Commercial food operators will know the importance of pest control service records within the NZ food standards regulatory environment and just as importantly the ability to produce or refer to them at any time. In fact any NZ business small or large should be able to draw on pest control service records not just for regulatory purposes but to support their own general business operations including staff well-being, health and safety, building and property maintenance. Having service reports for your home treatments is equally as important. The Pest Man provides and holds copies of service rec ..read more

Outside of building or house inspection companies who are engaged only when a property is being bought or sold, there aren’t many if any industries where professionals get up close and personal with what’s happening inside and outside your home. That’s a big privilege and responsibility and not one we take lightly when carrying out pest control for our clients in Palmerston North and the Manawatu through to Wellington. So, what should you look for when choosing a pest control company. Are they qualified and trained in pest management? At a minimum any technician servicing your property should ..read more

As the prime of the pandemic wears off and life starts returning to a new version of normal, it’s also time for students in university flatting and dormitories to adjust to new rules and regulations. With hybrid learning models now in full effect, students are likely to be spending more time in their rental units. University flatting and dormitories are busier than ever, and with more students returning, more pests will begin emerging from their hiding places in search of brand new food sources. Keep reading for best practices on rodent control in Palmerston North-based universities, as well a ..read more

Seeing your children leave the house for University is a proud and sometimes bitter-sweet moment for any parent. There’s a lot of packing and preparation to be done; a lot of last-minute advice to give. Are they ready to manage homes of their own? Compose grocery lists? Keep a regular cleaning schedule? Do they know how to keep their new university residences free from pests? How much do your kids know about prevention, management and cockroach control in their Palmerston North-based student flats? Know Where They Hide In student accommodation settings, the most common places to find cockroach ..read more

As the winter weather draws in, you might expect to see fewer insects out and about.  Most insects prefer warmer weather and are seasonally more active during spring, summer and early autumn. But don’t be surprised if you turn on the kitchen light during the dead of winter and see cockroaches darting off in all directions.  Cockroaches thrive in warmer weather, but they find their way through cracks and crevices in search of warm, dark spaces during the winter. If that happens, be sure that you can count on The Pest Man for fast, effective cockroach control. But beforehand, there are ..read more

What do you call a fly without wings? A walk, of course. They’d be so much easier to control if they could only walk and not fly but then we’d lose that satisfying thwack with a rolled-up newspaper, magazine, book or shoe as we manically compete in something akin to the Fly Olympics in our homes or workplace.  Other pest control companies will attest that a can of fly spray or a rolled-up newspaper can be effective in dealing with a few flies intent on depositing their waste throughout the room. After all, fly control is fly control, no matter the method. In reality, it’s an extremely sho ..read more

Summer this year has seen some record highs in heat and humidity around New Zealand. With rising temperatures, many Kiwis, particularly in the Manawatū-Whanganui and Wellington regions, are seeing a rise in numbers of flies, mozzies and cockroaches in their homes and around their properties. There are three common cockroach species found in Kiwi homes and gardens, German cockroaches, Gisborne and Native Bush cockroach. It’s these creepy-crawlies who are the real winners when it comes to climate change; with longer summers and warmer springs and autumns, cockroach breeding seasons have become l ..read more

Each wasp colony has the same hierarchy; an egg-laying queen, sterile female workers, and male drones and workers. A wasp colony’s cycle begins in the early spring, concludes in winter, and may continue through several seasons. The colony’s entire life cycle begins with the birth of a new queen and ends with her death. The queen devotes herself to egg-laying while workers build the nest, forage for food and tend to larvae. As spring passes and summer rolls in, workers are continuously laid and produced until late summer until early autumn, when drones begin to outnumber workers significantly ..read more

A female rat typically has six litters every year, each containing between 5 – 12 rat pups. Rats attain sexual maturity after nine weeks, which means that in one year, a population can grow from two rats to roughly 1,250, with the potential for population explosions. What this means is that the first moment you suspect rodents in your home, your first response should be to call in a specialist. Rodent control in Wellington and its hilly surrounds is especially important to complement the community initiatives already in place in some Wellington suburbs. Rats cause extensive property damage; so ..read more

Kiwis may be under the impression that termites are the only insects that are damaging to wood when in reality, they don’t deserve all the credit. Wood borers are various beetle species that bore themselves into wood, with the larvae causing the real damage. Pests have come to coexist with humanity for centuries, and in and in sharing habitats with them, we also share resources with them. Wood borers make their homes in the very same wood that make up the infrastructure of our homes and business. Borer control, which encapsulates both management and prevention methods, is an important part of ..read more