What the hell is IPM?
INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT

The IPM approach can be applied to both agricultural and non-agricultural settings, such as the home, garden, and workplace. IPM takes advantage of all appropriate pest management options including, but not limited to, the judicious use of pesticides. In contrast, organic food production applies many of the same concepts as IPM but limits the use of pesticides to those that are produced from natural sources, as opposed to synthetic chemicals. IPM, simply stated, is controlling pest with the least amount of chemicals used.

Since the 1950s, pest control companies have been using one of these pump sprayers to spray NEUROTOXINS all over the inside and outside of your property. They tell you stay inside until spray dries the on the outside to stay inside for at least an hour. The problem with that is the spray contains a neurotoxins chemical that is microencapsulated.

Microencapsulation is a process in which tiny particles or droplets are surrounded by a coating to give small capsules, with useful properties In general, it is used to incorporate food ingredients, [3]  enzymes, cells or other materials on a micro metric scale. Microencapsulation can also be used to enclose solids, liquids, or gases inside a micrometric wall made of hard or soft soluble film. Microencapsulating a product makes the chemical sticky. Most bugs are social insects, in that they groom themselves and each other (except spiders). The bug feels  something sticky on their feet and he licks it off and in doing so they ingest the chemical and die. Much like us getting gum on our shoe, you stop everything and get the gum off your shoe. Well the microencapsulated chemical is now sticky for we pick it up on yard toys patio furniture and even the floor and garage area, dog bowls. When liquid chemical are sprayed outdoors there is a drift where the chemical droplets are lighter than air and can float for a long way with a good wind gust.

This is known as the shotgun approach, blast a layer of poison and hopefully the bug crawls through it and dies. This old method needs to be put to rest like the black and white big box
television; we now have flat screen LED smart televisions. Time to put away the old pest control methods with the old televisions.

We have been practicing and using these methods in public schools for the past 14 years. We control pests without using NEUROTOXINS by targeting the entry points of the insects and removing the attractants that draw the insects inside into our world. Did you know that in a public school the Texas Department of Agriculture has strict laws that govern the use of pesticides inside the school properties. It is considered an “over application of chemical” to apply a pesticide in a classroom without a written request from the school district. We are required to keep a log book at the front desk with at least 2 years’ worth of pesticides service tickets. They must contain the following.

Date and entry and exit time:
Target insect:
Room number or location:
Chemical used and how much:
Method of notification? (Email work order or verbal)
(If verbal must have time and person requesting the application)

Entry point aka exclusion measures:

Remedy / what can be done to stop pest from coming back in the same manner?
Without a justifiable reason it is illegal to apply a pesticide inside a school building. If I find a can of bug spray inside a classroom I am obligated under the law to dispose of it off school grounds and I must report the violation to the IPM coordinator and someone on school staff. To bring an insecticide onto school property is a violation of the TDA laws and the person is personally responsible and can be fined and or fired for practicing pest control without a license. It is a serious offense to violate the TDA when it comes to chemicals in schools. Our company has been accused of getting 3 people sick over the years. I am very meticulous with our service tickets and after reviewing our service records two things saved us.

1. Our tickets show exactly what rooms we entered and what we used inside that room. All three incidents we were never in the same room as the person claimed. Even better, the school cameras show where we were the entire time on campus.
2.The other fact on our side was that nothing we use inside the school is toxic to humans. All three times the person was fired for making a false claim.

When we show up at a school, we go into front office and check the entries in the log book for any pests that have been reported by the school staff. Check School Dude for open work orders submitted by district personal. All districts have a form of software to report things to the maintenance departments. School Dude is widely used, and we have access for all districts we
service. If neither of these two things are fulfilled by the district or staff, it is illegal for us to apply a pesticide in or on the school property.  e fill out log to read that there are / No log reports / No work orders we are done at that school. No treatment required, and we move on to the next school.

Examples of IPM protocol: Logbook reports Big Roaches in 202. We go to classroom and look for the entry point. American Roaches are the big ones that fly. They are like bacteria so first thing to check is the sink area. Under the sink there is a large gap around where the drainpipe goes into the wall. We take a picture of the pipe and the large gap around it and send the picture to the maintenance department at the school district and request they seal the pipe in the classroom to stop the roaches from entering the classroom. Maintenance shows up seals the hole. No more roaches and no chemical used in the classroom.

Another common one reported is Logbook report of ants in the classroom. For these an inspection is made of the window seal and if there are cracks in the caulk or bad weather stripping. Again pictures are taken and sent in and the gaps are repaired with no sprays needed. Rodents is another notable example. When we get a report of mice or rats, the first thing to do is identify the dropping to determine is in actually rodent poop or just bug poop. American Roach poop is about the same size as mouse poop . The difference roach poop is blunt on both ends, compared to mouse poop that is pinched on one end. Mice have a sphincter muscle so the pinch it off when the drop it. A sizable percentage of time it is just American Roach poop and not mouse poop. If it is rodents we identify how the gained access to the room and we take a picture and send it to maintenance to seal the hole and exclude him or her from
gaining access a second time. We must show that all exclusion methods have been tried and the next step is a snap trap or glue board. Rat poison is a last resort in a school setting mainly because of the smell of a dead rat. Mice have very little amount of bodily fluids , however the rats can create quite a nasty smell for about a week or so. We use Predator Pee as a way of scaring the rodent to leave without poison. Now snap traps cannot be placed in areas that students can access to and even glue traps cannot be placed where students have access.
Getting them to leave and take all theirs disease and nasty dropping when they go is safest to the school and the staff.

We started doing school districts in 2009 with IPM strategies and practices and have been using them every where we work at all grade levels, universities, businesses and homes in and around the greater Houston area. The Texas Department of Agriculture is over all pest control businesses that operate in Texas. There are special laws covering the over application with
insecticides in schools and even commercial properties for good reason. Least amount of chemical used is our motto.

Let’s talk about best way to treat your home with no spraying without spraying NEUROTOXINS. Entry points are the key to proper IPM. In a brick home let’s talk about NUMBER ONE entry point… those damn weep holes! The bottom row of bricks that are directly touching the slab of your house have gaps where there is no mortar and it can be every other brick or every second or even every third brick. They are necessary to allow air to flow inside the walls and allow moisture to escape so the house can breathe, but they also provide a way for bugs to
gain access and share the walls with you. You can have a bug company come out every 90 days and spray that NEUROTOXIN all around your property and pay him average of $150 per quarter or $600 or more per year. IPM is all about keeping the bugs outside where they were born and raised. What if you could have some weep hole covers installed on your house and shut the door and kept the bugs out? Weep hole cover have small hole that allow the air to flow but small enough to keep the big huge American Roaches outside as well as the mice, snakes, crickets, wasps, bees, lizards and even bats. We use weep hole covers made from stainless steel. We know of a company using steel wool, but it will cause rust stains on the brick. The plastic ones don’t secure to the brick very well and can be blown out by a strong weed blower. The stainless ones can be cut to fit any size weep hole and they grab the brick better than any of the others we have tried. It is a one-time cost and treatment that will eliminate everything from the prior list and no sprays were used. The ones we use are $1.50 per weep hole to install them.

So go out and count your weep holes and do the math. Average on a house we have done is around $300 and about $500 a one time cost that will save to $600 per year on pest control. 

5-year cost of having your house spray with neurotoxins: $3000
5-year cost of weep hole covers: $500
5-year saving can be $2500, and no sprays needed

That is IPM at its best right there concisely. For other green tips and practices go order my book “Secrets from the BUG MAN”, a DIY pest control manual on Amazon and in a Kindle version by Tom Bray. https://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Bug-Man-Control-Manual/dp/195955543X

From Day 1, we have been devoted to using the safest and best practices possible to control insects using IPM methods and strategies for us and our customer base.