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Showing posts from May, 2011

Dust Allergy Treatment

Few people realize that a tiny mite that lives in the dust in our homes can cause severe, even life-threatening , allergy symptoms. While most people are unaffected by this allergy, just like most people are not allergic to grass pollen, for those that are it can significantly impact their lives. What causes dust allergy? Allergies to household dust are common and tend to be worse in winter when houses are sealed up tight against cold weather. All allergies are caused by the reaction of our immune system to molecules called proteins that enter through our lungs, digestive system, or skin. If we eat something we are allergic to our body reacts. Likewise if we breath something we are allergic to we experience a range of symptoms from a mildly stuffy nose to anaphylactic shock . An allergy to dust is caused by proteins in the dust that we react to when they enter our lungs. The allergy-producing protein (allergen) is in dust because of a tiny mite, the dust mite , that lives in and

Wasp Nest Removal With Poison Bait

 As a follow-up to last week's post about the new poison baits that can be deployed to eliminate threatening yellowjacket wasp nests, here are some details. Bear in mind that while certain wasps can be dangerous, especially in late summer and early fall, all wasps are important predators of other insect pests. Only remove those wasp nests that are directly threatening such as nests located near picnic areas or playgrounds. First, take a look at this article about Wasp Removal With Baits at the 'Bugs site for background information. Start your baiting program in mid- to late summer, starting any earlier is probably a waste of time since wasp activity is generally too low for baits to be effective until mid-summer . Poison baits are prepared from some kind of minced meat (canned tuna and canned cat food work well) plus Microencapsulated Onslaught Insecticide. This is the only current pesticide that I'm aware of that permits use for poison baits targeted at scavenger

A New Yellowjacket Wasp Bait Insecticide

yellowjacket nest A new insecticide is available for use in preparing baits for control of troublesome yellowjacket (social wasp) nests on an area-wide basis. The insecticide is called Onslaught Microencapsulated Insecticide . The Onslaught label allows for the insecticide to be mixed with a meat-based bait and dispensed to foraging yellowjackets. The combination should be very effective for area-wide suppression of yellowjacket nests and may even suppress wasp numbers the following year because of the impact it has on queen production. Details regarding bait preparation, dispenser design, the Onslaught label and theory behind baiting can be found at the 'Bugs site here . --------