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Best Management Practices for Pests in Schools and Childcare

As we find our way out from under snow and slush, so too, the four- , six- and eight-legged creatures (as well as pest plants) that emerge with spring’s warmth.  Today begins a new blog series focusing on a great IPM resource for you.

“Housed” on the Northeastern IPM Center’s website,  the Best Management Practices for School IPM offers a full range of information to help you better fend off building and grounds pests

The Northeastern IPM Center promotes the development and adoption of integrated pest management (IPM), a sound, sensible approach to dealing with pests and pesticide problems. Working with partners in agricultural, urban, and rural settings, we identify—and address—regional priorities for research, education, and outreach throughout the Northeast. Competitive grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture fund our programs, and the Center is administered at Cornell University.

NE IPM homepage front page

 

On the Northeastern IPM Center’s website, or the NYSIPM’s site, or this link, you’ll find the BMPs.

BMP webpage homepage

Over the next few posts, we’ll highlight parts of this website such as IPM Basics, The Steps of IPM, IPM Resources (here’s where you’ll find great communication tools for your staff, parents, athletic dept., and community), inspection forms for indoor and outdoor areas, and links to specific pests.

Try it out: Carpenter Ant

Sample of Carp Ant BMP page

Each pest ‘fact sheet’ continues on through the six steps of IPM to provide best management practices.

We hope you will find the BMP website a valuable tool to both understand and enable the best ways to prevent or reduce pest infestations and the need for treatments.

 

 

Bed Bugs in Schools – Prevention

bed_bug_adult

Exclusion and sanitation are key factors in structural IPM.  Because schools and child care facilities rarely provide the favored overnight buffet found in homes and hotels, bed bugs found in schools and daycare facilities (as well as libraries, restaurants, theaters and public transportation) generally don’t create the same long term infestations. They will, however, be doing their best to find a blood meal, feed, and be on their way in less than fifteen minutes.

No one can prevent a bedbug incident, but the risk of infestation can be reduced if you and your staff learn to be proactive.

Exclusion?

Bed bugs travel via clothing, coats, backpacks, purses, book bags, instrument or document cases, etc. Obviously, checking everyone as they come in the door, and their belongings is unrealistic. Bed bugs don’t hop or fly, so they rely on speedy locomotion and you.

BedBugSuitcase_lg from bedbugcentral

bed bugs on a suitcase. Image from Bedbugcentral http://www.bedbugcentral.com/

 

Take note: Exclusion still plays a part in bed bug control, and we’ll discuss this in a future post. And never adopt or accept second-hand furniture without a thorough examination.

Sanitation?

Cleanliness has nothing to do with the presence of bedbugs, but clutter is any pest’s best friend. Clutter provides habitat and makes inspection (scouting) difficult. Large, long term infestations may occur where cleaning and sanitation has lapsed.

Where do they hide?

Insects the size of poppy seeds or apple seeds can find shelter anywhere. They prefer to be close to their food source (why not?) so look in the folds, seams and hidey places in and around upholstered fabric. Use a putty knife, playing card or plastic card along the edges of carpeting, along wall molding and trims, and behind wall art. Visually inspect behind electrical wall plates. (At home, electronics such as bedside clock radios can harbor bed bugs).  Any resting place for humans can become bed bug habitat.

If your school has had bed bug incidents, you should be inspecting on a regular basis.

Examine pillows, cushions, seams and all parts of upholstered furniture, including under and inside the frames. Do this in teacher lounges, libraries, auditoriums and any classroom or office with upholstered furniture or a resting area.

Know what you are looking for. Study the photo resources we’ve provided and other online information

Look for active bedbugs, cast skins and tell-tale reddish-brown-to-black spots of excrement.

Reduce clutter. This may be the most difficult step in a classroom. Keeping classroom paraphernalia in totes and keeping them mobile makes inspection and cleaning easier, and reduces bed bug travel opportunities. This is also an excellent way to reduce the chance of ants, cockroaches or mice.

Train your staff on how to reduce the chance of infestation.  Also, discuss bedbug prevention openly with staff and students to reduce shaming and ridicule. Do not panic if a bed bug is found. If it’s an isolated case, there is no way to know where that insect came from.

Have a policy in place and know how to capture, keep, and identify a bed bug.

More on Inspection:

Take along a flashlight, putty knife, playing card or plastic card, a screwdriver, wide clear tape, magnifying glass, small zippered bags or tightly-closing plastic containers, facial tissue, tweezers. Have large garbage bags on hand, and remember to fill out an inspection form.

NYSIPM – steps in inspection and collection

BedBug TV: How to inspect a couch

A detailed Bed bug resource from Toronto aimed at public housing

School IPM: Queens Without a Castle

Many of us recently enjoyed Memorial Day weekend’s warm, dry weather.  In particular, buzzing “bees”. While spring turns a young male’s thoughts to romance, in the wasp, bee, and ant world, spring means queens looking for a place to establish new colonies. Should you be concerned?  Only if they settle next to doorways, on or in building walls, or in ground nests where human activity is common such as some walkways, playgrounds, flower and vegetable gardens. Remember – wasps, bees and ants are beneficial while in their role. Problems occur when we try to occupy the same space.

IPM suggestion: Don’t use the generic term BEES. We want to help you learn to identify what buzzes by. It’s not difficult, and knowing the difference between a bald-faced hornet and a carpenter bee may prove very healthy knowledge.

When a paper wasp starts her umbrella nest with a few eggs, it is the perfect time to knock it down with a hard blast from a water hose, or with a broom. Try it while she’s out shopping, or resting on the nest in the late evening. When she is forced to start over a few times, she is likely to move on to another site. If the nest is knocked down on the ground, you may be able to stomp on it and walk quickly away. Return later to discard it.  I swear they like to build near doorways to watch us come and go.

Paper wasp on new nest

Paper wasp on new nest (Bugwood -Whitney Cranshaw)

Large ground bees, bumblebees and carpenter bees are rarely a menace, though painful stings can occur if a bumble bee nest is disturbed. Ground bees and carpenter bees are solitary and care for only a few young. Stings from solitary bees are rare.

Bumble bee (larger) and honeybee forage together. Notice the fuzz? It's another way to differentiate them from wasps which are smooth.

Bumble bee (larger) and honeybee forage together. Notice the fuzz? It’s another way to differentiate them from wasps which are smooth.                                      (Bugwood- Whitney Cranshaw)

Ground nests of yellow jackets are a source of the most significant stinging events.  I wish we all had the time to watch and follow these queens to their chosen site–frequently these are small, abandoned rodent holes, soil areas where a wooden post has rotted out, piles of soft soil or compost, (almost always in areas that are not mowed on a regular basis) or cavities in old trees or gaps under siding. Nobody likes these kinds of surprises!

Although yellow jackets and a common paper wasp are similar in color and striping, their body shape differs significantly. Yellow jackets are 'sturdy'; paper wasps are thin-waisted and look delicate

Yellow Jacket.  Although yellow jackets and  common paper wasps are similar in color and striping, their body shape differs significantly. Yellow jackets are ‘sturdy’; paper wasps are thin-waisted and look delicate  (Jody Gangloff-Kaufmann)

Keep this all in mind over the next few weeks as queens establish their colonies. They are looking for areas they believe will be undisturbed.  Early detection and removal NOW is key, and might prevent a swarm of stingers in August when someone decides to use a weed trimmer in an out-of-the-way area.  Most wasp sting incidents occur when a human accidentally disturbs a nest or comes in contact with a wasp while both are minding their own business. We’ll chat more on this throughout the season.

Be prepared. Know who to contact to remove stinging insect nests, and how to watch for and treat an allergic reaction to their stings. Always consider the possibility of ground nesting wasps in hollows of trees, wall voids and particularly in soft soil near fences and gardens.

IPM Suggestion: This is the time to walk the perimeter of structures on your property. Look up along rooflines, under eaves, and in trees.  Aerial nests of yellow jackets or bald-faced hornets seem to just show up one day in late summer—because you weren’t looking for them! IPM for stinging insects in spring is simply correct ID, monitoring of favored sites, and nest exclusion.  Take note. Next fall you’ll want to caulk entry way holes in buildings and fill in the holes in the soil.

Please consider purchasing our excellent resource on Wasp and Bee Management by NYS IPM’s Jody Gangloff-Kaufmann, Wasp and Bee Management: A Common Sense Approach.

Photos by Jody Gangloff-Kaufmann and, where noted, courtesy of Bugwood and Whitney Cranshaw.