[Pest Management] Cockroach Baits

If you were a cockroach, where would you hide?

One of the best ways to beat any opponent is to understand their tactics and set up your offense accordingly. To this end, cockroach baiting has become a preferred tool for pest management in processing plants – because it plays on the cockroaches’ natural behavior “tactics” to provide an effective method of elimination when used as part of a complete integrated pest management program.

As opposed to residual insecticides which require a cockroach to randomly contact the residue,  said DuPont Global Product Development Manager Clay Scherer, baits are designed to be very attractive to the cockroach and take advantage of their innate feeding behavior. In addition, the baits are not immediate kill, so the cockroach’s natural tendency to scurry back to harborage and share or exchange the bait with others in the population extends the toxic impact of the bait.

Not only do the cockroaches carry the bait to an area which may be difficult to reach, Scherer explained, they also can expose other members of their population to the toxicant through their behaviors. These can include direct contact, in which residue passes from the skin of the feeder, and secondary feeding, as it is not uncommon for cockroaches to feed on one another’s feces or vomit.

In addition, baits are well-suited for processing plants because of their long residual life, said Bayer Environmental Science Marketing Manager Gordon Morrison. Applications can be less frequent than sprays, meaning less pesticide is used in your plant. And, although label directions must always be consulted and followed, crack and crevice bait treatments and bait stations can be used just about anywhere that cockroaches are a problem, because, when properly placed, the toxicant is inaccessible.

Baits pose little risk to food and workers, concurred BASF Market Development Specialist Bill Kolbe. “There is virtually no exposure because it is placed in cracks and crevices and wall voids.” Bait stations are just as secure because the bait is enclosed and can be placed on even vertical surfaces without the bait becoming dislodged.

SANITATION. Placement, as well as plant sanitation, are also critical for program efficacy. “Cockroaches are opportunistic. They’ll take advantage of what’s close,” Morrison said. This means that not only must baits be placed in the vicinity of the cockroaches, but high sanitation levels must be maintained to reduce or eliminate competitive foods sources.

Important to any integrated pest management program, sanitation is particularly important in a processing plant because of the potential amount of alternative food which a bait would have to outperform to be effective.

While an important aspect of bait treatments is its inaccessibility, thus its invisibility, “QA should demand that exact placement be documented,” Kolbe said. Such mapping or listing of all placements­—required by some states—can also increase program efficacy, as employees can be cautioned against disturbing or moving any baits (such as stations), and sanitation crews made cognizant of bait placements when cleaning. Although the bait is placed into cracks, crevices and equipment voids, if exposed to heavy cleaning solutions, it can become less attractive to the cockroaches.

This is one reason that pest control operators (PCO) may choose to use bait stations, which provide protection both for and of the bait. Contained in small, plastic bait trays which can be inconspicuously attached to walls, equipment or flooring, the bait is not accessible to humans and can be more easily protected from environmental elements.

Periodic clean-up and replacement of baits also is recommended. Although baits have a long residual life, they will eventually lose their efficacy. Baits subject to a great deal of moisture can also become moldy, while others can dry out and become useless. Depending on the bait and conditions, clean-up can be by scraping, crack and crevice cleaning, pressure washing, steam cleaning or simply removal or changing of bait stations.

Through inspection of bait consumption, the stations can also provide an element of monitoring for cockroach presence, Morrison added, explaining, “Baits are one of the best ways to monitor for and identify cockroach activity.”

Although the baits can be very effective tools in plant pest management programs, they should be considered only one tool in a complete arsenal. “Cockroach baits, by themselves, are not silver bullets,” Kolbe said. Used alone, they are unlikely to solve a pest problem. “Insect growth regulators and other pesticide formulations are also often important parts of a control strategy for food processing.”

Regular communication of pest problems or conducive conditions both among the plant personnel and with the pest control provider is also critical to effective cockroach management. Scherer recommends a communication plan and record-keeping be made a part of any pest control contract.

This would include regular discussion with the quality assurance manager, to set and review the program, and with floor personnel who work with the equipment and conduct sanitation. As Kolbe said, “They can give the [PCO] the most insight as to where cockroaches are. They are probably the technician’s best friends.”

Such information is important not only for creating and maintaining an effective pest management plan, but also for keeping costs in line for the plant. When the pest control provider can check in at an account, review a logbook for any cockroach sightings, then have a rapport with managers and workers to be told of any other issues, “it helps the (pest management professional) PMP concentrate their efforts,” Morrison said. “What that adds up to for the PMP is increased efficiency and product usage.” And what that adds up to for the plant is cost savings.

“The key for food processors is to look at their cockroach plans and make sure they fall along the same lines as their HACCP plan,” Kolbe said. Pest management should, in effect, be a subset of HACCP, with analysis conducted to determine CCPs for baiting.

Thus, the experts agreed, inspection is a critical aspect of any bait program. “You have to have a very active inspection plan so cockroach activity and presence can be identified before it gets out of hand,” Scherer said.

“You really need to look not just at equipment and areas you can see, but be able to look into equipment,” Kolbe added. Thus, his guidance to ask yourself, “If I were a cockroach, where would I hide?”