[Commercial Pest Control] Ridding a Restaurant of Roaches

Rich Smith has seen a lot in his decade as director of pest control services at Rose Pest Solutions in suburban Chicago. But one account, a restaurant, was a surprise. “It was one of those ‘Oh my God’ moments in pest control,” he said of the venue’s massive German cockroach infestation. “You say to yourself, ‘What am I going to do?’ ”

The problem, he explained, was that the previous pest control operator had used mostly repellent materials. “This drove the roaches up into walls and deep into equipment,” he said. “If those treatments had continued, it could have driven the roaches into customer view, which would have been devastating to the restaurant.” Those treatments also did nothing to slow roach populations, which rebounded immediately after every service.

Smith and the Rose team turned to Transport Mikron liquid insecticide from FMC Professional Solutions. The insecticide is based on a combination of actives — acetamiprid and bifenthrin — that delivers significant control within 24 hours after treatment, as well as residual protection of up to 90 days or longer, the manufacturer says. And most importantly, the product is non-repellent, so roaches cannot detect it and move away.

For most of the food-handling areas, Smith and his team used Transport Mikron as a liquid spray in a B&G sprayer but for deep harborage areas like inside the dishwasher, they employed an Actisol machine. “Again, you are controlling the roaches but not repelling them into other areas,” said Smith.

For areas where an Actisol might not be practical, Smith uses CB-80 insecticide, a flushing and contact aerosol, also from FMC. “We use CB-80 in voids, cracks, crevices and where pipes extend from walls to attach to stoves and other restaurant equipment,” he said. “It will kill cockroaches and other pests when they come in contact with it, while creating an environment that repels them. So if the pests don’t die, CB-80 will irritate them to the point that they leave the area, and hopefully, come in contact with the Transport Mikron you have already applied.

“In just a few weeks, we tackled the problem that they had been struggling with for years,” Smith said.

Source: FMC Professional Solutions

For More Information

To see Rose Pest Solutions in action, visit www.youtube.com/watch?v=UojkD1vXWFw.

For more information on Transport Mikron and CB-80, visit www.fmcprosolutions.com. For info on Rose Pest Solutions, visit www.rosepestcontrol.com.