Insect Control with Hearts Pest Management

Hearts Pest Management Owner, Gerry Weitz receiving EPA award for Integrated Pest Management.

Hearts Pest Management is one of the few pest control companies in southern California licensed to perform both structural (residential and commercial buildings) and landscape pest control services.

We are the first company to receive an award from the EPA – California’s Environmental Protection Agency as an innovator in IPM (Integrated Pest Management).

Our Service Professionals understand that to effectively control insects, knowledge about the insect and its habits is required.

The first step is in identification; the second is to learn about an insect’s lifestyle – does the insect only appear at certain times of the year or is it prone to specific environmental conditions?

Once you know what kind of insect you’re dealing with you and your Hearts technician can come up with strategies to control it and keep it from invading your home. Our website is designed to educate. You’ll find links to pages for more in-depth information about different insects and types of treatment available.

But first, let’s back up a bit by stating that all living creatures have their place and the right to exist. There is a reason why the word “Heart” is in the title of our company, Hearts Pest Management – we’re not your average pest control company; we are a company with “Heart!”

House Cricket

Customers preferring green methods of controlling insects will be pleased to know that all of our service technicians are EcoWise Certified. We have a complete program in Green / Organic Pest Control to take care of your needs.

Our philosophy, when it comes to controlling insects, is to first do no harm. Most insects are not “pests” until they make their way indoors, creating an infestation, or are a threat to your family.

We treat only when and where necessary, practicing IPM methods and giving you, the home owner, preventative tips on avoiding infestations.

Let’s take a look at some invading insects:

Ants:

Top of the list is ants. In southern California, ants are year-round pests, for a couple of reasons; our mild climate for one and two, an invasive species that has taken over our state – Argentine ants.

Argentine Ant and Scale Insects

Many people that try to control ants with "Do-it-Yourself" methods, often become very frustrated at the lack of results they face in keeping ants from coming indoors. This gets back to our first statement of controlling insects – identifying the species.

Some ant species, such as Argentine ants, have more than one queen which makes them a little more difficult to control with the "Do-it-Yourself" tricks of the trade.

Just as soon as you seem to have these ants under control, a queen will break away, taking some worker ants with her and start a brand new colony elsewhere on your property.

Another reason ants can be difficult to control on your own is that certain ant species prefer protein while others like sweets. And, depending on the time of year, they’ll crave either or both!

Hearts Pest Management’s Service Professionals are experts at identifying different species of ants and know just what type of treatment works best.
For specific information on ants and ant species, please visit: Ant Control

IPM is a systematic method of pest control that uses inspections, monitoring, and record keeping to help manage pest problems. It is also recommending home repairs, deep cleaning, and other non-chemical methods to keep pests at a manageable level.

Spiders:

Crawling right behind ants are spiders; the second biggest home invading pest. Notice I didn’t say home invading “insect” because spiders are not insects but arachnids, however, because spiders do invade the home, we’re mentioning them here for “Insect Control.”

At Hearts, we receive a lot of calls about brown and black widow spiders. These are the two spiders of medical importance in southern California, both are toxic to humans. Did you know that brown widow spiders are more toxic than black widows?

The venom of a brown widow is said to be 10x stronger than the female black widow but because the brown widow doesn’t inject as much, the toxicity is about the same as a black widow's. And, unlike the black widow, brown widow spiders are shyer and less aggressive.

A female brown widow will curl up and play dead when feeling threatened whereas a black widow female will go after whatever is disturbing her web and egg sac.

Spider Control is a bit trickier than ants. This is because spiders are solitary creatures. Ants are social and share what they find with their entire colony, be it food or ant bait. At Hearts, we not only treat for spiders but search out their hiding places and remove any webs and egg sacs.

Sometimes, it requires a team effort between you and your technician to keep spiders from coming indoors. He or she may suggest implementing IPM strategies such as sweeping patios more frequently, especially during summer and fall, and/or caulking any gaps in baseboards, doorways, etc.

Oriental roaches are often referred to as “Water Bugs.”

 Roach Control:

Identification is very important prior to treatment. That’s why we offer roach inspections – free-of-charge! If you have roaches in the kitchen, a special treatment requiring preparation ahead of time will be necessary. Your Hearts technician will be able to identify the roaches and provide instructions for treatment.

Prevention is the key to keeping your home or business free of German and/or American roaches. For instance; making sure food is kept in tight containers, including pet food, keeping counters clean, and food crumbs swept up from floors, etc.

The big, ugly, water bugs you see in the garage, bathroom, and occasionally elsewhere in the house are Oriental roaches which can be treated with our general pest or organic treatment plans.

Check our main page on Roaches for more information on types of roaches and treatment available.

Fly Control:

Houseflies usually have a pretty good reason for showing up in your home or business, regardless of the warm weather. They’re lifecycle ranges 14-25 days and they eat a variety of things besides human food.

Flies lay their eggs in anything moist.

Flies dine on garbage, pet food, dead things, even dog and cat pooh! You don’t want them in your house spreading disease. Here are some simple tips for controlling flies:

• Keep it clean – wipe up food spills and sweep up crumbs right away.
• Poop scoop – keep your yard as feces-free as possible; flies and fleas, will lay their eggs in dog poop.
• Repair any damage to screens and keep doors closed.

If you still have flies after doing these preventative suggestions, visit our page on Fly Control the Hearts Pest Management Way. Call us for a free inspection!

Bed Bug

Bed Bug Control:

Bed bugs have become a world-wide epidemic. It doesn’t matter how clean you are, if you’ve traveled recently and stayed in a hotel and now your home and getting bit, you could very well have bed bugs.

Once thought to be a pest in unsanitary conditions, bed bugs occur wherever there is a turnover of people; from hotels and motels, to convalescent homes and college dorms. Please visit our main page on Bed Bugs – Treatment and Prevention.

Mosquito Control:

In southern California, mosquitoes are not nearly as much of a pest as they are in other states where the climate is wet and humid. Therefore, because we live in a milder, temperate climate, if you have mosquitoes, there’s usually a source that's causing them to appear. ...

Yellow-Fever Mosquito

Your Hearts service professional will inspect your property to locate the source and provide IPM solutions for treating and controlling mosquitoes. Using insecticide sprays for controlling adult mosquitoes has its limitations. It will work temporarily but prevention is the best method for controlling these flying, biting pests.

For example, it could be a leaky irrigation system or standing water somewhere on the property that's attracting mosquitoes; or, maybe a flower pot holding too much water.

Visit: Mosquitoes and the Zika Virus for more information on keeping you and your family protected.

Honeybees are not pests unless they pose a threat to humans!

Bees and Wasps:

Bees Are Essential – Certain Bee Removal Requests are NOT Accepted!

Bees have an indispensable role in nature that Hearts Pest Management respects. Honeybees are essential for pollinating our crops. We accept calls for bee removal only when they pose a serious threat to human health.

We have set guidelines to avoid harming bees needlessly. We do, however, remove honeycomb and hives if they are inside an attic or on the outside of your home. Please visit: Bees and Wasps

Landscape pests damage plants and trees.

Aphids and Landscape Insects:

Hearts provides landscape inspections free-of-charge. If your landscape is infested with aphids, whitefly, mealybugs, fungus and/or other pests, we will recommend a maintenance plan either on a monthly, bi-monthly, or quarterly basis, depending on your needs and the nature of the infestation.

For specific plant destroying insects and how we can keep these types of garden pests from taking over your landscape, please visit: Landscape and Garden Pest Control page.

Call us today to find out more about our basic and organic pest control program for insect control!

800-986-1006

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