The Triatomine Insect known as the “kissing bug” has been found, and properly identified, in two neighboring states to New Jersey: Pennsylvania and Delaware. The “kissing bug” tends to bite on the face or around the eye which is why it has been labeled the “kissing bug”. This insect has been known for carrying Chagas disease which can cause cardial and gastrointestinal complications. The parasite that carries this disease is found in the feces of the “kissing bug” and people contract this disease when the feces is rubbed into the wound that was caused by the bite of the “kissing bug”. Contracting Chagas disease is slim, but if you have been bitten by a “kissing bug”, it is very important to seek medical attention as soon as possible for diagnosis and treatment. If you live in a heavily wooded area, you may want to consider preventative pest control to reduce the risk of a “kissing bug” population at your residence. Viking’s Premier Plan offers preventative solutions that can help reduce “kissing bug” populations from becoming an issue on your property. Viking’s Yard Guard, which is included in the Premier Plan, is an outdoor lawn treatment that can greatly reduce the risk of a “kissing bug” population. For more information about Viking’s Premier Plan, click here, or call Viking Pest today at 1-800-618-BUGS (2847) for a FREE and NO OBLIGATION inspection.

As a business owner, you already know that your building is the foundation of all sales, and it’s appearance can quickly increase or decrease profits. Protect your business’ reputation by maintaining a clean and pest-free environment for your customers. Here are the top three pests to be on the lookout for this spring.

Spiders

These eight-legged pests are in search of cold and dark areas such as your storage room. Spiders can enter your business through poorly sealed windows and in shipments of your inventory. Keeping your storage room clean and organized will help keep spiders away from your assets. Spiders are on the hunt for prey, so if other pests find your business undesirable, spiders will have to look elsewhere for prey.

Ants

These critters are on the hunt for food and water. If there are uncleaned spills or opened food in your establishment, you are creating the perfect environment for ant colonies to thrive.If you spot ants in your establishment, it is important to call Viking Pest Control. Our certified commercial team will locate their point of entry, and make sure the entire colony of ants is eradicated to prevent them from coming back.

Flies

When customers are browsing your selection, they do not want to be bothered by flies buzzing around their heads. Customers who see many flies in a store often assume the building is dirty, and will most likely leave. Flies can mature and multiply quickly, so once they are spotted, it is important to start the pest control process immediately. Viking Pest’s certified commercial team will locate all breeding grounds and eliminate them to prevent flies from distracting your customers.

Viking Advantage

Do you have multiple properties? Concerned about having various pest control companies? Viking's vast presence means there is most likely a Viking office right in your neighborhood. If any pest does find a way into your business, Viking's professionals are there at a moment's notice. We take care of the situation discreetly and work with you for long-term relief. That's the Viking Advantage Commitment: A Regional coverage with a local touch.

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Spotted Lantern Fly Commercial Blog Post

The spotted lantern fly was first detected in Pennsylvania in 2014 from Asia.  In 2016 this invasive pest was found in a 174 square mile area.  By 2017 it had expanded to an area more than 3,000 square miles.  Today it has been detected in 12 states and as far away as Minnesota and Oklahoma.  Quarantines preventing the movement of items potentially infested with eggs have even been instituted to help quell the spread of this destructive pest. This spotted lantern fly is more than just a nuisance pest.  It is killing trees and plants.  In one study more than 300 spotted lantern flies were found on a single grape vine.  Vineyards and orchards have been especially hit hard. Negative impacts on commercial fruit, and forestry industries have occurred and are expected to continue as this pest spreads. Contact Viking today to find out what you can do to help protect your business and help to control the spread of this invasive pest today.

Viking Advantage

Do you have multiple properties? Concerned about having various pest control companies? Viking's vast presence means there is most likely a Viking office right in your neighborhood. If any pest does find a way into your business, Viking's professionals are there at a moment's notice. We take care of the situation discreetly and work with you for long-term relief. That's the Viking Advantage Commitment: A Regional coverage with a local touch.

No matter how hard you try, flies keep getting into your restaurant, and you’ve run out of ideas to get rid of them. Well, Viking Pest is here to give you some advice to keep flies away and protect your restaurant’s reputation.

1. Keep Trash and Dumpsters Away from any Entry Points to the Establishment

Keeping any trash close to your establishment is an open invitation for flies. Trash bins located in the kitchen should always be lined and taken out frequently. It is also important to clean trash cans to rid of any food/liquid that may have leaked into the bin.

2. Keep the Back-of-the-House Clean and Organized.

Practice a first-in-first-out approach to inventory supplies to avoid produce and other food from spoiling and attracting flies. Also make sure that employees are fully cleaning all kitchen equipment on a nightly basis and are also cleaning underneath the equipment. A heavy-duty cleaning may be needed once a month or even weekly depending on the size of your establishment.

3. Lastly, Call Viking Pest Control!

Viking Pest is the commercial pest control experts! Viking’s Fly Solution begins with a thorough inspection of the establishment, with attention to food storage, waste management, and portals to the dining area, such as windows, doors, unscreened vents, drains and plumbing lines. Using these IPM techniques, flies won’t gain a stronghold within your restaurant, as their breeding and feeding sources are simply unavailable.   Call Viking Pest today for your FREE inspection! 1-800-618-BUGS One Call Gets Them All!

At Viking Pest, we know how important it is to our customers to have the option of organic pest control. Viking’s Organic pest control program is a natural pest control solution to rid your home of unwanted pests and the diseases they carry.

What is Organic Pest Control?

Our Organic program utilizes natural pesticides derived from organic materials, such as oils gathered from plants. Environmentally safe pest treatments allow you to effectively protect your home and the environment without the use of chemicals.

What are the Benefits of Organic Pest Control?

• An organic pest control program utilizes natural pesticides to get rid of pests. This includes materials that are derived from organic sources, like oils gathered from plants.
• Organic treatments mean that you don’t need to worry about your children or your pets spending time away from your home after a treatment.
• Our organic treatments are eco-friendly compounds that are biodegradable and won’t hurt the environment
• Our organic treatments will get rid of many different pests, including ants, cockroaches, ticks, rodents, moths, and beetles
• Our organic treatments work in conjunction with our Integrated Pest Management (IPM) procedures, where we use exclusion techniques and environmental modifications to assist with the pest management control methods and effectively get rid of pest problems

Is Organic Pest Control More Expensive?

With the natural nature of organic pest control solutions, more treatments and applications may be necessary to protect your home from unwanted guests than if a non-organic pest control management solution is performed. If you are looking for pest control solutions that don’t rely heavily on the use of possibly dangerous pesticides, contact the professionals at Viking Pest. Our trained and knowledgeable technicians know how to effectively eliminate pests from your home using organic materials and IPM techniques. Our pest control services can help you eliminate pests that are currently in your home as well as prevent potential pest problems from occurring.

Spring is here, and so are the bees! As a homeowner, you have probably heard about carpenter bees and that they can cause damage to your home, but you’re also probably wondering how to determine if you have carpenter bees, or bumble bees. Viking Pest is here to help! Read below to learn the difference between carpenter bees and bumble bees so you can protect your family and home. Carpenter Bee Vs. Bumble Bee, how do they look different? Bumble bees have a hairy abdomen that may have some yellow markings Carpenter bees have a bare, shiny black abdomen. Carpenter bees also tend to be solitary bees while bumble bees are more social and can be seen buzzing around with other bumble bees Where to Find Carpenter Bees Carpenter bees prefer to nest in bare wood, so you may find their nests above your garage or where your roof meets the walls of your home. If you see a lot of bees flying around in these areas, you probably have carpenter bees. Another sign you may have carpenter bees is if you see stains on the side of your house. These stains are especially found on the soffit and fascia of the house. How Viking Pest Can Treat for Carpenter Bees Vikings highly trained staff will properly identify and prescribe the appropriate course of action to protect your home, family’s health as well as the environment. Treatments vary greatly depending on the species of stinging insects present. An inspection to your home and treatment plan customized to your needs will be provided free of charge! Please contact Viking to take advantage of this great value!   If you believe you have a Carpenter Bee issue, call Viking Pest today for your FREE and NO OBLIGATION inspection! One call gets rid of them all! 1-800-618-BUGS (2847).

It’s that time of year again! The ice and snow are beginning to melt, the days are becoming longer, and warmer weather is right around the corner. After a long and cold winter, spring is more than welcome .... but with warmer weather, come warm weather pests. Spring may mean beautiful weather, but that's not all it brings. The warm days that we all wished for during those cold winter nights is the same weather that pests such as ants, spiders, and flies wished for too. Springtime has all these pests coming out of their winter homes to invade yours. To prevent a pest infestation this spring, check out our spring-cleaning tips:

Kitchen:

Open containers, crumbs, and food spills are an invitation for ants. Go through your pantry and cabinets to make sure that food items are properly closed and stored, making sure to wipe down the insides of your cabinets and throw away any dated items. Take your trash out regularly and make sure your sink is free of dirty dishes. After meal preparation, make sure to clean and sanitize counters and floors of any spills.

Bathroom:

After a dry winter, pests such as cockroaches and silverfish are attracted to moisture. The less water and moisture these pests have access to, the harder it is for them to survive. Make sure to keep bathroom floors dry and to fix leaky pipes in order to lower your chances of an infestation.

Living Spaces:

Pests are after three things: food, water, and shelter. Keeping your home clean will deter pests from wanting to roam, thus minimizing your risk of an infestation. Sweep and vacuum regularly, and always clean up spills and crumbs promptly to make it harder for pests to settle in.   Sometimes, even the best efforts and intentions cannot protect your home. While a clean and well-kept house will lower your chances of a pest infestation, some bugs just keep coming back. If this sounds familiar, give Viking Pest Control a call for a FREE and No-Obligation home inspection.

Press release Summit, NJ, May 3rd 2018 Data-driven solutions are the new standard for pest control, enabling precise solutions and constant control – and Anticimex has the leading solutions. Anticimex SMART is an intelligent system that detects rodents early. By constantly monitoring and immediately alerting, the system prevents costly infestations in an environmentally friendly manner. Anticimex SMART is well-established in Europe, Asia and Australia, where 75,000 units have been installed in over 17 countries. In Europe, it accounts for one-fourth of Anticimex’s sales.

• Healthy, rat-free environments are key for cities and businesses to remain attractive and Anticimex SMART is the most precise data-driven solution that fights the problem in all environments, including sub-ground in the sewer system, without using any poison. “It is a much smarter way to stay ahead of rodents,” says Jens Peter Nielsen, Vice President, Anticimex North America.

Anticimex SMART is a non-toxic solution that makes rodent prevention possible without threatening the environment. It’s also proven efficient regardless of climate and surroundings.

• In today’s society, we all compete for attracting the right people. To attract customers, employees, citizens, companies or tourists there’s a need to secure a healthy environment. As companies and cities of tomorrow strive to become both green and rat-free, the SMART system provides an environmentally-friendly solution that they can really get behind. “We want to help our customers to go beyond sustainable goals and create healthy environments where people want to live and work,” continues Jens Peter Nielsen.

Where other innovative technologies lack human elements, Anticimex SMART packs powerful AI (artificial intelligence) to detect vermin the instant it breaches a building with a proven pest control solution that gives its users the best of two worlds—automation and expertise. Anticimex SMART provides digital reports to its users continually, showing results such as time and date for activity, as well as trend curves. The reports enable users to stay in control, minimize risks and see the value of their investments. Anticimex SMART is brought to the U.S. market via Anticimex´s four subsidiaries: American Pest (MD, DC, VA), Modern Pest Services (ME, MA, NH, CT), Turner Pest Control (FL) and Viking Pest Control (NJ, NY, PA, DE). Read more at: https://www.anticimex.com/smart For more information please contact: Jens Peter Nielsen Vice President, Anticimex North America jenspeter.nielsen@anticimex.com, 973.609.2314 About Anticimex Anticimex is the modern pest control company. Through prevention, new technology and sustainable solutions, we meet the new demands for healthy environments, for both individuals and businesses. Anticimex employs around 4,500 people, serving more than 3 million customers worldwide. Total revenue in 2017 amounted to approximately 670M USD. Read more at www.anticimex.com

Some things you did not know about the insects we call friends! - Lady Bugs

It is ironic that some insects are viewed as cute and almost cuddly, like lady bug. Meanwhile other harmless beetle species, like ground beetles, most people would never consider handling. Why is this? Did the lady bug (actually it's proper name is Asian lady bird beetle) just have a better publicist? Well the answer is.. yes, maybe! Made popular over the years on everything from toys to lunch boxes lady bugs are embraced by pop culture and even associated with children. However, this pest has a dark side. In it's juvenile form it is a voracious killer. Looking nothing like the adult they become, the larval stage is more akin to an insect portrayed in a horror film than the cute spotted adult we are used to from our youth! As a juvenile they will devour approximately 400 aphids which are sweet (literally) insects that feed upon plants. They will pupate, much like a butterfly, into their more easily recognized adult form. As adults, lady bugs may consume approximately 5000 aphids over their lifetime! Actually, this voracious appetite is beneficial as it helps to keep aphids, which are a plant parasite, in check. Many homeowners will purposely purchase adults by the thousands in order to release them into their gardens as a natural form of pest control. Next time you see that cute child's toy that is adorned with spots, remember that this is a highly efficient killer. Think this is ironic? Don't even get me started on what firefly juveniles eat! It is amazing what a good publicist can do for you...

Winter Pests: Firewood and the Winter Pest Problem

Viking’s Guide to Winter Pest Problems

Who doesn’t like a nice, roaring fire on a cold winter’s night? Most people think it is delightful and, if they have a fireplace, happily burn fires as often as they can, enjoying how their warmth and ambient light can make a room feel cozy and inviting with very little effort. What most people do not think about is the connection between firewood and pests. In our fall pest series, we covered the type of pests that seek to infiltrate homes in the fall: insects and rodents try to come inside for warmth, food, and water. The wood pile where you store your firewood might create a similar safe-haven for pests, which you may unwittingly bring into your home when you bring wood inside, or invite into your home if your firewood is stored adjacent to one of your home’s exterior walls. While any type of pest can hide in firewood, the real danger is from bugs. Stink bugs, cockroaches, spiders, Boxelder bugs, and ants can all make their homes in a woodpile. Of course, the real dangers are termites and carpenter ants; they can make a home in a woodpile and then move onto a home’s wood, which can result in cosmetic and structural damages. While there is no way to keep all pests out of your firewood, there are ways to make it less attractive to pests. Store all firewood on raised, plastic platforms. If the firewood is stored outside year-round, you can cover it with sheets of plastic to exterminate bugs that might already be on it and make any new infestations more difficult. Store all firewood away from your home, so that any pests cannot easily move back and forth between the woodpile and your home. Finally, before you bring any firewood inside, inspect it carefully to avoid bringing hitchhiking bests inside your home. About Viking Pest Control Providing pest control solutions since 1980, Viking is the largest family owned pest control business in the northeast. Viking is a Quality Pro company and members with the NPMA. Viking offers both residential and commercial pest control service. Contact us today!