Do brick homes get termites?

Short answer, yes, any structure can get termites. Now with that being said, the termites will not eat the bricks but they will get in and eat the wood studs in the wall, the sub floor, wood paneling and even the paper off the drywall.  In fact, in some commercial steel and glass structures, the termites will enter through the concrete slab and get into workers desks, stored boxes of paper or anything made of wood for that matter.

Please call us if you have any questions or concerns regarding these pests at 636-343-7900 or go to bluechipexterminating.com for more information regarding our service options.

Here’s a link to the new Bed Bug proposal introduced by Sen. Kevin Engler.  For those of you live in St. Louis (or anywhere in Missouri), this bill would be highly beneficial for those of you who live in a  multi-family housing unit.  This is one pest that almost always has to be introduced in a home either by travel (luggage), second hand items brought into the home or unknowingly brought in on by someone (on their clothing or in their purse).  So with this in mind,  a bed bug infestations can easily come through a common wall shared with your neighbor causing you a lot of worried and stress fulled nights.

As we have mentioned in a previous blog, Bed Bugs are one insect I do not recommend trying to solve yourself.  So, for those of you who need this bill to be passed, at least someone is out there in your corner trying get you some rights.

Please call us if you have any questions or concerns regarding these pests at 636-343-7900 or go to bluechipexterminating.com for more information regarding our service options.

It’s official, Blue Chip Pest Services received its first Odorous House ant swarm call for the 2012 season.  Trust me when I say this is not normal. And even though we had a spring like 68 degree day last week that shouldn’t have been enough to cause a swarm.  But it did.

Normally a swarm won’t happen until early spring when we have several warm days stretched together with a little bit of rain.  This type of condition (warmth and rain) after a long winter makes for an excellent swarm environment for ants and termites.

Hopefully this is an isolated incident.  This is normally the one time of year most homeowner or business owners don’t have to worry to much about insect issues in or around their property. But if by some unnatural occurrence you too get a ant swarm, give us a call or get you DIY supplies at one of our three locations.

Please call us if you have any questions or concerns regarding these pests at 636-343-7900 or go to bluechipexterminating.com for more information regarding our service options.

With the holiday season coming to an end most of us now have the task of putting all the decorations away until next year.  This is an excellent opportunity to get rid of all those cardboard boxes and upgrade your storage container to one that is more pest friendly.  Plastic storage containers help items stay dry, dust free and eliminates resting sites for brown recluse spiders and silverfish.

Unlike most insects that enter your home, the brown recluse will seek out undisturbed areas the hide out and rest.  For those of you who store cardboard boxes in the basement, the garage or attic this article is really for you.  Cardboard boxes provide an excellent hiding area for the brown recluse.  Because most boxes do not seal as well as plastic containers the brown recluse can easily find it’s way under a loose lid or an ill fitting seem.  Unfortunately for us, the next time we reach into the box there could be potential for the spider to bite us if we accidentally corner it or brush up against it.

So, if you have any concerns about brown recluse spiders or have had sighting or problems in the past, I strongly suggest using this type of storage container.  Now, this in no way means that a spider couldn’t get into a plastic storage container, but it does drastically reduce the odds of  this happening.  The better your container lids sits on the rim, the better your odds will be.

Lastly, if you have a brown recluse problem, just using a plastic container will not solve your problem.  Because the brown recluse spider bite is so dangerous, this is one pest that I do recommend the D.I.Y.’ers to hire professional pest control company come in to eliminate the problem.  It isn’t so much that the chemicals will be better than you can get at one of out retail stores, its the application of the materials in to the right spots and knowing what to look for that can only come from experience.

Please call us if you have any questions or concerns regarding these pests at 636-343-7900 or go to bluechipexterminating.com for more information regarding our service options.