I received a call from a customer who had been seeing a sporadic roach here and there in the kitchen
area.
1st order of business is always identifying the type of roach that was reported.
There are a couple different types of cockroaches in this area. There are the German Cockroach, American Cockroach, and Oriental Cockroach (water bug).
I arrived and first identified the pest as a German Cockroach.
“Now for those of you that don’t know. German Roaches are nasty little buggers. A cockroach infestation is not good for our customers. They spread disease, contaminate food, and can lose
revenue for our customers. Obviously, this is no good! Arrow takes them very seriously. One thing we know well is how to get rid of roaches.”
2nd order of business is a thorough inspection and treatment of the building.
I performed a deep inspection throughout the kitchen, food storage, dishwashing area and bar. I did this because I was trying to find the source of the roach activity. I was also looking for any structural or sanitation issues that would be conducive to causing this pest activity. The inspection can get very in-depth at times. I was pulling out pieces of equipment away from the walls in the kitchen, looking inside the motor housings, checking under counters and searching prep areas.
Eureka! I spotted a baby cockroach
I found a hidden pocket of roaches behind a section of plastic wall covering that had bowed out from the drywall. (Yellow Circle in Pics) The roaches were nesting in this gap. They were hiding well, but I had found them!
“German Roaches are very social, and like to harbor together in dark, tight places.”
I treated this area, as well as the entire kitchen with roach baits, insect growth regulator’s and glue traps.
3rd and final order of business is to schedule a follow-up visit in 2 weeks to retreat and reassess the activity. No live roaches were found. The glue traps were especially effective at quickly capturing multiple roaches. (see pic)
Once the problem had been eliminated, I recommended sealing that gap in the wall and doing a good thorough cleaning of that area.
Two weeks later the problem was gone and I now have a very happy customer!
Mike R
Corporate Quality Control Manager