Seagulls along the coastal area in Wicklow have moved inland to forage for food and to identify nesting sites as their mating season has begun from March. You may not be aware; Seagulls and their nests are protected by the National and European Wildlife Directives in Ireland. Therefore, now is the ideal time to check your commercial properties, shopping centres, and plant rooms for pest bird activity before they become a serious pest and health issue.

We have over 35 years of experience of working and proofing against Pigeons and Seagulls, using traditional nonaggressive methods. As we say in the industry, pest prevention is better than cure – so act now!

Contact Us for best advice before the Pest Bird mating season starts. Our PMU technicians will recommend and advise the best action regarding proofing and denying birds landing perches, as Seagulls tend to use the same nests year after year.

Covering Commercial Businesses Only.

One of the fastest growing pest control concerns are bed bugs. Bed bugs are prolific breeders so an infestation can grow very quick. Bed bugs need one full meal of blood in their nymph stage before proceeding to the next stage. Bed bugs, once fully frown, can endure starvation for at least one year and could do for up to 36 months.

Seeking professional help is essential for this pest as they are very difficult to treat. Although not known to transmit disease, bed bugs will bite and draw blood which could lead to infection. Wicklow Pest Control have all of the latest technology in dealing with any infestation including this difficult to treat pest. Wicklow Pest Control have a five step treatment protocol designed to kill live nymphs and adults in the reproductive life cycle of a bed bug population.

Bed bug FAQs

How to know if my bites are from Bed Bugs?

Bites can be small red lumps causing irritation. From minor irritation to severe allergic hypersensitivity, each individual reacts differently to being bitten by a bed bug. Bites on your skin doesn’t always mean it is a bed bug infestation you are dealing with.

• Smell – Bed bugs will produce an unpleasant odor.
• Skin Sheds – Look out for skin sheds.
• Blood Spots – Blood spots on bedding.
• Bite Patterns – Bed bug bites will usually be in a line as they will feed in one area before moving onto the next.
• Sight – Physically seeing bed bugs will be a major sign your bites are bed bugs. You may see them in the furniture or bedding.

How did Bed Bugs get into my property?

Although bed bugs are thought to be linked to unclean and unsanitary conditions, this is not always the case, as it is warmth and carbon dioxide they are attracted to.

Bed bugs will appear in multi occupancy buildings with rapid resident turnover and crowded areas like apartments, hostels, holiday camps, hospitals and transport. Even showing up in the most exclusive hotels and resorts.

Bed bugs are great hitchhikers, they may come into your home or business from any of the following to name a few:

• On your luggage from your holiday
• Goods bought online
• Second hand furniture, lockers, beds

How to prevent Bed Bugs making their way into your premises

• Luggage racks – Store luggage on luggage racks when staying in hotels.
• Signs – when staying in hotels, check the room for signs of bed bugs before unpacking your belongings. For more information visit our website page on bed bugs.
• House Keeping – Keep home decluttered and hoovered to avoid infestations brewing. Remember to empty your hoover bag to avoid bed bugs coming back into your home through the hoover.

Damage caused by Bed Bugs

Bed bugs can pose a significant risk to businesses, particularly those in the hospitality sectors, such as hotels, hostels, accommodations and also care homes. The risks associated with bed bugs include:  

• Health Risk – Bed bugs will bite and each individual reacts differently to being bit. Bites will be itchy and when overly scratched can lead to an infection.
• Reputation – Bed bugs are associated with unclean and unsanitary conditions. If a business becomes known for having bed bugs it can damage their reputation and may result in a loss of clients.
• Legal liability – Businesses are responsible for ensuring rooms are bed bug-free. If a business has been found to be the source of a bed bug infestation, it may be held legally responsible for any damages or losses incurred by affected parties, including guests, employees, or neighboring businesses.
• Financial loss – If bed bugs have infested a business premises the company may have no other choice but to close business temporarily to deal with the infestation causing financial loss to the company. Treating a bed bug infestation early can prevent this.
• Costs – Costs in some cases may consist of an entire room, landing and adjacent rooms may need to be refurbished and all furniture fittings may need to be thrown out.

Bed bugs breed fast so it is important to treat a bed bug problem early before it develops into a bigger problem. If you leave a bed bug infestation untreated, an infestation can grow rapidly, infesting multiple areas in your home, including furniture, carpets and curtains. Contact one of our team today for a risk assessment site survey to identify the problem and we will test spray the area.

LED Fly Control Units with Glue Boards

Calling all food outlets, restaurants and hospitality sectors – Contact Us today for a Free Commercial Survey!

We in our industry have seen a big increase in the use of LED Fly Control units, recommended by the local health inspectors and on a more regular basis on external food safety audits. The reason for the increase in demand for these fly control units are that they will keep down electric running costs and these units are also environmentally friendly.  Each Fly Control unit will have a sticky board to trap all flying insects. The new specification on a LED unit is that the bulbs will only need to be changed every three years as per specification, great news for reducing your carbon footprint. Contact us or visit our website today for the latest technology and more information on which fly control measures are the right one for you, with both domestic and commercial units available.

LED Technology Benefits

• Superior fly catch performance
• Improving good food safety measures
• Reducing carbon emissions into the environment
• Improved sustainable environment well being
• Cost effective in reducing electric costs
• Non-toxic mercury

Parts of an LED Unit

LED Lamps

LED technology offers clear advantages in terms of efficiency (lower energy consumption) and its footprint (compactness)

Glue Boards

Insects are caught on a glue layer, which preserves them over time. The caught insects can be counted, and insect species can be analysed, which offers clear advantages in an IPM approach.

‘What LED Fly Control Unit is right for me?’

Wicklow Pest Control have a full range of LED Fly Control Units. The LED strips use less energy than conventional fly killer units, are low glare and the discreet design of the LED units reduces the visibility of the product. This effectively reduces the volume of flies before they have the opportunity to enter your premises or to breed.

1. LED TRANSLUCENT WALL MOUNTING SYSTEM

With its discreet design, the LED- Translucent is recommended for use in shops and restaurants and dry industrial environments. This unit is energy efficient and can be wall mounted, the separate mounting strip offers easy maintenance & service. The LED-Translucent has a transparent front grid, with the housing made of durable ABS plastic and white powder coated steel. Once the insects enter the unit, they are effectively controlled by means of a centrally placed glue board.

10 reasons to start using the LED-Translucent:

• Effective & proven design
• Energy saving UV-A LED technology offers over 90 kW of savings per unit per year
• 3-year lifespan (25.000 hrs) of the UV-A LED lamps
• Environmentally friendly: no restricted chemicals used in the product design
• RoHS / REACH / ISO and CB compliant
• Fast and simple maintenance of the unit
• Optimized glue board offers fast catch results and a fast analysis
• 2 years of guarantee
• High quality casing offers over 5 years of operational use
• Fast mounting and fast service

2. LED X FLY KILLER – LED X FLY CONTROL UNIT

LED-X wall is also mounting system.

With its discreet design, the LED-X is recommended for use in shops and restaurants and dry industrial environments. Easy to service, stylish and effective; the LED-X offers it all. This unit is energy saving and effective.

10 reasons to start using the LED-X

• Robust metal housing
• Energy saving UV-A LED technology offers over 90 kW of savings per unit per year
• 3-year lifespan (25.000 hrs) of the UV-A LED lamps • Environmentally friendly: no restricted chemicals used in the product design
• RoHS / REACH / ISO and CB compliant
• Fast and simple maintenance of the unit
• The glue rail system in the unit can hold differently sized glue boards
• 2 years of guarantee
• High quality casing offers over 5 years of operational use
• Fast mounting and fast service

3. LED UPLIGHTER FLY KILLER

The LED-Uplighter Glue Board Fly Killer is a stylish & service-friendly uplighter that can be serviced from underneath with a swiveling hood. This unit is energy efficient and can be wall mounted.

With its innovative, discreet design, this Fly catcher is recommended for use in offices, homes, restaurants, and shops.

The Discreet Uplighter UV-A light is directed upwards, making it unnoticeable to the public.

LED technology has been developed by the lighting industry over the past decades. This innovative technology offers clear energy savings over the more traditional lighting technologies, such as the well-known fluorescent lamps. Easy to service, stylish and effective; the LED-Uplighter offers it all.

10 reasons to start using the LED-Uplighter:

• Effective & proven design
• Energy saving UV-A LED technology offers over 45 kW of savings per unit per year
• 3-year lifespan (25.000 hrs) of the UV-A LED lamp
• Environmentally friendly: no restricted chemicals used in the product design
• RoHS / REACH / ISO and CB compliant
• Fast and simple maintenance of the unit
• Optimized glue board offers fast catch results and a fast analysis
• 2 years of guarantee
• High quality casing offers over 5 years of operational use
• Fast mounting and fast service

4. COBRA

Genus® Cobra LED utilizes Translucent Technology™ to provide maximized UVA output along with easy servicing and low running costs. This unit provides all round UVA transmission and fewer blind spots for a larger UVA footprint. Making it an effective against smaller, hard to catch species like fruit flies.

10 reasons to start using the Cobra:

• Effective & proven design
• Energy saving with reduced CO2 emissions
• Low running costs
• Environmentally friendly: no restricted chemicals used in the product design
• RoHS / REACH / ISO and CB compliant
• Fast and simple maintenance of the unit
• Can be used in wet and wash down areas
• 2 years of guarantee
• High quality casing offers over 5 years of operational use
• Fast mounting and fast service

Contact a member of our staff today to discuss a suitable fly control unit in front or rear of your home or business. All our units are passed and approved.

For further information, please contact us!

Have wasps invaded your garden this summer?

The recent good weather has resulted in wasp infestations on the rise in Wicklow. Wasps begin to appear in late April onwards, with their peak time being late summer early autumn. In the winter months in Ireland, the queen wasps will be in hibernation while the worker wasps will have died off. In spring, the queen will come out of hibernation and start forming new nests. Wasps will construct nests from chewed up bark and dried timber using their own saliva.

If a wasp’s nest is built near your property, it can cause nuisance to homeowners or passers-by. If a wasp’s nest is left untreated it can become the size of a football, with a colony as big as 25,000 wasps.

Pro tip!

Check for nests early in the year. Check the most likely spots for wasps to build their nests such as garages, sheds, lofts, under eaves, vents, on your balcony and even under your decking! These should all be checked in Spring while nests are still small – around the size of a golf ball. A nest the size of a golf ball is much easier to deal with than when it grows to the size of a football in the late summer.

We recommend avoiding DIY products for wasps nest removal.

As we know wasps can have an aggressive nature. If you try to DIY remove a wasps nest, it could result in thousands of very angry wasps. Whoever the unlucky people nearby this angered wasp nest are, are open to receiving major stings. We at Wicklow Pest Control would advise you to call the professionals, who have protective clothing to wear while removing a wasps nest and we will use professional insecticides that are not available to the public and are highly effective.

A pest controller will normally apply an insecticide near the entrance of the nest. The wasps will bring the chemical into the nest. After a couple of days the wasps will die from the dose of pesticide. If a wasps nest is treated correctly, it will start to die off within an hour. We advise customers to keep away from the area around the treated wasp nest until no wasp activity is seen. It may also be necessary to keep doors and windows shut near the nest after it has been treated.

‘Do wasps return to the same nest each year?’

No, all worker wasps die off each winter, with a few queens remaining. The queens will hibernate over the winter, and although this might be in an existing nest, the queen will build a new nest each spring. This may be close to an existing nest which is the reason it is not uncommon to find an active nest surrounded by a few older nests.

One of the most common places for queen to start her nest is at the shed, boiler house, dogs kennel even under a kid’s trampoline.

• Nests are light grey beige colour with papery appearance
• Once indoors, wasps will build nests in sheltered locations with easy access to outside such as lofts, garages and wall cavities
• Nests will also be found in roof spaces, airbricks, cavity walls, garden sheds, trees and flowerbeds if left undisturbed

Preventing Wasps and their nests

• Housekeeping – keep outdoor eating areas clean to minimize a food source for wasps. Regularly removing rubbish and keeping bins clean and closed is important.
• Seal Gaps and Cracks – in exterior walls, roofs, and foundations to prevent wasps from entering. Deny wasps access into your property by keeping doors shut
• Installing Mesh Screens – on windows, doors, and vents to keep wasps out while maintaining airflow.
• Removing Potential Nesting Sites – such as woodpiles and tall grass – through the summer check your BBQ!
• Eliminate Water Source – as wasps need water for their survival and will be attracted to birdbaths, pet water dishes or leaky faucets.

In Ireland there are mainly two types of Cockroaches that we deal with, German Cockroaches and Oriental Cockroaches. The most common one we deal with is the German Cockroach, formerly known as a ‘steam fly’ due to their preferred moist environmental conditions. These insects do not like the cold, so you are guaranteed they will make their way throughout the property or apartment complex. Cockroaches breed at an alarming rate meaning a cockroach infestation can expand very quickly. We would recommend that you contact a professional pest control provider with experience in dealing with these insects like Wicklow Pest Control to treat your issues before it gets out of hand.

Signs of a Cockroach Infestation

1. Visual – Cockroaches are nocturnal, meaning they are more active at night. If you are seeing Cockroaches during the day, it is highly possible you could have a heavy infestation.
2. Smell – Cockroaches leave a chemical trail in their excrement. This trail leads other Cockroaches to find their food source, water, drains and warm environments. Food may also be tainted with the smell of the Cockroach, this is produced by droppings, dead insects, and abdominal/salivary gland secretions.
3. Droppings – These will resemble black pepper and will mostly be found near a food source.

Where will I find cockroaches in my property?

Cockroaches can be found in any building, in the commercial or residential sectors. As Cockroaches are nocturnal, they hide away in dark places in your property during the day. These include, cracks, behind cupboards and cookers, sinks and drains.

How to prevent a Cockroach infestation:

• Maintain Good Housekeeping
• Prevent easy access to Food Source.
• Keep your property Well Ventilated as Cockroaches are attracted to warm environments.

Silverfish are the most common pest in the world. Although people are surprised they are classified as a pest, as they are not harmful to people’s health. Although they may not bite, sting or carry diseases, they will cause serious damage to your property. Silverfish will feed off almost anything meaning they will have no problem feeding through your furniture, household goods and building materials.

 As we know in pest control, prevention is better than cure. Wicklow Pest Control have some helpful tips to prevent Silverfish infestations both in your home and business:

• Housekeeping: although we have said previously that Silverfish are not solely linked to poor hygiene in the home, a clean home and business is essential for the prevention of all kinds of pests. Keeping good house keeping standards also helps you to spot an infestation signs such a droppings or skin moults.
• Seal: Silverfish will enter your home or business through small cracks and gaps around windows and doors. Sealing these will prevent entry of these pests and other pests too.
• Ventilation: As we now know, Silverfish need moisture to survive. Good ventilation in bathrooms and kitchens will make your property less appealing for Silverfish to get too comfortable.
• Food Source: open food containers or cereal boxes are creating easy food supply for Silverfish. Keep food in sealed containers and clean up crumbs on counters and food spills on floor to prevent infestation.

Many people think a sighting of a Silverfish in their home is a sign of an unclean home, however this is not the case. Silverfish are not attracted to dirty homes; they are attracted to moisture. They need moisture to survive and will establish themselves anywhere where moisture levels in your home are high. This is why a very common place for a Silverfish infestation to be is in the bathroom or kitchen of your home or business.

Did you know?

Silverfish are nocturnal. Hence why you may not know you have an infestation until you spot one in your bathroom at night. Whilst it isn’t uncommon to see the odd silverfish in your kitchen or bathrooms at night, they breed quickly, laying an average of 60 eggs per day. Keeping a close eye on silverfish activity in your home is important.

If you believe you have a Silverfish infestation and have called our team, we will firstly do a risk assessment survey to find where the source of your infestation is.