By Erin Cardone - Saanich News
Published: November 09, 2010 10:00 AM Updated: November 09, 2010 10:34 AM
A bloodsucking critter is taking over Victoria homes and apartments.
While eastern Canada and much of the United States are fighting off bedbug infestations in hotels, motels and hostels, the insects are populating local living rooms and bedrooms.
“It’s already here,” said Victoria Pest Control manager Daniel Pratap of what has been called a bedbug “pandemic” by national media.
“People are moving and bringing (the bugs) with them. Bedbugs hit 90 per cent of rental apartments.”
Old Island Pest Control owner Blair Dooley said single-family homes, especially ones with rental suites, are big business for his company.
“I’d say when we first started (seeing bedbugs) they were in hotels, hostels, that type of thing,” he said.
“Now it’s definitely more in residential apartment units and the big difference this year is in residential homes. People trying to move away from bedbug problems in rental apartments are moving to rental homes.”
Different sources have pointed to various causes for an increase in bedbug infestations across North America – for example, DDT was banned from Canada in 1985 – but both Pratap and Dooley said clutter and used furniture are propagating their spread.
Victoria’s recycling practice of leaving free furniture for the taking on roadsides isn’t doing people any favours when it comes to keeping the bugs at bay, Dooley said.
“It doesn’t have to be a bed, either. Couches are super common for bedbugs. They’re probably (outside) for a reason.”
Some property managers have begun screening tenants. If a tenant comes from a suite known to have a history with bedbugs, the company could back away, said Rob Hunter, president of Devon Properties.
“We’re just looking to see if (they’ve come from) a building that has had bad bedbug outbreaks,” he said. And as for how those buildings are identified, “it’s a small town. You hear about it through the grapevine of professional property managers.”
Pratap said bedbug infestations have exacerbated over the past four years. He estimated that in 2006, bedbugs accounted for two per cent of his business. Now, that figure is 50 per cent.
Dooley said the problem has grown since 2001 and now accounts for about 15 per cent of his business.
“There’s been a big explosion in the last two months,” Dooley said. “My big belief is it’s the Olympics. It’s a bit of a delayed reaction – it takes a while for that population to build up.”
Though residences seem to be worst-hit in Victoria, Dooley said four- and five-star hotels have been bedbug clients for his business recently.
The University of Victoria’s latest infestation was in April, said communications officer Maria Lironi. Bedbugs were found in one dorm, which was treated.
There have been no bedbug reports at Victoria General or Royal Jubilee hospitals, said Vancouver Island Health Authority spokesperson Shannon Marshall. The only infestations at VIHA-run centres in Victoria were the Archie Courtnall Psychiatric Emergency Centre in May and at the Pembroke Street Detox Centre in January 2007.
The Canadian Federation of Apartment Associations is hosting a conference in Victoria on Thursday (Nov. 4) to discuss bedbugs.
A site called the Bedbug Registry logs unconfirmed reports of bedbugs in North America. Go to bedbugregistry.com and search for Victoria.
ecardone@vicnews.com
Showing posts with label Victoria. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Victoria. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Pesticide Free Weed Control
Weed Control Without
Pesticides
Tuesday, February 09, 2010
With Victoria, Esquimalt and Saanich banning the use of cosmetic pesticides for residential lawns and gardens, homeowners need to change their approach to lawn care. Killex, Weed n Feed and other chemical based weed killers are prohibited - the penalty for a first offence is a warning, but subsequent offences can carry a penalty from $250 to $10,000.
Corn Gluten Meal - a natural lawn care herbicide
One of the most important breakthroughs in organic lawn care was discovered by accident by Iowa State University researchers. Corn gluten stops root development when seeds germinate causing the plant to die. Corn gluten meal is now patented, and is licensed for use as an alternative to chemical weed and feed products. Experts say 50-60% weed control in the first year is possible if the product is applied at the right time. If applied annually, weeds can be reduced by more than 90%.
Timing is everything - apply before tulips go dormant To successfully kill weeds with corn gluten, timing is crucial. Corn gluten needs to be applied when weed seeds are sprouting – experts say “before tulips go dormant”. Typically in Victoria, corn gluten should be applied before the end of March.
Bruce Marshall
http://www.turflogic.ca/
weed control without pesticides
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Just a Reminder
Bedbugs are on the prowl again
The bedbug, virtually eliminated decades ago, is taking a fierce new bite out of Victoria, with experts reporting an exponential increase in outbreaks in homes, apartments and hotels.
By Times Colonist (Victoria) August 29, 2008
The bedbug, virtually eliminated decades ago, is taking a fierce new bite out of Victoria, with experts reporting an exponential increase in outbreaks in homes, apartments and hotels.
"Since 2003 there have been huge increases year upon year," says Blair Dooley, owner of Old Island Pest Control.
"All the data I get from associations in the U.S., companies are reporting between 300 and 500 per cent increases yearly," he says, explaining that the situation is the same here.
“A lot of people are under the impression that bedbugs are invisible or that they don’t exist,” said Sean Rollo, creator of the Bed Bug Resource website and a pest-control operator in Vancouver.
“I’m amazed at the seminars I do where there’s over half the people in the room who have never heard of bedbugs.”
Nemeth, however, managed to rid himself of the bugs using diatomaceous earth, a fossil shell powder that dehydrates and kills the bugs, and some sticky tape in a roll around the bed. He's been bedbug-free for a year now, a rare occurrence for those who deal with the bugs on their own. Most infestations are only eliminated after several pesticide treatments by pest control companies. The bugs, which live by feeding on the blood of humans and other warm-blooded hosts, were largely believed to have been eradicated 40 years ago due to the widespread use of pesticides like DDT.
But the 21st century has seen a marked increase in infestations -- which Rollo and Dooley attribute to a change in cockroach control methods. Cockroaches used to be killed with residual pesticides, which would kill any bedbugs at the same time, but they are now killed with gel traps. As well, preventive pesticide sprayings in homes and hotels are no longer allowed under new pest control laws.
"So now if someone does bring a bedbug into a hotel room, there's nothing there to control them," says Rollo. "They could be sitting there for months before we even know."
Rollo and Dooley also blame an increase in travel and more people bringing used upholstered furniture into their homes.
The bugs can live anywhere, regardless of cleanliness -- behind baseboards, in box springs, mattresses, or small cracks in furniture. While they usually feed every five to 10 days, they are able to go without feeding for up to 18 months, which makes them extremely hard to eliminate.
All it takes is a few bugs on clothing or furniture to cause a problem, says Dooley.
In one week in July, he sprayed a house and a townhouse, as well as multiple units in two hotels and two apartment buildings. The bugs are only eliminated after multiple treatments.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Bees are Friends not Foe - Its important to know if its a bee or a wasp before killing a nest.
Buzzing to a different beat
By Rebecca Aldous - Victoria News
Published: March 04, 2009 11:00 AM Updated: March 05, 2009 11:45 AM
Published: March 04, 2009 11:00 AM Updated: March 05, 2009 11:45 AM
The green door to the basement swings open.
A yellow hue from a dangling light bulb and a comforting sappy, sweet scent precedes John Defayette’s greeting.
“If you were the only one on the planet and had the choice of one other creature what would it be?” the 79-year-old asks, a knowing smile widening across his face.
“Rabbits,” I reply, thinking of their fast-breeding habits, rabbit stew, a nice fur coat and that, with the exception of a Monty Python movie, I’d never heard of death via rabbit attack.
Defayette moves over to a workbench by the door, seeking to prove me wrong. On it lies a rectangular box with frames slotted into it. Each one is covered in wax honeycombs and although empty, the smell of honey haunts them.
Picking out one frame, Defayette scratches a reddish goo from the wooden surface with his finger nail. The substance folds on itself like fudge scraped off a spoon.
“Propolis,” he says, before putting his finger in his mouth.
Bees collect propolis from tree buds and sap flows, he explains. It holds anti-fungal and antibiotic qualities and the bees spread it around the entrance to their hives, sparing them from infections.
While talking Defayette digs a small blue bottle out of a cardboard box, untwists the top and fills an eyedropper with a dark brown liquid.
“This is propolis with alcohol,” he says, placing the open bottle under my nose.
A strong scent races up my nostrils, kicking me back to the moment I first smelled vodka. Defayette places the eyedropper on his tongue.
“I love it,” he says. “It kills halitosis and gingivitis.”
The basement is full of plastic buckets, metal tubs and glass jam jars full of golden tar, equipment and rewards from Defayette’s five years of beekeeping. The first year he placed two wooden hives on small tables beside the ivy-ridden fence in his backyard bordering Grant Street in Fernwood. Now he has seven hives.
Each can produce up to 70 pounds of honey per summer, another reason he notes one would want bees with them if nothing else. “In a typical season, I probably have a million bees in this yard,” he says, pointing to the open door.
Defayette’s “girls” tirelessly roam a two-kilometre radius from the garden. They like the clover at Stadacona Park and blossom clusters engulfing Victoria’s boulevards. They also enjoy the neighbourhood’s flowers and, of course, the apple and cherry tree in Defayette’s yard. The variety is evident on the frames, as he points to the shades of brown, gold and yellow throughout the honeycomb. Each shade reveals its own flavour, he notes.
“Rabbits,” he says, shaking his head as he picks up two small shot glasses.
“When you smell this you will think of the nectar of the gods,” he says, filling the cups with a clear liquid. “This is the original wine, mead.”
Over in Esquimalt, Bob Chappell’s basement looks very different. It’s full of spools of wires, soldering equipment and gadgets. He too is a beekeeper, but for a native species – orchard mason bees. They are solitary, don’t make honey, and their blue-black sheen sees them often mistaken for flies.
Upstairs in a small back room overlooking the yard, he quietly slips on a DVD. A giant black and white bee pops onto the screen.
“They only have one thought on their minds,” he says, as we watch footage of the bees bringing pollen back to long tubular holes cut into a flat, wooden slat.
Chappell guesses he’s captured 100 hours of bee footage from a tiny camera mounted on Plexiglas on top of the tubes.
In and out they go, each time bringing more pollen on the bottom of their abdomen to add to a pollen ball. The bee then lays a egg on the ball, which will provide food to the larvae, before sealing the two components off with mud and starting the process again.
“I never really paid much attention to bees before,” Chappell says. “I have quite an appreciation for them now.”
Once the larvae consumes the pollen ball and spins a cocoon, Chappell takes them out of the tubes, washes the small brown cocoons in a tub to rid them of mites and places them in a box. He hopes some will hatch this month and begin their six-week life cycle undertaking the hectic job of pollinating up to 1,600 flowers a day.
There are hundreds of urban beekeepers tending to their colonies in the Island’s major cities, especially in Victoria, Vancouver Island bee inspector Brenda Jager says, noting bees and cities make good bedfellows.
In cities, flowers bloom all summer long as green thumbs tenderly water them, and the bees’ work in return boosts the productivity of herb gardens.
For two years Jager has travelled as far north as Campbell River checking the health of beekeeper’s hives and educating newbies. “For me and for many people, (bees) are the top of the insect order for intelligence and the ability to abstract,” she says. “You could say they think.”
raldous@vicnews.com
A yellow hue from a dangling light bulb and a comforting sappy, sweet scent precedes John Defayette’s greeting.
“If you were the only one on the planet and had the choice of one other creature what would it be?” the 79-year-old asks, a knowing smile widening across his face.
“Rabbits,” I reply, thinking of their fast-breeding habits, rabbit stew, a nice fur coat and that, with the exception of a Monty Python movie, I’d never heard of death via rabbit attack.
Defayette moves over to a workbench by the door, seeking to prove me wrong. On it lies a rectangular box with frames slotted into it. Each one is covered in wax honeycombs and although empty, the smell of honey haunts them.
Picking out one frame, Defayette scratches a reddish goo from the wooden surface with his finger nail. The substance folds on itself like fudge scraped off a spoon.
“Propolis,” he says, before putting his finger in his mouth.
Bees collect propolis from tree buds and sap flows, he explains. It holds anti-fungal and antibiotic qualities and the bees spread it around the entrance to their hives, sparing them from infections.
While talking Defayette digs a small blue bottle out of a cardboard box, untwists the top and fills an eyedropper with a dark brown liquid.
“This is propolis with alcohol,” he says, placing the open bottle under my nose.
A strong scent races up my nostrils, kicking me back to the moment I first smelled vodka. Defayette places the eyedropper on his tongue.
“I love it,” he says. “It kills halitosis and gingivitis.”
The basement is full of plastic buckets, metal tubs and glass jam jars full of golden tar, equipment and rewards from Defayette’s five years of beekeeping. The first year he placed two wooden hives on small tables beside the ivy-ridden fence in his backyard bordering Grant Street in Fernwood. Now he has seven hives.
Each can produce up to 70 pounds of honey per summer, another reason he notes one would want bees with them if nothing else. “In a typical season, I probably have a million bees in this yard,” he says, pointing to the open door.
Defayette’s “girls” tirelessly roam a two-kilometre radius from the garden. They like the clover at Stadacona Park and blossom clusters engulfing Victoria’s boulevards. They also enjoy the neighbourhood’s flowers and, of course, the apple and cherry tree in Defayette’s yard. The variety is evident on the frames, as he points to the shades of brown, gold and yellow throughout the honeycomb. Each shade reveals its own flavour, he notes.
“Rabbits,” he says, shaking his head as he picks up two small shot glasses.
“When you smell this you will think of the nectar of the gods,” he says, filling the cups with a clear liquid. “This is the original wine, mead.”
Over in Esquimalt, Bob Chappell’s basement looks very different. It’s full of spools of wires, soldering equipment and gadgets. He too is a beekeeper, but for a native species – orchard mason bees. They are solitary, don’t make honey, and their blue-black sheen sees them often mistaken for flies.
Upstairs in a small back room overlooking the yard, he quietly slips on a DVD. A giant black and white bee pops onto the screen.
“They only have one thought on their minds,” he says, as we watch footage of the bees bringing pollen back to long tubular holes cut into a flat, wooden slat.
Chappell guesses he’s captured 100 hours of bee footage from a tiny camera mounted on Plexiglas on top of the tubes.
In and out they go, each time bringing more pollen on the bottom of their abdomen to add to a pollen ball. The bee then lays a egg on the ball, which will provide food to the larvae, before sealing the two components off with mud and starting the process again.
“I never really paid much attention to bees before,” Chappell says. “I have quite an appreciation for them now.”
Once the larvae consumes the pollen ball and spins a cocoon, Chappell takes them out of the tubes, washes the small brown cocoons in a tub to rid them of mites and places them in a box. He hopes some will hatch this month and begin their six-week life cycle undertaking the hectic job of pollinating up to 1,600 flowers a day.
There are hundreds of urban beekeepers tending to their colonies in the Island’s major cities, especially in Victoria, Vancouver Island bee inspector Brenda Jager says, noting bees and cities make good bedfellows.
In cities, flowers bloom all summer long as green thumbs tenderly water them, and the bees’ work in return boosts the productivity of herb gardens.
For two years Jager has travelled as far north as Campbell River checking the health of beekeeper’s hives and educating newbies. “For me and for many people, (bees) are the top of the insect order for intelligence and the ability to abstract,” she says. “You could say they think.”
raldous@vicnews.com
Friday, February 13, 2009
From: Saanich News Feb 4, 2008
.
.
.
.
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When squirrels go bad
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Although this grey squirrel was photographed at Beacon Hill Park, they are found throughout the region and pose a serious threat to the indigenous red squirrel population.
Introduced in 1960s, Grey squirrels are a furry plague, biologists say
They cloak themselves in grey or black. They carry diseases that kill off their red-furred cousins. They murder smaller, defenceless species. And they're on the march up Vancouver Island.
Sounds like the plot for a science fiction novel but it's not. It's a story played out daily in Greater Victoria by Eastern Grey squirrels. Adorable as they may appear, dashing across lawns and up trees, they are a scourge, say Ministry of Environment officials.
Introduced to Vancouver Island in the mid-1960s, when three Eastern Greys from Ontario escaped from a Metchosin farm, the squirrels actually be black, brownish grey or colours in between. The rodents have now spread as far west as Sooke and as far north as Duncan.
"They're moving into habitat where we'd normally have native Red squirrels - they're displacing our (native Red squirrel) species," said biologist Michael Stalberg. As head of the ministry's Vancouver Island Fish and Wildlife section, Stalberg said Greys are twice the size of Red squirrels, they usually win fights over food and territory. They also carry diseases that can overwhelm Reds.
Even more bizarre, Greys are also linked to a decline in native bird populations.
"They kill and eat birds in bird houses and then use the houses to raise their young," Stalberg said, advising people to only use squirrel-proof bird feeders.
In addition, Grey squirrels are a threat to Garry oak trees. By biting through acorns before stashing them so the nuts won't sprout in winter storage they limit potential re-growth. If they get into humans' houses they can chew on wires, remove shingles and shakes, and chew through eaves to nest in attics, roofs and chimneys. The squirrels also frustrate gardeners who find the rodents dig up lawns and plant bulbs.
Take the example of geneticist Joe Harvey, who moved from Sooke to Oak Bay last year. On his 11-acre spread in Sooke, Harvey had been more concerned about deer than squirrels. A plant breeder with a specialty in halibores, Harvey and his wife Linda now deal with squirrels in Oak Bay digging up potted plants, even four-inch seedlings. In a recent letter to the Oak Bay News, Harvey wondered if it's okay to capture squirrels and eat them. We checked and it turns out it is – as long as it's a live trap.
Biologists have no idea how many Grey squirrels there now are on Vancouver Island. Only one study has been done in B.C. and that tracked the rodents' movements in Vancouver's Stanley Park. That report found an average of 2.2 per hectare, rising to 8.8 per hectare during breeding season.
Grey squirrel territory has expanded dramatically on southern Vancouver Island, to the point where Fish and Wildlife officials are posting notices asking the public for help. If Greys are seen west of Sooke or north of Duncan, ministry staff want to know. In the meantime, Stalberg says Eastern Grey squirrels "can be killed anytime and anywhere."
They can be live trapped and humanely killed within urban areas or shot in rural areas. But, if they are captured, Stalberg is adamant about one thing.
"People need to stop live-trapping and relocating squirrels," he said. "Releasing them somewhere else only increases the spread."
Harvey doesn't think he will go to the trouble of trapping squirrels for dinner. "They're too scrawny," he said. "You'd need a couple for a meal."
For more information about stopping the Eastern Grey squirrel migration, call Ministry of Environment's squirrel hotline: 1-250-751-3100.
Although this grey squirrel was photographed at Beacon Hill Park, they are found throughout the region and pose a serious threat to the indigenous red squirrel population.
Introduced in 1960s, Grey squirrels are a furry plague, biologists say
They cloak themselves in grey or black. They carry diseases that kill off their red-furred cousins. They murder smaller, defenceless species. And they're on the march up Vancouver Island.
Sounds like the plot for a science fiction novel but it's not. It's a story played out daily in Greater Victoria by Eastern Grey squirrels. Adorable as they may appear, dashing across lawns and up trees, they are a scourge, say Ministry of Environment officials.
Introduced to Vancouver Island in the mid-1960s, when three Eastern Greys from Ontario escaped from a Metchosin farm, the squirrels actually be black, brownish grey or colours in between. The rodents have now spread as far west as Sooke and as far north as Duncan.
"They're moving into habitat where we'd normally have native Red squirrels - they're displacing our (native Red squirrel) species," said biologist Michael Stalberg. As head of the ministry's Vancouver Island Fish and Wildlife section, Stalberg said Greys are twice the size of Red squirrels, they usually win fights over food and territory. They also carry diseases that can overwhelm Reds.
Even more bizarre, Greys are also linked to a decline in native bird populations.
"They kill and eat birds in bird houses and then use the houses to raise their young," Stalberg said, advising people to only use squirrel-proof bird feeders.
In addition, Grey squirrels are a threat to Garry oak trees. By biting through acorns before stashing them so the nuts won't sprout in winter storage they limit potential re-growth. If they get into humans' houses they can chew on wires, remove shingles and shakes, and chew through eaves to nest in attics, roofs and chimneys. The squirrels also frustrate gardeners who find the rodents dig up lawns and plant bulbs.
Take the example of geneticist Joe Harvey, who moved from Sooke to Oak Bay last year. On his 11-acre spread in Sooke, Harvey had been more concerned about deer than squirrels. A plant breeder with a specialty in halibores, Harvey and his wife Linda now deal with squirrels in Oak Bay digging up potted plants, even four-inch seedlings. In a recent letter to the Oak Bay News, Harvey wondered if it's okay to capture squirrels and eat them. We checked and it turns out it is – as long as it's a live trap.
Biologists have no idea how many Grey squirrels there now are on Vancouver Island. Only one study has been done in B.C. and that tracked the rodents' movements in Vancouver's Stanley Park. That report found an average of 2.2 per hectare, rising to 8.8 per hectare during breeding season.
Grey squirrel territory has expanded dramatically on southern Vancouver Island, to the point where Fish and Wildlife officials are posting notices asking the public for help. If Greys are seen west of Sooke or north of Duncan, ministry staff want to know. In the meantime, Stalberg says Eastern Grey squirrels "can be killed anytime and anywhere."
They can be live trapped and humanely killed within urban areas or shot in rural areas. But, if they are captured, Stalberg is adamant about one thing.
"People need to stop live-trapping and relocating squirrels," he said. "Releasing them somewhere else only increases the spread."
Harvey doesn't think he will go to the trouble of trapping squirrels for dinner. "They're too scrawny," he said. "You'd need a couple for a meal."
For more information about stopping the Eastern Grey squirrel migration, call Ministry of Environment's squirrel hotline: 1-250-751-3100.
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