Advice - want to start wasp exterminator business

[Ed Woods]

Where do I start?

I am having 3 or 4 calls a day from people with 'bees'. Some of these turn out to be wasps. I don't have any equipment to wipe out wasp nests.

Can anyone give me any pointers at what sort of equipment, training etc I would need to start initially a wasp eradication business - would probably move into other pests at a later date.

And where would I source equipment at wholesale prices.

 

[hedgerow pete]

right so completly engoring the prffessional side as to do that you will want your basic chemical training and an apliction device course, try the local agri collage for your chemicals handling course and you must them have an application course with it most of use do the kapsac one. and even more forgetting the proper poisions paperworks and council permits and so on, the storage of chemicals and the handling and transportation of them aswell. big big ignor!!!!!!!!!!!!!

to kill wasps is easy go to asda buy a can of fly spray and for once read the instructions, a 15 second spray in a room and shut the door will kill them and the nest of wasps in a loft, or use wasp nest spray also from asda or tescos, no chemical problems or paper work needed.

most wasps i get to deal with are in a loft, with there BEAUTIFULL paper nest, lift the lid of the loft with your head seleotape the spray cans button down and throw the spray can at the nest area, thats it, dead in half an hour, or use nest spray instead.

wasps in a brick wall, use nippon power around the hole and inside the hole, dead in a week,

where the skill and cosys come is when you start to buy your own pump and spray equipment think garden pump up sprayer with chemicals in it drill holes into the cavity of the wall and then inject the spray chemicals into it.

in a tree, a can of deodiant spray and a lighter will do if you thirteen years old but the asda nest spray is better, once dead just rip it out and clean all the area around it off the nest,

in the ground are the worst , which is also where we used to find almost all non loft ones were, problem is where it is under ground, try using a steel bar 10mm round and push it into the ground, if you find the nest the bar will drop through it easily, once found its injection time again.

modern pest controllers will proberly use a permetharin chemical based insecticide as it used to be the popular one

some of the herbal ways are, when you are dealing with a house full of yound kids the family might ask for a non chemical way so try .

a rolled up news paper !
starch is one of the best ever ones, robin red in a water soluton and mix it up really strong spray the wasps and when it dries they become almost frozen stiff.

celulose thinners will also instantly disove there wings, it wont kill them but stops them flying so them its hoover time , really it does work so does white spirt and meths wings are made from celulose to any disolver will do the same.

in the ground i used to use a big pile of nippon and a rain cover

 

[domino]

There is a guy where I live who does a roaring trade in killing wasp nests. £40 a pop most of them under the eaves. He turns up with a big stick and with a package stuck to the end up it, holds it up to the entrance --- boom: lots of white powder and it rains dead wasps. He collects his £40 and off he goes.

He just staples adverts to telephone poles, they've been there years.

 

[tonybloke]

Where do I start?

I am having 3 or 4 calls a day from people with 'bees'. Some of these turn out to be wasps. I don't have any equipment to wipe out wasp nests.

Can anyone give me any pointers at what sort of equipment, training etc I would need to start initially a wasp eradication business - would probably move into other pests at a later date.

And where would I source equipment at wholesale prices.

contact local agri college, you'll need at least a PA1 and PA2 before you even start!

 

[VEG]

yep and they are not cheap

 

[hedgerow pete]

i am looking at doing mine again as its been 7 years since i was last papered, i was looking at about £400 for the two,

instead of doing it proffesionally , which in a small area is to a specific a role try doing it for cash as a side bussiness, all tax man legal of course

by using non proffesional chemicals you can skirt a round a lot of the chemical laws, use house hold fly spray and nest killer, nippon powder all of which wont need bunded chemical stores and the like.

like i say most are in lofts so a simple can of fly spray thrown towards the nest area with the button selotaped down to keep it spraying will do the trick, so will nest killer.

the main point is a standard bee suit wont work very well as a wasps sting is slightly longer and thinner because there is no barbs, so you need to watch where the skin is closest to the material, elbows and knees and if bent over the backside gets them as well, so wear a jumper underneath it.

as a professional , and the lads who do do it for real will correct me , as i have not done proper pest control stuff for ten years now.

a ltd company is the starter point, insurences and vat registry and tax accounts etc

a chemical store, this could be a simple box with a sealed floor that holds 5 litres or a steel box that holds 1,000 litres

transport preferable sign writen, fliers and advertisments, and promotions

a website is a must , even i have one to try and sell my self as a person for work roles

and thats just the start, so either go for it and weldone you or keep it simple and work in a small capacity first

 

[Ed Woods]

Thanks for this.

I wil probably start with normal household chemicals.

Already looking around for courses to go on as I would eventually like to move onto this professionaly. I already have enough buildings to create an outdoor chemichal store (one of my first jobs was seling chemicals/protective clothing).

 

[merylvingien]

Unbelievable!!!

 

[VEG]

what is unbelievable?

 

[Ed Woods]

Already made some enquiries re PA1 courses in Norfolk so waiting for response after the holidays.

Have some contacts who are pest controllers so will speak to them when I am back at work.

 

[VEG]

did my pa1 with nomix

 

[hedgerow pete]

all you really need in some form of transpot and a can of fly spray and a bee suit to start with and then just advertise like mad, just remeber that other do the same thing so you will step on toes and also find out the going rate so you dont under price your self

 

[BKF Admin]

I have been sent an email in regards to this thread.
I have copied it below:

I am concerned about some of the advice on this site regarding the control of wasps.

When you buy an amateur use product and use it to treat someone else's property under the Control of Pesticides Regulations, it becomes a commercial application and all the rules that apply to professionals apply, even if the biocide used is approved for amateur use. This includes carrying out COSHH and environmental assessments and a need to be properly trained and competent.

Your readers should be made aware of this.

 

[Ed Woods]

I have been sent an email in regards to this thread.
I have copied it below:

I am concerned about some of the advice on this site regarding the control of wasps.

When you buy an amateur use product and use it to treat someone else's property under the Control of Pesticides Regulations, it becomes a commercial application and all the rules that apply to professionals apply, even if the biocide used is approved for amateur use. This includes carrying out COSHH and environmental assessments and a need to be properly trained and competent.

Your readers should be made aware of this.

Cheers for this - I have emailed some of the pest control associations so I have the full details of what training etc I need.

I get so many call outs to wasps that I am missing out on treating them myself.

I had some training on pesticides and chemicals some 20 or so years ago when I used to sell the stuff but the law and legislation has changed so much.

Any advice is appreciated.

 

[wireworm]

Ed,

Talk to your pest control contacts and (hopefully) they will put you on the right course to become a professional pest controller, as much of the advice you have been given here is incorrect. For a start, you don't need PA certificates but you do need to be properly trained. It would be far better off being trained by specialists in public health pest control than by a local Ag College.

Using 'amateur use' products bought from ASDA as part of a pest control service for others still requires you to follow all the professional requirements, in terms of being competent to use the products, being properly insured, completing the necessary Risk, COSHH and Environmental Risk Assessments, being properly equipped etc etc.

There are two Trade Associations in our industry that can help you:

The National Pest Technicians Association (Google 'npta pest control uk')
The British Pest Control Association (Google 'bpca pest control uk')

Contact them for advice.

By the way - you are most unlikely to be able to build a viable business simply on controlling wasps. They may keep you busy for a couple of months of the year, but what are you going to live off for the rest of the year?

If you're serious about becoming a pest controller, do it properly.

Cheers,

A pest management professional.

 

[Ed Woods]

Ed,

Talk to your pest control contacts and (hopefully) they will put you on the right course to become a professional pest controller, as much of the advice you have been given here is incorrect. For a start, you don't need PA certificates but you do need to be properly trained. It would be far better off being trained by specialists in public health pest control than by a local Ag College.

Using 'amateur use' products bought from ASDA as part of a pest control service for others still requires you to follow all the professional requirements, in terms of being competent to use the products, being properly insured, completing the necessary Risk, COSHH and Environmental Risk Assessments, being properly equipped etc etc.

There are two Trade Associations in our industry that can help you:

The National Pest Technicians Association (Google 'npta pest control uk')
The British Pest Control Association (Google 'bpca pest control uk')

Contact them for advice.

By the way - you are most unlikely to be able to build a viable business simply on controlling wasps. They may keep you busy for a couple of months of the year, but what are you going to live off for the rest of the year?

If you're serious about becoming a pest controller, do it properly.

Cheers,

A pest management professional.

Wasps would be a sideline as I plan still to keep my curent job but then work my way onto mice, fleas etc.

 

[Dusty Rhodes]

Wasps would be a sideline as I plan still to keep my curent job but then work my way onto mice, fleas etc.

You've certainly got the itch for this haven't you?

Really bitten by the bug.

D

 

[hedgerow pete]

to do it proffesionally what you need to concentrate on is not the once in a blue moon call out from someone with a wasps nest, yes you get loads but they are all one offs, what you need to find is repeat bussiness, so getting firms to pay you a monthly or annual amount to do there pest control systems, a sort of maintenace contract as it were a weekly/monthly visit , i belive some of them need to have certificates and the like from you . alot of them it is just bait control for rats etc

 

[merylvingien]

Hedgerow Pete, please please please stop giving information on something that you obviously know nothing about. As they say, a little knowledge is dangerous.
To the original poster, do some proper research and you will find your answers.
I can guarantee that the info your looking for will not appear on this forum.

 

[hedgerow pete]

i have found the last message to be negative, i have replied in person to mervin and will be taking no more intrest in this thread,

Ed if you want more advice please pm me