Vermatech Latest News

Mason and Mining Solitary Bees (we will not treat them)

There are approximately 270 different types of solitary bee in this country?  Solitary bees are excellent pollinators often attracted to one type of flower so when that flower’s season ends so does the bees activity.

The fertile female bees live alone in a hole or burrow for about 6-8 weeks of the year while they lay eggs.  The burrow may be in well drained dry soil (mining bee) or in soft brick mortar (mason bee).   Sometimes as these bees can congregate together their numbers can be quite alarming but please do not let them frighten you.

Mason bees are very interesting to watch as they go backwards and forwards with mud to block up the entrance to their burrow.  You can even purchase nesting boxes for them from wildlife shops/garden centres or make your own, as we have done by cutting down a piece of guttering and put short lengths of garden cane inside see photo below. Put the bee house up on a sunny side of your house.

Solitary bees have a short lifespan, living as adults for only about 6 to 8 weeks. So activity can cease as quickly as it is started.  Most solitary bees have no sting. For more information see http://www.insectpix.net/solitary_bees_gallery.htm

Mining Bees

Mining (or digger) Bees make their nests in the ground, digging out tunnels in which to raise their young. These bees are widespread and common, with several thousand species being found throughout the world. Like most other bees, mining bees visit a wide variety of flowers and are important in pollination.

We have been awarded accreditation from Safecontractor for our commitment to achieving excellence in health and safety.

Safecontractor is a leading third party accreditation scheme which recognises very high standards in health and safety management amongst UK contractors.

Unfortunately (from a pest controller’s point of view) due to the weather this year there will not be many wasps this summer.

As we had a very warm and sunny Spring this encouraged new queens from hibernation. Then in May and June the low temperatures, downpours and high winds came at a crucial time in the wasps’s lifecycle.  Either the new queens perished and drowned or were unable to forage for food for their new nests, causing their nests to fail.

There are however a lot of bees which is a good thing.  We course do not treat bees (solitary, bumble or honey) as they are a beneficial insect.

See interesting article in the Telegraph recently see “The pleasant sting in the tail of this summer’s poor weather – fewer wasps”

The cockchafer beetle is often misidentified as a cockroach but they are very different.

The cockchafer is also known as the may bug as May is the time of year it makes it an appearance. Cockchafers are not a public health pest and are harmless and do not require a treatment. Cockchafers can fly and will often fly into a property at night being attracted by a light, best advice is to collect it up and pop it back outside.

The cockchafer larvae (grubs) are not popular with gardeners or farmers as they can be destructive.

Please see images below for identification purposes:-

A swarm in May — is worth a load of hay
A swarm in June — is worth a silver spoon
A swarm in July — isn’t worth a fly

The following information has been taken from BBC Berkshire  “Bee Part Of It” campaign see http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/berkshire/hi/people_and_places/nature/newsid_8684000/8684538.stm

Swarming Bees
Swarming is the natural means of reproduction of honeybee colonies. A new honeybee colony is formed when the queen bee leaves the colony with a large group of worker bees, a process called swarming. In the prime swarm, about 60 per cent of the worker bees leave the original hive location with the old queen. Secondary afterswarms may happen but are rare. Afterswarms are usually smaller and are accompanied by one or more virgin queens. Sometimes a beehive will swarm in succession until it is almost totally depleted of workers.

An individual bee without a colony cannot survive for long. It also needs a certain colony size to reproduce. In the process of swarming the original single colony reproduces to two and sometimes more colonies.
Swarming is mainly a spring phenomenon, usually within a two or three-week period depending on the locale. But occasional swarms can happen throughout the producing season.

A swarm of bees sometimes frightens people, though the bees are usually not aggressive at this stage of their life cycle.

This is principally due to the swarming bees’ lack of a hive to defend and their interest in finding a new nesting location for their queen.

This does not mean that bees from a swarm will not attack if they perceive a threat; however, most bees only attack in response to intrusions against their hive.

Swarm clusters, hanging off of a tree branch, will move on and find a suitable nesting location in a day or two.

UK – National Swarm Coordinators

For more information see the British Beekeepers web site at http://www.bbka.org.uk/help/do_you_have_a_swarm.php before contacting their nearest honeybee swarm coordinator via the following link on British Beekeepers’ Association website at http://www.bbka.org.uk/help/find_a_swarm_coordinator.php

You will be asked to supply the exact location of the swarm. Most beekeepers would make a charge for removal of a swarm from your garden depending on travelling distances to cover costs of petrol etc.

Queen Wasps

Now at last the weather has started to warm up we have begun to receive enquiries from customers saying “they have a wasp nest”.  We can assure you that wasps will not have begun to make their nests in April.  This time of year queen wasps (which are larger than the worker wasps which we see during the summer months) are emerging from hibernation.   The queen wasps are transient individuals during the Spring so we are unable to control them.   As a general rule we do not start treating wasp nests until mid June.  During the spring and early summer wasps can be regarded as beneficial insects as they kill an enormous number of flies, caterpillars and other insects to feed to their young.  However, as their numbers increase in the summer they can become a nuisance and that is when we can help by treating wasp nests.

Don’t Panic! It’s only a Bee

It is so lovely to see bumble bees buzzing busily around the garden searching for pollen and nectar to turn into honey and food for their newly hatching brood.   Where would we be without our bees? They are a very important part of our food chain, one third of the food we eat would not be available but for bees.

Mason and Mining Solitary Bees

Did you know that there are approximately 270 different types of solitary bee in this country?  Solitary bees are excellent pollinators often attracted to one type of flower so when that flower’s season ends so does the bees activity.

The fertile female bees live alone in a hole or burrow for about 6-8 weeks of the year while they lay eggs.  The burrow may be in well drained dry soil (mining bee) or in soft brick mortar (mason bee).   Sometimes as these bees can congregate together their numbers can be quite alarming but please do not let them frighten you.  They are very interesting to watch as they go backwards and forwards with mud to block up the entrance to their burrow.  You can even purchase nesting boxes for them from wildlife shops/garden centres or see http://www.arkwildlife.co.uk/acatalog/Bird_Food_Bees_42.html#aFGSB_2d00 (or make your own, as we have done by cutting down a piece of guttering and put short lengths of garden cane inside see photo below). Put the bee house up on a sunny side of your house.

Solitary bees have a short lifespan, living as adults for only about 6 to 8 weeks. So activity can cease as quickly as it is started.  Most solitary bees have no sting. For more information see http://www.insectpix.net/solitary_bees_gallery.htm

Honey bees

The poor honey bee is having a tough time of it.  Not only struggling with the varroa mite but now the Asian Hornet is threatening the British honey bee see link http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/beekeeping/7585774/Asian-hornet-threatens-British-bees.html

With many local councils now joining the Scores on the Doors scheme where members of the public can find the local authority hygiene ratings for food businesses it is now even more important to ensure that food premises have pest control in place to increase your score.

The Scores on the Doors Scheme aims to motivate food businesses to raise food safety standards by naming and shaming the good, the bad and the ugliest places to eat. See their website at http://www.scoresonthedoors.org.uk/

The control of pests, such as mice, rats, flies and cockroaches, is a crucial aspect of a food premises overall hygiene.

To increase your score we work with you to improve standards and at same provide a friendly but professional quality pest control service.  For food premises we carry out 8 routine site visits per annum. During our routine visits we will report on housekeeping, hygiene and proofing issues.   We are also able to supply and install fly screens for windows and doors and supply and maintain fly control units and advise on best siting of the same.

So protect your reputation and bring in more customers by increasing your score, phone us today for a quotation on 0118 972 4895 or we can survey your premises whether you have an existing pest problem or require our services to maintain an already pest free environment.  Do not let pests cause you problems and ruin your business.

Bed bugs are becoming more of a problem in the United Kingdom. See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11491127

Harlequin ladybirds are becoming more a problem to householders during the Autumn/Winter months.  Like cluster flies they come inside gathering around window frames to hibernate over winter. As a servicing pest control company we have seen an increase in Harlequin Ladybird enquiries, during the Autumn months, over the last 3 years.

Harlequin ladybirds

The Harlequin ladybird (Harmonia axyridis) is not a native species of the UK and is a relatively new visitor. Originally from Asia the Harlequin Ladybird is now being found in North America and Europe.   In North America it is also known as Halloween Ladybird as it becomes more a problem inside properties at the end of October.

How to Identify the Harlequin Ladybird?  I can do no better but to direct you to the The Harlequin Ladybird Survey website which is very informative http://www.harlequin-survey.org/recognition_and_distinction.htm

We can help by carrying out an insecticidal treatment to internal parts of window frames, this will control Harlequin Ladybirds once inside but please note that we cannot stop them from coming in.  If you would like to arrange a treatment please let us know how many windows are affected (usually the sunniest side of the house south/south west).

We have recently joined Wasp Control UK see link to their website Wasp Control UK. Wasp nest control services throughout the UK