will eat any kind of food that people eat. They can also contaminate 10 times as much food as they eat, with urine, droppings and hair. In addition, they are known carry at least 10 different kinds of diseases, including bubonic plague, murine typhus and bacterial food poisoning.

When rodent-proofing your home, it’s important to keep in mind that rats can squeeze through holes ½ inch wide and mice can get through a hole ¼ inch wide.

Here are a few rodent-proofing tips:

• Rodent-proofing requires the use of rodent-resistant materials. These materials include sheet metal (26 gauge or heavier), perforated metal (24 gauge or heavier with openings no more than ¼ inch), hardware cloth (19 gauge or heavier with openings no more than ¼ inch) and brick with mortared joints.
• Seal openings around pipes with sheet metal or concrete.
• Be sure to block all possible rodent entry points such as the bottom of doors, pipe entry holes, ventilation pipes, roof vents and eave vents.
• Proper sanitation is a very important factor in rodent control.  Be sure to cleanup any trash or rubbish around your property which could support or harbor a rodent population.  Keep garbage cans sealed and eliminate any areas of standing water.  Do not leave open food items out including pet food.

For more information on preventing rats and mice from entering your home, contact Massey Services for a free, detailed inspection and written analysis.

Mosquitoes are more than just buzzing, bothersome insects. They also transmit diseases, such as malaria, Dengue Fever, encephalitis and West Nile Virus. They are attracted to water and standing water is the breeding ground for them. Clogged gutters, containers or even forgotten toys left outside can provide mosquitoes the opportunity to multiply by the hundreds in just a few days!

What can you do to help protect yourself from mosquitoes? Be sure to replace all standing water at least once a week (this includes birdbaths, unfiltered pools, etc.). Wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants if going out at dusk or dawn. If you can’t avoid being in mosquito-infested areas, use insect repellent containing DEET on exposed skin.

Keeping mosquitoes to a minimum can be as easy as contacting Massey Services about our Mosquito Abatement Program.

You’ve probably read recent stories about killer bees here in the southeast. Killer bees are actually Africanized honey bees that look nearly identical to common European honey bees. Despite their “killer” title, their stings aren’t any more powerful. 

So what makes them such a threat? Killer Bees are much more aggressive. They become aggravated very easily – often at just a sudden noise or vibration – and will attack to defend their hive. Killer Bee attacks are also more vicious than regular bees since up to 90% of a killer bee colony will attack a perceived threat. It’s the number of bees that attack that makes these bees so dangerous. 

How can you protect yourself from killer bees? If attacked, run away in a straight line and protect your face – bees often target the head. Also, unlike popular belief, you shouldn’t hide underwater – the swarm will only wait you out. If you see a nest, don’t disturb it or try to remove it yourself.