Question

I manage a small apartment property, just 60 units. We don’t have many pest problems but I occasionally get a complaint about cockroaches. My problem is that I can’t get my tenants to cooperate by emptying out their kitchen cabinets so they can be sprayed. They just won’t do it and so we can never do a thorough treatment. Any suggestions?

Answer

Yes, my first suggestion is that you try a cockroach baiting program. Routinely emptying cabinets and spraying them with insecticides is old practice. The cockroach baits that we use today work so well that we rarely have to spray inside cabinets anymore.

Our technicians apply tiny dots of gel bait into cracks and crevices in various places in the kitchen. Many of the applications are made inside cabinets, in corners and around hinges, but the cabinets don’t have to be emptied. There is no vapor or liquid that could get on food or dishes. The bait applications shouldn’t even be noticeable when the technician is done.

There are some situations where we still may ask a tenant to empty kitchen cabinets. If there is a really bad cockroach infestation, it can take more than bait to get the cockroaches under control. Sometimes when we are treating an apartment, or a building, for the first time, we do what we call an “intensive” treatment that might require emptying cabinets. Once we have a cockroach infestation knocked down, we can usually continue to manage it with baits and insect growth regulators.

Apartment residents love cockroach baiting programs, not just because they don’t have to empty cabinets. Cockroach baits have virtually no odor, there are no vapors left in the air. Since baits are placed in cracks and crevices and hidden areas, and since they are designed specifically for cockroaches, there is less hazard to children and pets than with standard insecticide sprays. Baits are very effective and last a long time unless the cockroaches eat it all first. That’s why we routinely visit our accounts to inspect and replace bait as needed.

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