Friday, May 25, 2012

Two-Fly Rule in Beijing Bathrooms

Officials in Beijing have ruled that public restrooms in the Chinese capital can have no more than two flies in them at one time, the BBC reports.    

New rules issued Monday by the Beijing Municipal Commission of City Administration and Environment also state that no more than two pieces of trash can be left uncollected for more than a half-hour.

The rules apply to bathrooms in tourist spots such as parks, railway stations, supermarkets and malls.

Monday, May 14, 2012

Marigold Pest Control Myth

The Marigold Myth
 
With today's increasing eco-friendly approach to everything, many home gardeners are trying the age-old method of planting marigolds in their vegetable garden to repel pests. Little documentation exists showing marigolds actually repel insects. Certain plants contain properties that either invite beneficial insects or repel harmful insects.  If you want to try marigolds for pest deterrents, you will need the strongly scented French or African types. However, there are drawbacks. Marigolds can deter certain beetles and worms (nematodes) that attack the roots of your plants, but they also attract large populations of spider mites to many gardens and landscapes. Rather than relying too heavily upon marigolds, use a combination of techniques based on the pests in your area and their plant preferences. Talk to a local pest professional...Royal Pest for example...and we can help you protect your garden from harmful, destructive and annoying pests.

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Why Do Zebras Have Stripes?


Stripes help protect the zebras from biting insects

Animal researchers have theorized for years that a zebra's stripes confuse predators like lions, but new research just published shows the stripes have a surprising benefit—they actually help protect the zebras from biting insects. Since biting pests carry many diseases as well as constantly distract animals from feeding, it is possible that the reduction in pest activity could be an even more important benefit of having stripes than protection from lions.

The researchers looked at biting horse flies in their tests. These and many other insects are able to detect polarized light as it is reflected off of surfaces like animal hides. Uniform surfaces have a very uniform polarization pattern, but stripes on a surface change the polarization pattern of the reflected light. By collecting horse flies that were attracted to black, brown, white, and striped horse models, the researchers showed that the flies were least attracted to the striped models. Further tests showed the exact thickness of the zebra stripes were an optimal thickness to reduce horse fly attacks.

Monday, November 21, 2011

BATS: BEST NATURAL PEST CONTROL

i don't k now about you but bats make my shell crawl (actually all i can do is crawl) but bats especially since i live in a room with a tv and see all these vampire movies on how bats swoop down and bite your neck when it's out of its shell and suck your blood but really there is only one species of bats that eat blood because most bats eat insects in fact bats are nature's best insect pest control, able to consume huge quantities of moths, mosquitoes and other pests and many organic farmers are using bats as pest control for crops instead of using pesticides by setting up bat houses in their crop fields and then the bats live near the crops and eat moth larvae in fact some of the most costly pests for corn farmers and are also a favorite meal of the mexican free-tail bat and by using these bats for crop insect control they are eliminating the use of tons of pesticides in the corn fields of the u.s., and their droppings (guano) makes excellent fertilizer but it really makes a mess if it gets on your shell....

Monday, October 17, 2011

Why does it smell like worms after it rains?

...i know i am supposed to like worms...to eat them anyway...but yukkk!!! i don't like them at all...they smell, too...especially after it rains and do you know why it smells like worms after it rains...well...i did some research and found that worms come out more after it rains because they need to keep their bodies moist to breath so it's really the only time they can dig their way out from the earth and crawl around on the ground and they also look for other worms to mate with on top of the ground so it smells like worms because there are a lot of them up out of the ground but that smell isn't just a worm smell...the smell is also the bacteria that is on the ground covers their wormy bodies and that is what smells and that bacteria smell is also released more from the earth through all the holes the worms make as they come to the surface so the wormy smell is really mostly a bacteria smell of the earth and it gets blamed on worms...

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

STINK BUGS INVADING MY HOME


so-o-o-o-oooooo... those stink bugs are back in my glass house... i didn't invite them in and i'm not sure just how they get in but after this cold weekend there they were and i 'm not much of a meat eater i'll take a good cucumber over a fat worm and remember last year they really tasted bad but i was watching the yankees last night and wanted a snack so i gave that stupid stink bug a lick and yukkkkk still tastes gross so no wonder none of the other insects like to eat them...

Thursday, September 15, 2011

STOP STINK BUGS

STINK BUGS ARE COMING INSIDE 
TO ESCAPE THE COLD

Get ready this weekend... the temperatures are supposed to drop to around 40° and it's going to trigger STINK BUGS to look for a place to overwinter...that could be your home. They find their way inside around windows, loose screens, ridge vents, ...they find cracks and crevices you had no idea your house had!  They also love unused chimneys so use your fireplace...but make sure you check the wood before you bring it inside...there are probably STINK BUGS living in your woodpile.  If you can...seal up your windows with caulk...a good idea anyway for winter. Cover your window air-conditioner. There are light traps you can put in the attic but don't do that yet. Be wary of all these goofy STINK BUG TRAPS you have been hearing about. Many of the ATTRACT STINK BUGS to your home with pheromones. I'm a believer in getting the pros to do it... check out Royal Pest Management.