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Archive for the ‘Frontbox’ Category

Spotting Carpet Beetles

Sunday, January 16th, 2011

There are three species of carpet beetle that are the most common problem for homeowners. These are the varied carpet beetle, the black carpet beetle and the furniture carpet beetle. Larvae are by far the most harmful stage in the carpet beetle lifecycle. Female carpet beetles lay anywhere from 50 to 100 eggs near food sources. An adult beetle can live four years, laying eggs once a year. Eggs are incredibly resilient. Once the eggs develop into cocoons and larvae, they stay in this stage nearly a year. The larvae is the most destructive stage of the carpet beetle. Both eggs and larvae are very difficult to detect since they tend to blend in with the fabric they inhabit. Once they mature, carpet beetles are scavengers and may be found in areas well away from food sources.

You may find one or two larvae crawling on surfaces. But the first sign of a carpet beetle infestation is usually irregular holes chewed in fabrics. They feed on the nap of fabrics and carpeting without eating the base threads. If you are finding holes in fabrics around your home, and think the damage is due to carpet beetles, look for fecal pellets and skins shed by the larva. They most often feed in dark secluded places, so do a thorough inspection for them in these areas:

Undersides of furniture
In areas around or behind furniture where pet hair may accumulate
Corners and bottoms of drawers
Along baseboards where carpet meets molding
Under area rugs and carpets
Inside closets – especially in corners
In basements and attics
Between walls and insulation
In and under storage boxes
On window and door frame moldings
In gaps alongside and above and below shelving
Outside your home where there might be dead rodents or birds

Tags: Abington, Avon, Boston, Brighton, Cambridge, carpet beetles, Carpet Bugs, exterminator, Get rid of carpet beetles, Heritage Pest Control
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Get Rid of those Carpet Beetles!

Sunday, January 16th, 2011

Because carpet beetles are active in multiple small hidden areas throughout your home, it can be very difficult to get rid of carpet beetle infestations. A qualified pest control expert is the best way to beat your beetle problem. However, there are some things you can do before help arrives to lessen the problem and damage:

1. Use a vacuum to remove the carpet beetles you can see. Immediately remove the carpet beetles with a vacuum. This includes the adult that look like typical beetles, as well as the larvae which look like tiny hairy caterpillars.

2. While you have the vacuum out, suck up all the pet hair or fur hiding under furniture and in corners.

3. Immediately seal and throw out the vacuum bag afterward.

4. Since adult carpet beetles do not stay in one area very long and may have laid eggs in numerous places throughout your home, you will need to treat all of your carpets, area rugs, upholstery, draperies, linens and stored clothing.

5. Discard, dry clean or wash items that show signs of carpet beetle damage. Also include any nearby items that may be hiding tiny eggs and larvae you may not be able to see.

6. Wash clothing and machine washable items using soap and the hottest water you can.

7. You can also place items that cannot be washed in a dryer on the highest heat setting for at least 30 minutes.

8. Have your rugs professionally cleaned, or rent a steam cleaner and do it yourself.

9. Larvae are usually deep within fabric, so make sure to get into every nook and cranny of upholstered furniture.

To prevent future carpet beetle activity, vacuum your carpets regularly and thoroughly, wash area rugs and make sure to clean up pet fur as often as possible.

Tags: Abington, Allston, Avon, Boston, Cambridge, carpet beetles, exterminator, Get rid of carpet beetles, Heritage Pest Control
Posted in Asian ladybugs (Asian lady beetles), Carpet Beetles, Frontbox, Massachusetts, Pest Control, Slider, Uncategorized | No Comments »

How to Get Rid of Drain Flies

Friday, December 10th, 2010

You can kills dozens of drain flies and still not be rid of the problem. Since a drain fly can lay anywhere from 10-200 eggs in the sludge that builds up in your drain, you will have a continuous population of flies until you take away their breeding grounds. Follow these steps to remove the source of your drain fly problem:

If you have a hair catcher on your drain, remove and clean it. This may involve loosening screws to release the grate.
With the hair catcher off, use a pipe brush to clean the goop that is serving as the nest for the drain fly eggs off the sides of the pipe.
Once you have scraped a much of the pipe debris off, use a plumbing snake to pullout clumps of hair or solid matter. You can rent a drain snake or buy one at your local hardware store. This can be a slow process if you want to thoroughly clean your pipes. It’s also messy and not for the squeamish. Don a good thick pair of rubber gloves.
Even with the snake, you probably will not be able to scrape out all of the gunk attracting the drain flies. Use an entire bottle of a strong drain cleaner, allowing it to sit for the maximum time suggested on the direction label. Follow up with a second bottle if necessary.
Unfortunately, you’re still not finished. You need to get every bit of the organic matter out of the drain. Run lots of hot water to make sure you’ve cleared away the drain cleaner. This will help clean the drain and protect you from dangerous chemicals splashing in the next step.
Get a plunger with a good seal. They are inexpensive enough to buy a new one for this job. After all the drain cleaner is flushed, plunge until you have cleared the pipes as much as possible.
Finally, boil water in the largest kettle or pot you have and pour that down the drain. Your drain flies will no longer have a happy home – but you will.

For a free estimate, give us a call at 781-986-0701 and mention that you found us from this article.

Tim Taylor, President of Heritage Pest Control in Randolph, MA, is an expert in pest control, with more than 20 years of education and experience in residential and commercial pest control. Tim has an extensive background in entomology, and is a member of the National and New England Pest Management Associations and the Randolph Chamber of Commerce. Tim is also a 29-year member of the National Guard and is active in national and community activities including Pop Warner Football. Heritage Pest Control serves the greater Boston area including the suburbs of Brookline, Cambridge, Brighton, Allston, Milton, Quincy, Braintree and Canton. For more information, or to contact Tim, CLICK HERE to send a note to Tim or call him at 781-986-0701.

Tags: Abington, Avon, Boston, Brockton, Cambridge, Canton, drain flies, drain gnats, drain moths, Easton Massachusetts, get rid of drain flies, Heritage Pest Control, Pest control, sewer gnats, sewer moths
Posted in Blog Posts, Drain Flies, Frontbox, Fruit Flies, Massachusetts, Pest Control, Slider | No Comments »

Are They Drain Flies or Fruit Flies?

Friday, December 10th, 2010

If you are finding fruit flies in your kitchen, especially around your sink or fridge, they may not be fruit flies at all. You could have an infestation of drain flies. A drain fly differs in appearance from a fruit fly in that a drain fly, also known as moth flies or sewer gnats, is fuzzy with a smaller body and larger wings than a fruit fly.

Drain flies, as you may guess by the name, congregate around kitchen drains, laying their eggs in the organic matter that collects in the bottom of your garbage disposal or pipes. One drain fly will lay 10-200 eggs in the build-up of hair, grease, food, etc. In about two days, the eggs hatch and the drain fly larvae thrive on that same waste in the drain. They emerge as adults in nine to 15 days.

You may see drain flies on walls and flat surfaces during the day. At night they feed and fly in and around the drains. A drain fly lives for about two weeks. You may be able to kill a good number of the flies during the day, but the drain fly larvae can live in the drain and reproduce endlessly. You must get rid of their breeding ground to be rid of them.

It’s not difficult to kill a drain fly. They are rather clumsy and slower than the average house fly. Your best defense is to track the flies back to their source – usually a drain – either in a sink, washroom or basement floor. Cover about ¾ of a drain opening with a piece of tape, sticky side down. Check it for the next day or two and if that drain is the source of the problem, you will have flies stuck to the tape.

Stay tuned for tips on how to get rid of and prevent drain flies…

For a free estimate, give us a call at 781-986-0701 and mention that you found us from this article.

Tags: Boston, drain flies, drain fly inspection, drain gnats, drain moths, exterminator, Heritage Pest Control, how to get rid of drain flies, killing drain flies, Massachusetts, Pest control, sewer flies, sewer gnats, sewer moths, sink flies
Posted in Blog Posts, Drain Flies, Frontbox, Fruit Flies, Massachusetts, Pest Control, Slider | No Comments »

How Can You Tell if You Have Mice in Your Home?

Thursday, October 14th, 2010

form on our website.

In my next post I will give you some tips on how to pest-proof your home from mice and how to get rid of mice that might already be there.

Tags: Abington, and Westwood, Avon, Brockton, Canton, Dedham, Holbrook, how to get rid of mice, Massachutsetts, mice, mice indoors, Milton, mouse, mouse droppings, mouse infestation, mouse-proof, Newton, Walpole
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What will your college student bring home in their laundry?

Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010

You’ve just enjoyed a weekend with your son or daughter home from college. A couple good meals and a round or two of laundry and they’re off again. But your student may bring home something in their laundry that hangs around after they’ve gone back to campus.

Boston area colleges, like universities in other areas of the country, are reporting bedbug infestations in dorms and student housing. Community officials around colleges in Boston, Cambridge, Brookline and Brighton took note of the moving vans and piles of upholstered furniture arriving on campuses during move-in week, and warned students to keep their eyes open for the potential of bedbugs. Several hotels in Boston, Cambridge, Brookline and Brighton have been listed on bedbugreport.com, a website that reports bedbug incidents.

Bedbugs often go undetected for quite awhile, making it easy for them to hide in the laundry your son or daughter brings home. Even if your student starts out with fresh sheets and towels, clothes dumped out on beds, furniture or carpet can quickly become a new home for bedbugs that have gone undetected. And bedbugs and the eggs they lay can commute home on the weekend in the laundry bag.

There are a lot of skin-crawling reports about the bedbug epidemic. But there is little information about how to get rid of bedbugs. Before you can get rid of bedbugs, you first have to know you have them. Despite all the hoopla, bedbugs are tiny and come out for short periods of time in the dark. Play detective and look for signs that include dark spots on bedding and mattresses, which can be blood, eggs or dead bugs. A dead bedbug looks like a tick or tiny cockroach. Bedbug bites are small and often are unfelt for quite awhile. Most doctors don’t easily identify them either.

Heritage Pest Control has seen a surge of bedbug problems in college towns like Boston, Brookline, Cambridge and Brighton. We’ve gotten calls asking how to get rid of bedbugs once students have gone back to school and brought home their laundry. There are a lot of home remedies out there. But chances are, if your bedbug problem is big enough to see, it’s time to call in professionals. We typically use a two-step process to get rid of bedbugs and make sure they don’t come back. But we don’t jump to any conclusions and recommend any treatments that you don’t actually need. It’s usually best for us to come survey the situation in person so we can give you the most effective solution for the best price.

For a free estimate, give us a call at 781-986-0701 and mention that you found us from this article.

Tags: bed bugs, bedbugs, Boston, Brighton, Brookline, Cambridge, campus, college, how to get rid of
Posted in Bed bugs, Blog Posts, Frontbox, Pest Control, Slider | No Comments »

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