[Cover Story] Back to the Future

The pharaoh had a dream, a dream that foretold seven years of plenty, then seven years of famine. To make it through the famine, he was told, a portion of the wheat reaped during the time of plenty should be stored away and covered with "sand of the earth."

This biblical reference to "sand of the earth" — which is estimated by scholars to have been written circa 1250 B.C. — is none other than diatomaceous earth (DE), said Dr. Austin Frishman, president, AMF Pest Management Services, Boca Raton, Fla., a dust still in use today for control of stored product pests.

Though few active ingredients can claim a history quite as old as DE, the story provides an excellent example of the cyclical nature of the pest control industry. "Every 10 years or so (DE) gets reformulated, then put out again," said Frishman, who has been an industry consultant since 1967. "There are very few new ideas in pest control — just a different twist on old ideas. They are marketed differently, but the concepts are the same."

Some of these new twists are showing up today in the treatment of cockroaches — following a surge of "bait-a-mania"; bed bugs — reappearing after decades of suppression; fleas — as pet owners realize on-pet treatment is not enough; and termites and ants — with a return by many to liquid applications.

"It’s not about reverting to the old ways as much as why we probably should not have gotten away from the old ways in some areas," said Frank Meek, technical director, Orkin Pest Control, Atlanta, Ga.

THINK LIKE A COCKROACH. Cockroach crack and crevice treatment is an example of an old idea in cockroach treatment that has seen a number of resurgences. The treatment can be traced back many years and as "bait-a-mania" (as Frishman calls it) begins to wane, crack and crevice treatments are once again receiving renewed attention. Frishman describes himself as one of the leading proponents of baiting, but, he said, technicians need to realize that there are times that other treatments, products and methods are needed. "When a silver bullet chemical comes along, people forget the need for the understanding of the basics of the insect," Frishman said. "Then when the insect evolves and it doesn’t work, it’s back to the drawing board."

Jeff Tucker, president, Entomology Associates, Houston, Texas, also proposes a silver bullet analogy for the way chemicals are too often used in the industry. "When you have a miracle molecule, it doesn’t appear to some people that it requires (applicator) skill level," he said, explaining, companies believe you can put a less qualified technicians in the field, provide less training and still get results. That’s a very short-sighted view, Tucker said, and he sees it as an issue for some companies in the industry.

Stoy Hedges, manager of technical services, Terminix International, Memphis, Tenn., is in agreement that technicians cannot rely just on baits or other historically effective technology and that they need to understand the insect. "You’ve got to keep your mind on the biology of the pest and use multiple strategies," Hedges said. "We should have learned that by now."

When a treatment or product works, too many companies just keep using it — and only it — and become complacent. The same thing happens when only a residual is used, he said, adding that rather than relying on a single method, technicians need to take a multi-task approach.

"For many years, cockroaches were the number one pest that pest controllers dealt with — more specifically, the German cockroach," said Jerome Goddard, medical entomologist, Mississippi Department of Health, Jackson, Miss. Then, 15 or 20 years ago, he said, new baits came on the market and the technology caused cockroach problems to plummet, ushering in a new era of pest control.

Technology was good until "pest controllers began to think wrongly that cockroaches aren’t a problem anymore," and they began to slack off on exclusion, sanitation, harborage elimination and product rotation, Goddard said. "They went away from paying attention to the tools in their war chest, and said ‘We’ll just bait ‘em!’

"Lo and behold, they’re coming back."

It’s not that the baits don’t work, or that consuming baits doesn’t kill cockroaches, Goddard explained, it’s that some roaches are avoiding some baits. "They are learning not to eat them." (Note: Cockroach bait manufacturers have been responsive to troubleshooting bait aversion problems and have developed newer formulations that are effective against bait-averse cockroaches. Manufacturers also have introduced new products designed to specifically combat these bait-averse cockroaches.)

If baiting isn’t working in an account, technicians need to go back and pay more attention to traditional methods. "The reason traditions are traditions is because they work," Goddard said. "Somehow we’ve gotten the idea that anything old and traditional is bad. Anything new and cutting edge is good. So we throw out all old as evil, and sometimes we throw out the good stuff. I think that’s what’s happening with cockroaches and fleas."

There are times and places for technicians to use baits and there are times and places for them to employ other techniques — many of which have been with the industry for years. "I think we’re seeing a fairly significant move to use or employ techniques that we sort of got away from — that is crack and crevice (treatments)," Tucker explained. This is particularly true on cleanouts and initial service treatments where many companies are not using baits at all, but, rather, are cleaning up the account with crack and crevice treatments. Maintenance treatments then reemploy baits — along with an Integrated Pest Management strategy.

While customers, in general, always have complained about the work involved with prepping for a pest service, there are many companies that have learned to appreciate the innate benefits of this work. "We’ve actually had customers come back and say, ‘We want to do prep (work),’ because it forced them to have a cleaner environment," Meek said. This forced sanitation not only kept the environment cleaner for employees and guests, but it reduced available pest food sources, which reduces pest survivability. Although many technicians will still tell customers when areas are unsanitary or becoming potential pest harborage or breeding areas, it is more difficult to get customer cooperation than it was with specific prep processes. In some cases, Meek said, the technician has to tread lightly to ensure he or she does not insult the customer by bringing up sanitation issues.

Bed bugs back with a vengeance. Bed bugs were "big-time business" in the 1930s and 40s, then went away for the most part, Tucker said. "Today they’re coming back with a vengeance." There are a variety of factors at play as to why bed bugs have reappeared as a significant pest, including international travel and increased immigration to the United States from around the world.

As many in the industry do, Tucker also deduces that bed bugs were being suppressed by baseboard treatments, and now that crack and crevice and baiting techniques have supplanted baseboard spraying, "bed bugs are unimpeded in their re-infestation of those environments," such as hotels and multi-family housing units.

"We were probably accidentally controlling or suppressing pests," Meek said. "When we switched to targeted treatments, we stopped ‘accidentally’ controlling them."

Because baseboard spraying knocked down these non-target pests, changes have allowed their reemergence. "Some say, ‘Shouldn’t we go back?’" Meek said. "My answer is no. We have moved forward in a positive advancement." Forward movement includes a more open-minded approach to all pest services. For example, he said, when a technician is treating or inspecting for cockroaches, he should not focus single-mindedly on the cockroach, but should ensure his efforts are thorough and comprehensive, keeping his eyes — and mind — open to all potential pests.

Goddard agrees that the industry will not go back to widespread, routine baseboard spraying, but that it will return to targeted spraying. "They’ll go back, but they’re never going to go all the way back," he said. "People won’t allow it."

One of the greatest issues with bed bugs is that very few technicians have any training, experience or knowledge of their control. "There are only one or two grizzled old veterans who even remember them," Tucker said. And bed bug control relies on intense inspection and targeted applications. "You can’t leave any stone unturned with bed bugs," he said. "The way to get rid of bed bugs today is just like we used to — S.O.S. — Seek Out the Source: Inspect."

"Inspection has come full circle, there is no question about that," Goddard said. "Some people say that it never went away, but I think functionally it did."

Tucker sees bed bugs as a wake-up call to the industry. When companies began to focus exclusively on baits for cockroach control, it literally eroded a skill level, he said. "Bed bugs are a wake-up call to sharpening some of the older knives we used to use," he added.

FLEAS REEMERGE. Fleas have been a focus since the beginning of pest control, Goddard said, with a particular emphasis occurring about 20 years ago, when a large portion of pest control operators — particularly in the South — performed many flea services. The technician would spray the interior and exterior of a home, treating floors, carpets and yards. At the same time, he or she would recommend that the pet be taken to the vet for a flea treatment, such as dipping. It was critical that all three treatments took place, Goddard said, explaining, "If you didn’t do any one of the tripod, you didn’t get control."

Then spot-on, on-animal products were introduced. "These products kill virtually 100 percent of fleas on pets," Goddard said, and the flea world was transformed — flea jobs plummeted, putting a dent in PCOs’ bottom lines. In the last two or three years, though, pest management companies have begun to receive calls again for fleas. The cause is uncertain, Goddard said. It could be that the products are not killing as well as they used to; that pet owners are using over-the-counter products and making inadequate applications; that fleas are becoming resistant; or just that owners are no longer taking an integrated approach of environmental sanitation, source reduction and exclusion.

As a result, technicians are "going back to the old ways," Goddard said, but in a more targeted way. "They are doing some power spraying — not necessarily whole yards, but hot spots." "Hot spots" could include potential breeding sites around dog houses, along dog runs, under porch steps — anywhere pets frequent. Some treatments are also being done indoors via targeted spot treatments of pet areas, using minimal pesticide with residuals and insect growth regulators (IGR).

A RETURN TO LIQUIDS. In the mid-1970s, ants often were controlled with the use of broadcast applications of chlordane. With the loss of this pesticide and introduction of baits, the industry took a turn, trading in its power sprayers for bait stations. Then this method plateaued, just as it did with cockroaches. "Baits work," Tucker said, but, again as with cockroaches, they are not right for every situation and must be used correctly.

With the advent of new materials, ant control in many cases has returned to the past, to its liquid formulation roots. "That’s a complete fallback to what we did with chlordane," said one industry observer, but a broad-based IPM approach remains the most prudent control option.

Meek agrees and sees it as a good return. "The non-repellent liquids available for ant control have really taken pest control for ants back to some of the good old-fashioned stuff," he said. When a liquid barrier is used in conjunction with other methods, technicians are able to achieve good control of ants, he said.

In addition to liquid treatments for ants, the pest management industry has dug into its past for the "latest" termite treatments. In the 60s, 70s and 80s, termites were controlled primarily by repellent liquid termiticides being applied in a trench around a home. In the 1990s, the industry’s first termite baiting system was introduced and embraced by many pest management professionals. And today, a return to liquid treatments has emerged via non-repellent liquid termite treatments. Many PCOs are using a hybrid system of liquids and baits. In 1997, 48 percent of PCOs said they use baits and liquids; that number rose to 62 percent in 2004. (Source: PCT magazine research)

TRAINING CHALLENGES. When baits were introduced, many companies decided that was all they needed, and they quit doing conventional types of service — such as flushing and dusting — which complement baiting. Manufacturers told pest control operators how good baits were, and baits are good, Tucker says, but too many companies carried it too far. "Because of the way we have evolved our service, there is an entire class of technicians that have never had to do this type of work and don’t know how to do this type of work," he said.

Now that bait aversion has begun to show up in cockroaches, companies have been forced to return to "old fashioned" methods, Tucker said. But, because they’ve never had to do it, many of today’s technicians don’t know how to properly apply dust, use a compressed air sprayer or even inspect. "As an industry," Tucker said, "we have some fairly significant training challenges."

Even within the field of baiting, though, there is a need for training, including how to recognize if there is a baiting problem, how to bait properly and how to integrate baiting with other techniques.

EQUIPMENT INNOVATION? Equipment has evolved in its appearance, with more high-tech housing and aesthetics, Tucker said, but its essential workings have not changed. "It’s still utilizing the principles of yesterday with technology of today," he said. "There’s only so many ways you can compress air."

There is actually a great deal of technology available that the industry does not use; but rather it holds too tightly to the old stand bys: compressed air sprayers and bulb dusters, Frishman said. "For the bulk of the industry, if you can’t put it in that, they won’t use it." Frishman cites new equipment such as acoustical equipment to detect pests hidden in walls and says although these devices are available, few companies are willing to purchase them. "The equipment has evolved, but our industry hasn’t caught up with spending that money," Frishman said.

Some in the field, however, are using other technological advances, Frishman said, such as digital camera phones through which sales or service representatives can take photos of insects or conditions, and shoot these back to a manager, technical director or entomologist for identification and recommendation.

"The biggest piece of equipment is the gray matter between the ears," Frishman said. "Give me a good technician, and I’ll take that person over the best equipment." In order to provide effective and satisfactory service, a technician needs to assess a situation and the customer, determine the best possible solution, then provide it. And this can’t be done only when a customer is new; rather, accounts need to be reanalyzed periodically.

When "even the magic bullets aren’t magic bullets anymore," as Goddard puts it, the PCO needs to ask, "What did we used to do? How can we go back and reclaim some of those old methods?" Whether treating for cockroaches, bed bugs, termites, ants, fleas or any other pest; whether it is the year 1955, 2005 or 2015; it is critical that technicians understand the basics of the pest and use an integrated strategy of inspection, harborage identification, removal and maintenance. It’s a matter of integrating the best of both worlds for a safe, efficient and effective solution.

The author is a frequent contributor to PCT and can be reached at llupo@giemedia.com.

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PROPER APPLICATION OF ANT BAITS
Although ant baits have had a long history in pest control, there is renewed interest in their development and use. This new popularity is due to public pressure to reduce pesticide use, new insecticides well-suited for bait formulation, and the numerous advantages of using baits: (1) baits are more target specific than contact insecticides; (2) baits are more cost-effective compared with labor-intensive inspections to locate nests (which are often unsuccessful) and treatment strategies that involve invasive techniques like drilling and dusting; and (3) baits can be used in sensitive places such as commercial kitchens and food-preparation areas, and around electrical equipment. On the negative side, baits tend to be slower acting than sprays or dusts. Therefore, the professional needs to educate a client about how baits work and the amount of time it takes to control with them. — Ninth Edition of the Mallis Handbook of Pest Control

Editor’s note: Please see sidebar titled "It’s Time To Spray DDT" on page 40.