Cockroach problems are commonly found in restaurants. The massive amount of food, the never ending ordeal of keeping everything clean and abundant space for insects to hide and thrive make it a wonder every restaurant doesn’t have an active cockroach population. As our COCKROACH CONTROL ARTICLE explains, getting control of this pest requires patience and this is never more true then in food processing facilities.

Based on the information provided above, it doesn’t sound like you’ll be able to get help from your current service company. When confronted with this scenario, it would seem as though your best course of action will be to either purchase more service or supplement the current initiative. If the company treating now is using bait as their main weapon, get some more baits and add to the selection inside the establishment. As explained in our cockroach control article, making multiple baits available will assure greater acceptance and in the end, both faster and more complete control of the infestation. There are many cockroach baits available these days and though most companies tend to rely on 1 type or brand, using multiple products is always a better approach. A combination of the MAXFORCE MAG, the ADVION GEL and some AVERT is a good combination/mix that we’ve found effective in food processing plants. If your service company is only using one flavor of bait, add variety and that will no doubt help.

If the current program involves mostly if not nothing but spraying, more frequent applications can help. However,  it’s almost always best to try and achieve more precise treatments when spraying and the applications don’t seem to be helping. In other words, a good roach clean-out should knock most of the population down and eventually out. DRIONE applied throughout the establishment can obliterate any established population and when used properly is the single most effective product around. Unfortunately it does require skill to use Drione correctly and most companies these days don’t have the personnel available who know how to use it. If the current program involves nothing but liquid’s being sprayed to the baseboards, there is no way you’ll ever get control. Roaches have proven time and time again they’ll simply move to a region or area which isn’t being sprayed. In other words, baseboards are amongst the least likely places that need to be treated. Again, you’ll either have to get them to change their service techniques or supplement the routine with some different products applied in different areas to get the results you want. In most cases the ORTHENE WP is an excellent residual to be applied and when mixed with some GENTROL, will provide long lasting residual that can wear down any cockroach population.

In summary, cockroach problems in restaurants and other food prep areas can be a challenge to control. If you have a problem and the service company doing the work isn’t skilled enough to deal with the problem, chances are it will continue on and on. For this kind of situation, either a change of company or a change in service will be needed to reign in the problem. The good news is it can be accomplished. If you have further questions or concerns, give us a call on our toll free 1-800-877-7290 and one of our tech reps should be able to assist.

German cockroaches can be persistent as explained in our GERMAN COCKROACH CONTROL ARTICLE. The good news is that we now have several products that work well at controlling this pest and it’s really just a matter of what you want to do: spray or bait.

Personally, I’d recommend the baiting process when treating an RV. It’s both easier and less time consuming. More importantly, it seems to work just as well when done properly compared to spraying.

If you set out some MAXFORCE MAGNUM GEL and ADVION ROACH GEL, any german cockroaches in the area will surely find your offering and start to feed on it. Expect these roaches to die in a day. Over the next 2-5 weeks, more will hatch out of egg sacks that have undoubtedly been planted so expect to see them for the next two months. As these young ones mature they’ll actively feed and die so if you keep the bait fresh and unspoiled, you should be able to control this population in less than 2 months time.

One of the great benefits of using the bait is that you really don’t have to do much preparation. It can be applied with most everything left in place so the amount of effort needed to control the problem will be minimal compared to spraying. And as our article explains, roaches will seek out your bait which leads to their death. When it comes to spraying, they typically will avoid the spray so you have to be very thorough and cover everything if you treat that way. With the bait, it’s not nearly as important and yet you still can take care of the problem.

Brown Banded Cockroaches are very similar to german roaches. They like to live where people live and eat the foods we like to eat. They can breed rapidly and though not as densely distributed throughout the United States, they’re still a major problem. The good news is that the same products used on german roaches will work on brown banded roaches too.

First, read through our on line COCKROACH CONTROL ARTICLE. As your reading, decide if the control methods listed are something you want to attempt. Second, decide if you want to bait or spray. As is the case with german roaches, baiting the cabinets and other hard to spray areas up high is suggested. Spraying should be done in other not-so-important areas of the house where the brown banded cockroaches aren’t active. This will insure the COCKROACH GEL BAIT will have a good chance to work without getting contaminated.

Keep some ROACH GLUE TRAPS around in other areas of the house as monitors. They’ll do a good job alerting you to any that may be displaced or foraging in remote areas. Getting these areas treated immediately will insure they don’t reinfest the kitchen because in the end, that’s where they’ll probably end up if left alone.

Most all roaches have wings and many can fly. Furthermore, there are several species that live outside. The Pennsylvania Wood Roach is quite common as is the Asian Cockroach. Most of these are active at night and attracted to lights. If left to forage on your home, they’ll end up nesting and ultimately inside. If you’ve already got activity, you should consider two treatments.

First, spray the outside of the structure with some ORTHENE WP which is discussed in our COCKROACH CONTROL ARTICLE. It will kill off any foraging on the home. If you’ve got siding and suspect they could be living up under it, dust with DRIONE to get rid of them quickly.

Second, if you see any inside, set out some COCKROACH TRAPS along with MAXFORCE GEL for quick control in living areas.

The gel will definitely work if you are treating inside. Apply it to any area in the home where you see them as our on line Cockroach Control Article explains. Since most smokey brown roach problems are on the outside of the building, you’ll probably have to address the issue out there with a residual product. Smokey brown roaches are attracted to light and will commonly hang around deck or porch night lights. For these areas the Orthene WP is a better option. Spray it over all the surfaces where you are finding activity and it will knock them out pretty quickly. If you see them hanging around low to the ground or back yard deck, apply some Maxforce Bait Granules. This granular roach bait will be found by any smokey brown’s close by and once they feed on it they’ll die.

There are many signs of cockroaches when they are active in an area. Typically these signs can be seen in the form of dirt like specs that will accumulate in corners where they are hiding or living. The dirt is usually a dark brown, almost black, and very small, like the size of a poppy seed or smaller. Usually there will be a lot of these signs around in the corners of the cabinet up high or behind the door in the hinges. Set out one of our Roach Traps as seen in our Cockroach Control Article and it will catch any that are active which will let you know for sure if you can’t find enough signs to confirm you do indeed have a problem. I would say this would be best before you start treating without knowing just what is leaving this mess around.

Cockroach control in vehicles like a car or truck can be tricky. The bottom line is you need to first get it cleaned out which it sounds like you may have already done. If so, I suggest you place out some bait (gel) up under the seats, under the dashboard discreetly on the door panels. If you’ve done a good job removing all the food supplies, the cockroaches will be desparate to find some food and the cockroach gel will be quickly accepted. Since the gel is both odorless and easy to apply, it’s ideal for such a sensitive area.