Best Practices for Rotating Baits to Prevent Bait Aversion

 

The first reports of commercial bait aversion occurred in the 1980s, according to a U.S.D.A. report. The cockroaches were no longer consuming baits as much as they had previously. It was discovered they were avoiding glucose, an ingredient in the baits. While that issue was decades ago, bait aversion is still a real issue that pest management professionals encounter. Here are some steps to prevent it.

 

Switching Bait Products. Changing bait products on a regular basis will help prevent bait aversion, says Kevin Hathorne, technical director of Terminix in Columbia, S.C. “Bait aversion occurs when a particular brand of bait is used in the same environment for a long period of time. Eventually, cockroaches that choose not to consume the bait are selected for and make up the majority of the population. Switching bait products periodically will help cut down on aversion issues. Using baits with multiple modes of action and active ingredients may also help. We encourage our branches to purchase a variety of bait products and to make sure one particular brand is not used for long periods of time. Switching bait products every six months seems to be a good plan.”

 

Don’t Overuse Products. Jim Saitman, operations manager for MadCo Pest-a-Side in Wildomar, Calif., says he has run across many technicians who have been overusing products like baits over the years, creating issues with control. “Like any product, there are a certain percent of the roach population that are not interested in it and those end up breeding,” Saitman said, adding that it’s easy to understand in human terms. “If a hamburger is the hottest thing going, 99 percent will eat it. With roaches, those 99 percent will die but one percent will still want to eat hot dogs instead and will breed. Some guys use these products like they are caulk and eventually, the roaches don’t want to touch it.”

Cleaning Before Treatments. Fabio Ulloa, owner of Prestige Pest Services in Hawthorne, N.J., suggests a deep cleaning for his customers prior to any treatment. “We find the best way to control a roach problem is a collaboration with the residents, if they do the prep work and do what we request then our equipment is going to be more effective even if we use boric acid or a botanical. If you have a clean environment, any product works better, and there’s less aversion of any product if we change the environment where they are living. Insects leave skeletons and eggs, and capsules are there, and they eat themselves and we want everything clean to manipulate the way they want it.”

 

Rotate Rotate Rotate. A proponent of switching things up, Zach Smith, owner, of Smith’s Pest Management based in San Jose, Calif., says product rotation is very important to avoiding aversion. “Generally, you want to change up baits every third or fourth treatment,” he says. “If (you) can’t get control in a restaurant, change things, like different actives, so you don’t get aversion. Also, you’re reducing the risk of tolerance or resistance.”