Asian Hornet Control & the Future of Pest Management | Robert Moon - Pest Perspectives

Hello, and welcome to PES Perspectives. Now, this is actually #60 I said last week this was #60 but it turns out I was wrong. So this week's edition is #60 messed it up last week. So you've got it on the screen twice, two times in a row. Now.

Last week was a good one on drains. I had a lot of good feedback about last week's episode which was good and so if you're new to pest perspectives, it's a podcast aimed to entertain and educate the pest management industry. It is CPD approved, so if you listen to it and you are in the pest control industry in the UK, you can claim CPD from basis prompt. Once I submit the code, submit the the podcast and then receive the codes back. If you're with the British Pest register, you can either self register them or wait for me and I'm going to put a little quiz up like tomorrow and then you can just automatically get the get the points to see if you were actually listening.

So I can do that as well. And this week we have on Robert Moon from France. Not not southern France like my mistake.

Hi, everybody. How are you doing? Yeah, good. In Central France. Central France, That's correct. Get a map of France, stick your finger in the middle of it. Yeah, I'll hold my hand. If it wasn't AII always had it in my head. It was southern France. For some reason. I just blamed AII. Went around changing it frantically. I was like, what the hell? I was like, what am I thinking? But yeah, but you know, it's it's good to, it's good to have you on. It is because it's nice. It's nice to have. I've never done that in the year I've been doing it.

I've never had anyone on that has dealt with Asian Hornets at all. And I think it's a good subject to cover because it's going to be a future industry for best managers in the UK. It is. Welcome to Jason. That's pest control. Thanks for popping in, mate. Hello. And then we might get on to some some other stuff. You've also got Mansfield Pest Control. Mark Martin. Oh, it's more coming. Jackie, how you doing? Say, look, celebrity turns. Let me see. There's more people in chat now, Robert, you see?

Go on, go and register. Right. But yeah, first of all, go to Asian. Sorry, I'll jump in there. Asian somebody posted about Wales. They're training specialist beekeepers to get ready to destroy them, so it doesn't look like pest control is going to get to play with them this year either. Oh OK, so how are they training them then considering there wasn't really any professionals that know what they're doing in the UK, Apart from the people that have attended your course of course. Allegedly it's the worst kept secret but killed Germa training people to become Asian Hornets destroyers, nest destroyers.

What is that? Just the basic insect course they they're doing. I generally don't know, but something like that, you've got to go there and doesn't matter what you are, beekeeper or maybe a pest controller can do the training course and they can get a special Asian Hornet diploma. Now what? And then you can do it. Then you can do. It and then you've got to be registered with the APHA. If anybody wants to come over and play with Asian Hornets in France, you're more than welcome. I don't charge, but I spoke to APHA at Pestex and they say, yeah, but your, your qualification, your experience is worth nothing.

You know you've got to got to be a qualified APHA NBU authorised kill germ trained technician. Bit strange though because a man like you has got years of experience doing this and it's worth nothing. So it it's beyond me that is the that answer, It's beyond me that is. They're just an invasive WASP. So there's all of the Asian further European Hornets is 1 I killed a couple of years ago. Hang on a SEC. That's all. They are that big. Hang on. Hey, look, they're tiny. They are. People have a look.

And there's one in the top and corner as well. Yeah, you're out, you're out. You, you. That is Robert's photo provided as well because he wanted to make sure I had a correct photo because as we know, there's a lot of maybe if you go on any article, like I had a client this morning, tell me about them, all these big, big Asian Hornets, he says. What, you think he made a mistake there? Why? They're not big, I says. You're talking about was it yellow? Yeah, as you were talking about our native Hornet, you were.

Well, they're massive, isn't that? I said, well, they're not Asian Hornets, I says. But a lot of them do that, don't they? They want an article and oh, it's not that big and scary, so I must put the other one on because it's bigger. But it's it's misinformation isn't. It it tells papers and the the Welsh journalist, whoever wrote it said, yeah, the killer. Killer Asian Hornets murder Asian Hornets still, and they're not If you can treat a wasp nest, you can treat an Asian Hornet nest. Oh, so it's like anything though.

If you go and smack it and piss it off while you're trying to kill it, they're going to come for you. They are? Yeah. It's normal. Your home's getting attacked. Absolutely. But yeah, well, pisses me off. Hopefully APHA are in the union as well, but a they didn't attend the conference at Pestex. When Chris Venables, I think you mentioned my name more than you mentioned the Asian Hornets. Good. Well done, Chris. But then he sorry, then Apha refused to go on stage because they knew I was on I was there and I know for once next Wade was splitting fumes.

Apha, you know they they got their own agenda. They keep slagging off the French for being clueless. All I've been saying since 2014 when I first treated my the Asian Hornets is don't do what France are doing. You know, France did got the farmers to shoot them out of the sky. They've got the beekeepers to do whatever beekeepers do. And then eventually 2014 they said we'd best get pest controllers in. Obviously if they're not liking the practise in France, I presume that means that they've stopped the Asian Hornets spreading in the UK.

It's all over. It's completely finished. I think it was two years ago that Jersey slagged off France and saying, oh, they've got one Asian Hornet per kilometre square. Well, last year Jersey, which is a Little Rock in the middle of the English Channel, which is 112 square kilometres, they had over 7 Asian Hornet nests per kilometre square. It's 7.231, but country square. Well, they they say the front is effed up and they're brilliant and they're all, they're stabbing each other's backs. I'm calm.

Yeah. What? I've been doing for the last 10 years is trying to fight the cause of pest controllers to be able to treat Asian Hornets and the NBUBBKAPHA differ and nurse saying Oh no it's going to be beekeepers. It will. It will explode to a stupid right eventually we won't be able to hope. Then it's going. To be too late. And yes, they go all the way. Oh, they kill bees. Yes, they kill bees. But so do European orders kill bees. So do what's kill bees. So do rats kill bees. And everything that wants to eat their honey kills bees.

I'd presume that if they were that deadly, you wouldn't have any bees left in France. Have you got any threat? Have you got any left in France? Three, I think, but they. No, no, sorry, sorry. What I meant was if they were that dangerous to bees, there wouldn't be any, any bees nest left in France. That's what I'm saying. And you, it's, you've obviously got bees still, haven't you? Yes, three, yeah. Oh, right.

Yeah, no, they again. It's UK and Jersey going. France has been decimated. 80% of their bee population has been eradicated. I said. I said wow, hasn't it's complete bollocks. Oh, right. OK, I believed you then. No, I'm just repeating what Jersey say. But you know, Jersey is the success and Francis Sabalia. OK. God help Britain. Yeah. So could you describe what Asian Hornets actually are? If someone doesn't know what an Asian Hornet is, where do they wish your name from? Asia. Pretty much, yeah. The first Asian Hornet came over in a pot of Yucca plants into Bordeaux port in 2004, allegedly, and they spread from fence.

I think they were first noticed in 2004. By that time, there's already 3 or 4 nests. So.

Yeah, they've just been spreading exponentially, whatever the word is to our place, which is 400 kilometres from Bordeaux in 2014 and they've got knocking on the UK Border or they've got gone to Jersey at. Sorry, 2016, yes, 2016, I think. But yeah, I spoke to some knob in Belgium. I hope he's listening because he's a knob. But he says, Oh, yeah, you can stand on on the cliffs in Jersey, you can see the Asian Hornets flying over from France. Do you know how? Stupid you sound you. Can see them flying over what they fly to and from each day they.

They, they, they wake up in, in northern France and go, why must go over to Jersey for a little holiday. They fly over to Jersey because it's only 13 miles. And in September, October time, they go, oh, it's time to go back home again. So they go, they fly back to France because, you know, they've, they've never overwinted until I think they admitted last year on the U4 they've, they've overwinted in Jersey. You know, if you want to see a failure, go to Jersey. I say you're. Supposed to learn for mistakes and yeah so.

We asked, Which is what I've been saying all along, don't, don't do what France did. And Jersey went, oh, no, we're going to do our own thing. We're going to do our own experiments. We're going to live catch and, you know, put them in plastic bags when they're still alive and leave them in a dustbin for two days for someone to collect. The and UK, Kent especially have gone. Oh yeah, no, we're not going to do what Jersey is doing because you know, they we're going to do our own experiments. Just just kill them.

They want to do DNA experiments. You can do DNA experiments with dead treated Hornets. So why do you have to anyway?

Sorry, yeah, Jason was saying about. He was just saying, you know, you were talking about. It's not just, you know, he was saying that one of his friends had trouble this year with beehives that eight gone from 80 hives to down to 10 through mice. Mice killing knives. There you go. Mental mice. Yeah, that's mental number that that's a lot massive. That is. It shows. It just shows it can happen. It can. Lots of things want the honey because it's free, cheap sugar honey. So, you know, rats of mice, they'll scoff it if they can get in.

Lots of insects will go for honey and go for bees. Yeah. Anyway, back to your question, what is an Asian horn? It is basically a wasp, which is in the wrong place. So like a like a weed, it's great in its own environment, but not so good in a different environment. They are voracious eaters. But you know, I personally think they're there to stay. And we're still going to get the European Hornets. We're still going to have Wasps, we're still going to have bees. It's just another thing for the Cog, spoke whatever in the UK system, but you know, everyone's going to normally invasive species, we're all going to die, but we're not.

Oh wow, rats are technically the brown rat. You know, not supposed to be. Yeah, but they are. Well, indeed, but they they're in every continent where there's a human. And our. Clients is we need rats. Yeah, we need rats. Because you eat a Mac dough and throw half it away. You eat the PC, throw half that away. After a Friday night after speaking to Sean and Lex and and you know, the rats come along. We need it all up. So they are the waste disposal units of humans. If rats are invisible, they'd be brilliant.

That's exactly what that's exactly what they are. It is.

Floods in 2018 in Paris, the mayor was, you know, there were rats, there was a plague of rats. And the the mayor of Paris is going to always say catastrophe, catastrophe. I can't do anything just anymore. Catastrophic. Thank you. But the head of CS3D, which is the French version of BPCAMPAMPTA, they said no, no, we do actually need rats. You know, people going you're, you're mentally deranged. No, you do need rats. But just if they're, as I said, if they're invisible, they'll be great and then transmit human pathogens in my.

Opinion. Oh, it's down a bit lower. There we go. Yeah, it's so so we've with Asian Hornets. What's your obviously you can do them in France. What's your process? Can you just say I was I didn't have any qualification that were French, you know, how would you go over and start a business killing Asian Hornets? Is there courses you have to do? You have to do your course. Is there any trade bodies? How does it work in France? Right. Every pest controller in France has to be qualified. They have to do a three day course and they have registered with the government.

They have to be accredited. There's the example. I always say that if if a window cleaner comes along in France and sees a wasp nest, he'll stop cleaning the window. He'll call me, I'll destroy the wasp nest, and then when the wasp nest is gone, he'll come back and finish cleaning the windows. Fina cannot do wash nest, so chimney sweep cannot do Horny's nest. Now you have seen that if you declare exactly what you do, what we say in France is your messier, your metier is your skill. So what are your skills?

You have to list all your skills down. OK. I think this is excellent, Robert. They should do it here. They should, but there's no sign at the minute. But there is talk of it. Apparently they keep, I keep hearing murmurs like a crew, like a crew version or insecticide, but I know nothing about it. But people keep saying it. They do, but I don't know if there's any truth in it. Yeah. There are some people that go, no, we're not going to be accredited. It's like I don't want to be about registered.

Well, I think personally about registering is brilliant because everything you buy is 20 cheaper and it's all but. To be fair though on that though, I mean we've never had no issues with the 20% VAT. We have a very rarely and I and when they do I say well you pay 20% VAT on your car tyres. Well, yeah, it's standards, you know.

So. Here we, here we go. Martin's got a question for you if we have an Asian tiger break.

He winding me up, Martin? Nah, he must be winding me up. That must look at this. This must be a joke. Yeah. This must be a joke. That's going to be. Yeah. That's got to be a wind up, I think. I think he's. AI think he's going to any question. For Asian Tiger Breakthrough, which is oh, I get it now. Yeah, he's right. Yes. I'm with you. I'm with you. Yeah, I get it now. Yeah, it's a comparison. I agree with you, but yeah, you're going to have, I guess you shouldn't go attacking Asian tigers with a broom handle or anything like that.

But you know, if you've got the skills, then do it Exactly. Yeah, it's in France. You have to be accredited. I like it. I like this. I like what I'm hearing. I do. It was a good time to mention that I've just been awarded the Maitre Artisan. So I've been an artisan as in a tradesperson for 10 years and because of my experience on Asian Hornets etcetera, they've given me the maximum title of master artisan. That's nice. I have. I did put that on the thumbnail. I don't think many people probably knew what it was though.

They. Didn't it just means God? People, people have to call me God now. Yeah, but do you want me to come and sort the nest out? You need to call me God. Yeah, no, I'm, I'm starting photographs with with with shiny hands and do the Asian Hornets now. Yeah, shit. That's blasphemy, isn't it? Yeah, sorry about that. I won't. You're all right. So obviously you have to be qualified and accredited and liced. Well, is that deemed licenced if you're registered with the government? You have, I have a what's called a serial number.

Anybody that's running a business has a serial number, which means it's your own trading number. So. Clear that on all your business cards, all your Letterheads, any Flyers you give out, you have to have your trading number so. It's completely traceable. I love this idea and the people in the chat are liking it. I wish the window cleaners were banned here. Yeah, everyone does, Jackie. Everyone does. Well said. Yeah, it does. So when it comes to doing Asian Hornets, you, you're not like us in the UK.

Obviously we can't do as you know it's but most of us use poles. You have got a little looks like a little gun you have. You fire at the nests you have as well some cases haven't you? It's like a paintball gun people. That's it. That's what it is. Just so happened to have it with me. He's got it with him. Here we go. Paintball gas bottle.

Loader, paintball gun. Oh, and the little perils, perils, perils in there. There you go. That goes in there. Yeah. Put paintball billet, billet spills in the loader. Then you just chug, it's a .68 calibre, so standard paintball gun and you put about 20-30 into a nest. Trouble is the paintball pellets are about the quid each so treat it. It's it's been expensive. Oh. Transit Ordinate.

Put it all back in the paintball pellets. They're always insecticide, natural insecticide. OK. I don't know how they do it on Blue Peter. Yeah, there you go. Yeah, cheers. But you, you, you obviously use poles as well, don't you? Obviously I've seen. Distributor for a company that we're trying to find UK distributors for, it's the Eredic and I haven't got, I have hang on a SEC. Yeah, no worries.

I'm enjoying this podcast so and see all the gadgets. Get and see the gadgets. Yeah, but I'm upstairs in the office. I haven't got a brochure with me, sorry. It's. A long telescopic it can go up to, I've got one that's 30 metres and it's rigid. It's not a flexible thing that you know, OK, but it's, it'll do 30 metres, it can go up to about 35 metres, but it gets a bit unwieldy by then. Sure. Obviously you're at Pestex. What's your view on the Waspel Pro for Asian Hornets? Because they, I was, I was speaking to him and he says he sent some out.

He's bought. It was either, I don't quote me, it was even New Zealand or Australia. The government had bought some to do an Asian hornet's nest. But I think they were customised to be a lot bigger. If you could make them a lot bigger, you can. It's I think, yeah, I can't really say too much about him. Pest controller who's not too far away from him, who slight run in with him. I can't say too much. That's all right. I don't want to pick on these. A couple couple of bits on this unit are good, but there's there's a lot of poles out there.

I was using the younger poles for 5-6 years, which served me very well until I was asked to demonstrate the erudite ones. I liked it so much I became one of their distributors. Oh, nice, Jack. It's got a question. What insecticide do you use, Robert? From the record I have never ever ever ever used Vicam DI am just a cheapskate. I buy Killjerm or Eddie likes France's own brand. So own brand for Killjerm means Vaser. I've seen it advertised. I have. And Eddie likes his permax. I don't imagine it comes in paintball form in the UK somehow, do you?

It's not organised so it's not authorised. It's only authorised for use in France. OK. But I have sent some balls over to one of the manufacturers who are looking into it. That's nice. So you know when you you said you fire when you used to paintball gun style, you'd Chuck 20 or 30 of them at the nest? How long does it take an Asian hornet's nest to actually die? It's an in powder. Yeah, yeah, we're using powder like Jackie, who asked the question. It's the powder will take about half an hour the nest will be it's the same as a wash nest to be contaminated within seconds because all the Wasps for all the horn is just flap their wings and then contaminate contaminate the nest immediately.

It's it's the same length of time it takes to kill a Asian Hornet nest and it doesn't wash nest is basically. OK. But the paintballs are slightly longer. It's it's a natural pyrethrum with base, so it's it's more natural so but it's the biodegrades a lot quicker. It's also heat sensitive so it doesn't work so well above 25° allegedly. It's probably hot in France, doesn't it? In some of the Suns. I could go to bed at 28° and it's quite unpleasant. Is it hot over in France at the minute? It was 20° when I was chainsawing a tree down in my field.

OK, well, yeah, it's not that here.

I've got some questions. I've got 2 right one from Jason. Do you think about Vespa kill E duster if?

I look at it on the Into Galaxy webnet. I think I think that might be the one that's running visa in the Uki don't know. I don't know my E duster.

Vespa killer come up with date chair duster but you've.

Not heard of it then. No, I'm just trying to Vespa kill DHP 40. Oh no.

OK. Yeah, seen that.

The difference is that is you you load all the powder at the top so you have one one shot again in the nest and then you have to bring all the pole down and start again. It won't. Work very well for Asian Hornets then I'll take it. You can do but I would use. I will use ADR five with a long hose because if I haven't got the nest I can still reload it and give it another shoot. That one shouldn't really need to do that. Actually, I was very impressed with, I think it was Pesky that came over in the summer and chugging down with rain.

So I didn't want to get my DRDR 5 out to do a European in their Son of the Gutter. He had something not dissimilar to the Vesky Kill and he just, it's like a swan meeting. It takes half a second. He went, that's it, that's done. But you're choking. So, you know, I learned from I learned from him, but I've. Asked him what that is, then I will. I I use normally one charge of the Dr 5 into a nest, which by all accounts is way too much. You always need to use PIT more. Don't care what anyone says, you do you do.

Another question that ties in with something I heard on, well, it's it's a question Martin's got. Do you use a drone at all to survey any any any Asian Hornet nest?

So I didn't, I didn't hear the question. Do you need do you use a drone to survey any any Asian Hornet nests you probably can't see? No. No, OK. On the grounds I'm very close to place called Avor AVORD, which is one of France's major Air Force bases, and they often come flying over a house at 25 metres chimney. No, I've used a thermal imaging camera, came over and they showed me all their toys and I just went out and bought their toys as well. It's a Hick micro CQ50 and you can spot allegedly a mouse pissing up against the wall at 2 1/2 kilometres really well with Asian horniness I presume.

That's not a cheap camera then, I presume. It was 2800 I think. I thought it would be if with Ember, yeah, yeah. I thought it would be with Huskies, yeah. But my next toy, which I'm is, it's going to be a laser engraver. Yeah, because I heard. I, I I. Heard something, it's a while ago had someone else on the beauties and beasties about Asian Hornets. It obviously wasn't you and I heard something and I'm, I'm not sure if I'm quoting it wrong, but they reckon if he if he's trying to film an Asian hornet's nest.

The Hornets warm all over the phone. I think that must have been somebody from Jersey, UK. I think I'm. Sure, that's I'm sure that's what he said. I might be wrong but I remember something about a mobile phone. You could try and film them. They just swarm all over the phone. Well, if you speak to a beekeeper, they'll say rule #1 is don't keep your mobile phone in your pocket when you're treating the bees because you know the the signal can annoy them. And if you've got bassy bees, they'll they'll check you.

But. OK. Is that a true? Is that a true? Fact. That's what I was told by a beekeeper. OK. Years ago but what he I assume it was Mr de Carteret or if not it was honest to Christie. What they were doing at the time was live catching Hornet nest, which I've been saying ever don't do it. You know, you wouldn't live catch a wasp nest. So why are you live catching a, a hornet's nest, Asian horny nest. But what they're doing, they're getting a camera on top of a stick and they're just pissing the Hornets off.

So yeah, the camera and you know, they're chopping down undergrowth to, to get to a hornet's nest without treating it. And they're going, oh, they're really aggressive. They will be, yeah. They would be yeah, if you. Any, any insect would like that they can attack. If you're going to go, you know, they think you're coming to kill their house or kill them, they're going to come for you. They are, they are. Jackie's asking this one. Are the are the nests always visible as in like in a tree or do you get them inside buildings, wall cavities, like etcetera?

She means like, just like what's that sell? You can't always see them. Jackie, that's a very good question, right? You'll never ever or I've never in the years I've been doing it for. Found an Asian Hornet nest in a chimney. OK. OK, they like to expand. You'll never find an Asian Hornet nest in a tree trunk. So yes, they like to be able to expand exponentially and they will be in lean twos in garages, in in attics. That's not a problem I've found them in. I've just have to explain this every time.

In France, a drain covers a tampon. So anything that covers a hole is a tampon or plugs a hole is a tampon. So I've found them in rainwater during cover tampon things. So yeah, they could be below ground level. They can be anything up to or from below ground up to 3040 metres. OK, that was a good question there because I I didn't know either. So I'll well done Jackie on that. Good question.

So, so also Martin was saying because he does, he does bee removals and he bee removals and he said he's had, he's had bees attack his drone before doing surveys, yes.

So yes, no, it's right. It's something about the signal. Is my beekeeper chummy? He said. Yeah, rule #1 don't keep your mobile phone with you.

Yeah, so I learned something there as well. I didn't know that. I don't, I don't do bees, stuff like that, so I wouldn't know. But yeah, I'm, I I pass it to people that know what they're doing. I know. That's Pontius pilot and in fact I'm very Pontius piloted as well with the go to bees. There's not. Yeah, I'm going to get haste for this now, but yes, I will. In fact I did it this week. There was a bee colony in a Chateau, in a chimney and you can't get through it, you have to destroy it. So I was up in cherry pick her 25 metres up and destroying the nest.

So you're not going to be able to get a, you know, remove a 400 year old chimney. Oh, right. Yeah, Forward. OK. Yes, I will. I will destroy the odd bees in chimneys, but yeah, bees in walls in chateaus, like the big stone wall behind me. You know, if you start taking bricks out of that, you know your walls going to fall down. So. The mass looks to be quite expensive to to get that wall done as well, yeah. So in the UK it's costing anything from 1 to 5000 lbs to remove a bee nest from a chimney, and the French won't do that.

We'll just spend £100 and be done. It's unfortunate. I think it's probably anywhere from 1 to 16 grand. It's depending who's doing the job. It is the scaffolding. The scaffolding is quite expensive. But yeah, I have heard companies that that charge big amounts of money, like a lot more than that. I have. But yeah, you are. But you are right. Generally it's from 1:00 to 5:00. It is. I tried speaking to an insurance company, they weren't insure for insect ingress so they won't treat bees or Wasps or anything.

They wouldn't even treat termites or cover termites and insurance policies so. So what, they just do rat? Did you do rats and mice? Insurance companies? No, they weren't. Nothing's insured. Nothing. OK is the reckon. I don't. I'm no expert in it, but they reckon that bee removals in the UK are starting to be included in house insurance. And it should be in and then more bee collies will get saved. Yeah. But yeah, the French won't pay 345 grand because they haven't got the, let's say they haven't haven't got the excess expendable income like what we does in the UK.

No, I think we're all worse off now. So I'm on to BC Bill. But the other thing going back to costing certain communes and villages, they will pay for the Asian Hornet treatment, certain colony communes won't. So therefore it's down to the homeowner to pay for the the nest distraction page, currently €110 plus that. But they do it, they they know it shouldn't be there and they will pay for it all the commune place, right. But again, Jersey and the UK Defra, PHA and whatever you know, they send somebody from South of England up to north of England to inspect.

Then they get the volunteers and they do this and do that. And it's costing them between 5:00 and a grand 500 and a grand to destroy each nest. And that meteor boy who despises me in in Belgium. So you're profiteering out of Asian homeless nest? No, I'm actually saving you and your country £900 per nest.

Whatever. So yeah, there's got to be a business element. Yeah, get a pest control to do it and even if they charge the council it's going to cost £100, it's not going to cost £1000 to to treat a nest.

OK, I'm just reading what what Martin's saying. He's saying cover for bees depends on your premium policies. It's similar to car insurance third party or polycomp. So he just bee removal. So he would he'd know more about that than me. He would. If he wants to come over to France and remove bees from chateaus, there's so much work out here. They're willing to pay for it though. Yes, yeah. And they won't do it. It's just flat refusal. So yeah, it's unfortunate, but yeah, anyway, sorry, back to what you're saying about qualifications.

You can't as Auk person, you need to have the French qualification. So RPARPA chase, whatever it is level 2 is not valid in France. So you can't just come over to France and want to be a pest controller. You have to go through all the Roper hoops and whatever get registered, get assigned, get a serial number. It's it's the system Francis system is so effing annoying if you're not in it, but when you're in it, they really look after you. That's good. It does sound good to me. It's stopped us. Yeah.

There's a lot of. Yeah, I wish. That's a much better system. I think that is to be honest, that's a lot of problems with our system. Now 1 is Gary in Bordeaux and there's another guy in Dordogne who have got the qualification. But yeah, I don't know how they're doing, to be quite honest. OK, do I give them a call? Find out live on the phone? No, I'm joking, but. Yeah, I think in France there's large reckoning. There were 5000 qualified pest controllers and the two and half time France is 2 and half times bigger than the UK.

Not many then. No. I don't know what the figure is in the UK at all. I think it's about 10,000, but I don't know. Now whether you're talking about people having the basic one day course versus doing the the RSPH level 2 awarding pest management, I've no idea on that front. Who? That's what I don't. Don't know, but yeah, it's there's, there's certainly money to be heard over here. Martin's asking again, is it, is it, is there a lot of sole traders in pest control over there or are they like big nationals, a lot of the pest controllers?

There is a company in France called Rent to Kill. Oh, but they are too. OK, They're everywhere then. They are? Yeah. I did a job for them years ago, won't work for them anymore. It was for. He he charged them a fee and they probably put 200% on it, 500%. More annoying is I did the job and it took up 18 months to pay me and they were paid 2 weeks after I did the job. Oh. OK. Yes, it was double the price. Yeah. Usually there's another company called another company called Colin. Colin, OK. What's the other one?

Euro, Euro, extreme eco? Trying to think of the name Eco Lab. Thank you.

They are in France as well. OK. It's mainly single traders. For a. Few big ones that do the big corporate work. So trouble is you have to be national to get the big contracts. So into Marche, the supermarkets and things like that is pretty much doing the whole thing and they. Will buy the UKI guess OK yeah, no worries. I do question Martin. I do the few communes I work for. In fact, I've got a 445 get up tomorrow morning to do the drains. I mean in one of the villages, one of the towns. You've got you've got a drain camera then.

Got a train drain? Have. You got have you got a drain camera then? No, no, no. I I baked the drains. I baked the drain. Oh, sorry. I. Get you now, right, OK. I have got a drain camera, but because somebody said it was a good idea.

Yeah, no, I go around at I start at 6:00 in the morning and there's two of us that we just inspect the drains for. I've I've pre baited them either on the detect so detective block and if they're eating it, I I use flucomafen storm you call it we call it Sicuvia. I've never tried Storm. I haven't. I've heard of it, but yeah. It's good, good, good, good, good. But I'm now I'm now a froggy ambassador for cilantro as well. You were and I was stood right across from you. I didn't. I didn't. Somehow I didn't speak to you.

I didn't. You're too busy talking to your mate, Lex. But you do you do know that's the first time me and Lex have actually spoke in person At last Pestech he was busy. So on the way into the PCN dinner, I I was coming past him and he slapped me hands and that was the last time I've seen him. And that was actually went to his stand. Thought if I go to the stand, he's got to talk to me. So I went no, he's a busy man, much busier than me. He knows a lot more people than me, you know, but that was actually the first time I ever spoke to him in person.

That is, I'm hoping him with his weightlifting thing at the minute he's he's doing that, that 4 million sandwich challenge, isn't he? He. Is. He called me out because I asked him a few weeks ago about contributing my weightlifting to his weightlifting and I hadn't been doing it. So he put a LinkedIn post up. He didn't. He didn't mention me in the video. And he goes, I'm looking at you, actual Muller and someone else. I've started adding them now. So his numbers should go up quicker and should, but yeah.

So do you think it'll be a couple of years, few years before we'll be able to treat Asians on its nests or you think it'll be a never? Well, the. It's it's inevitable. I've been watching your calls, the UK calls for 10 years and they still haven't. Well, they only arrived about two or three years ago. I did a course back in 2018. I think I did talk of 2018 again. I did another course probably about 3-4 years ago for pest controllers. I go on the BBC SE news.

It's, you know, the pest controls are ready. I mean, anybody, as I said, that's done a watch nest can do Asian Hornets. I don't know, keeping it as a big mystery and Oh no, we've got to do this because we're more growner upper than pest controllers because we, we, we keep bees. So, but definitely Apha. There's a guy I speak to, Dan Etheridge, is actually human. He says, yeah, not this year, last year, he said. Not this year, this year. So we'll just have to see how it goes in Kenton up north there.

There was something Martin said at the start but I forgot to mention it. He was saying that here we go on the 8th of April, Beekeeper found the other Hornet in that near Dover. It means you get sorry. The term is, yeah, the leg Hornet now, ain't it? You're supposed to call it. And then there was 1 here, the 9th of April, a household of Fountain One. Sorry. He reckons that. I thought he came off the NBU WhatsApp. I don't know how you get into that, but apparently, hang on, it's back on screen now.

It must be verified. I don't know. He's saying it came off the NBU WhatsApp group. Yes. I don't know how you get on to that. I don't know how you you do. Maybe you need someone or. Yeah, well, I wouldn't recommend the username Nunnington. I don't think that's Donnington. I'm going to look it up now. Yeah, that's not Donnington because Donnington isn't there. Dover. Not nonnington. It was focused over my stomping ground when I when I my adolescence. You in the chat still Martin on YouTube then comes back up.

Oh it is. Sorry mate. Is it true? Here, aren't you? That's still new. Dover is there. That's that's where are you? Yeah. It's still in chat. It's not near Dover. It's not the closest place to Dover. It's it's halfway between Dover and Canterbury. OK. So it's not exactly that close. OK. Yeah, close. Enough. It's 15 miles. OK. Really. They used to live in Folkestone. 20 years in Folkestone. Yeah, that was enough. You're off to France. I've had enough. I'm going. Pretty much, yeah. I did my time in Folkestone, then I went to London and I was doing legal work and then I thought had enough of that when then moved over to France.

Nice. And this is one I'm going to ask you about. Obviously you mentioned it because we were talking about the future species and you mentioned something that I was surprised about. You mentioned you mentioned the potential of in the future of termites. And I was like, what? You, the UK, have already had termites. They had termites in the Southwest for about 20 years ago, I thought. I thought that was a it Was it real? I thought that was an error. No, no. No, no, no. There was station. Yeah, a long time ago.

The the climate's warming up. There were termites found not far from me here in central France. The in Aron Dismal of Paris has got them 15th. Aron Dismal is one of the richest places in Paris where all these people, rich people, have got second homes in the South of France, where I'm not from, and they bring their furniture back to Paris. OK, he said South of France because I advertised the podcast as as Rob was from the South of France. Start with he texts me. He replied I'm I could ask I'm I'm central and I he texted me saying that's like saying I'm from Leicester but I'm in the South, you know, Yeah, OK, my mistake.

That was. But yeah, they so they they're quite well established in Paris. They are edging their way. N there's certainly in Bordeaux, which is South of us, but we are in a moderate central France is a moderate risk of termites. OK. But. Any risk I could say is if they did get to the UK, obviously the house would be fine but they get to the roof and they could destroy the wood in the in in the loft. In the loft will be the the highest risk bit rest of the house is not made out of it but the roof it's all wood up there for the beams etcetera.

The the weird thing about termites is they they hate light. So if you've got a door and they'll they'll chomp the door and they'll leave the paint and everything else we kept could get eaten on the door. They just open the door and it just collapses. They're. Wow, yeah. Question for you, how many eggs does a queen termite lay per day?

I'm going to say something stupid, 100. That was quite stupid, sayings a. Well, what's for Lay 200 eggs a day and there. Have been like 2000 eggs a day. It was quite stupid, correct? This is a question I ask the the little kids when they go oh look. What do they say? Like what do they say like 10 or five? What's it mean? On termites have one more guess, but it's more than 100. 1000. Between 30 and 40,000 eggs a day. Wow, that's mental. That is absolutely crazy. There's no wonder people have all these treatments done.

They could rip your house up like no tomorrow. It wouldn't take long. Yeah, you could. You could wake up and and the asses fell on you. Wow. Again, they're easy to treat, they're easy to find prevention that you need to do Fipranil, which is now banned in Europe. Fipranil. Which is a what is it? What is it? What is it called? I think of the word. Can't remember the word now. You Nick tonight. Thank you. Yeah, I did absolutely brilliant on termites. So it's the thing. Very good on contractures as well.

So here's the thing, in the UK, if termites in the future was to become a thing, the UK would struggle because over here, unlike, well obviously in America, that's where termites really dominate. You can actually have a treatment for termites without having termites. Well in the UK you can't just spray just because you might get them. You've got to have the issue first, haven't you? I yeah, you do. For everything you have to have, you can't just do it. You have to have the actual issue and the press has to be there.

You can't just do a preventative measure just in case. And that one thing that when you tell the Americans it blows their mind what they're like I said, well, that's the way it is, that you have to have an infestation. You have to have evidence and proof of it, then you can do it. OK, all new build properties in France now have to have a anti termite membrane. OK, 'cause membrane. So the chances of it becoming a problem in the UKI think are slim. The other things you might are pine processory caterpillars.

You've got the oak processory caterpillars already, which differ has given that to the Forestry Commission to trade. What do they do? Are they them things that make the trees die? There's something that makes a tree die. Do you know what they are? I don't know. There's something that makes the tree die. A processory Caterpillar which is established in the UK is a processory Caterpillar which has got urgent hairs. Educated means they are toxic hairs that can cause injury and all necrosis to things that touch them so.

Painful. Yeah, most at risk are dogs and kids because they go, oh look, nice little Caterpillar, I'll put them in my mouth. I wonder why they haven't done much campaigns on this then. They don't want to scare people. They no. It has been on country file a few times. A lot of people, nice people don't come on. You want, you want the mass audience to know you're not going to put it on country file. You know I don't watch it. I love country file.

Sporadic outbreaks here in not in Nottingham, he's saying. Is that in reference to the the caterpillars? Martin? I'm guessing so. I don't think he's on about sporadic termite outbreaks.

The next one which will come over will be the Pine processor Caterpillar, plain processing Caterpillar in the pine needles as opposed to work. So a completely different species. Again, I know a lot about those we treat. It's it's a bit of a pain in the ass because you need 2 diplomas to treat pine processing caterpillars you can treat with chemicals. But when they are eating the Pines because they are a biocide problem. So it's a problem for the plants. But when they start defending it's a sorry, trees are feto when they descend.

It's a bio problem. So a problem for humans and dogs. So in tree when they're on procession as a if you've got the set of Bo seed and so the end of fetos, agricultures can spray the trees with bacillus terringensis. But yeah, now they're which it's not you that's going to be the problem unless you start messing around with them. But if you start cutting the cocoons off, if you if you've driven through France and seen pine trees with cocoons on them, that's the pine processory Caterpillar. But if you start chopping the nests off, the hairs will carry into the wind.

So you don't do you don't chop them out when the kids are playing in the school playground. You do it other times of the day. Alright, that's sensible. And yeah, Martin's telling me. Yeah, Country four rocks. Doesn't it? Doesn't it? Yes.

I don't watch a lot. I don't watch a lot of stuff like that, but I should do probably. I like The Apprentice and Dragon's Den and stuff like that. I do. OK I also do but yes my wife can't stand Dragons den or The Apprentice so she does other things but no country fire we all yes we watch ensemble. Maybe it should. I'll I'll stick it on and see what I think. It is. It is very useful to see what's happening out there, even you know pets proper pop up occasionally. Yeah, so I'll do that. I'll add that to my list.

Now I'll go. I have a weekly CPD. I've watched Countryfile.

You could do. You could do that. You could do that. Yeah, you know. With regard to, yeah, the three main things that I'm dealing with that you guys aren't dealing with are pine processory caterpillars, the odd termite and Asian Hornets, and they all want to come over to the UK. The trouble is, as far as I'm aware, Defra and APHA will go well. That's not a pest control job. Yeah, they probably will. You're right. They will if they're doing that. Asian Hornets, Yeah. Sorry, that's that. That's fine, I totally get it.

I do thanks ACT pest control for commenting. I don't know what country he's from, probably Uki don't know. Brown tail moth caterpillars are the same, have treated the tents by burning out. I don't know what country he's from though. Thanks for commenting. That's the UK telephone number. Is it? Yeah, it is. Yeah. Let's have a look at that.

But yeah, thanks for commenting. You're looking it up now. He's looking it up. This guy's a fact checker. He's looking for them. OK, so let's have a look at that. Yeah, yeah, he is from the UK. Yeah. Press the follow button on Facebook please if you haven't. It will help the show grow. It's not dissimilar looking to the pine perception Caterpillar. What I would suggest to the pine perception Caterpillar, you see those black, I'm sorry, I've I've got a picture up here, but there's black lines in between the hairs.

Normally those are little pockets that open up when they're disturbed and they will inject the toxic hairs.

Let me just do that there you. Go. Oh, yeah, Yeah, you can see it. That's quite. Oh, I'll see what you don't You turn your webcam around. Yeah. Those in between the hairs, sorry, you'll find that those little black lines are are pockets which will open and they will eject toxic hairs. Several of these insects ain't they, to try and kill people and things. Yeah, I know. Interesting to. That is interesting. Who, How? How widespread in the UK are those? I, I don't know. I don't know they're. Secondary though, are they?

I've not heard of it, but I need to. Yeah, it's it's above my head, that stuff you'd speak to someone like Alex Wade probably knows he's into all into that that kind of insect book books, He's really into them. Have you ever seen the podcast where he's got someone on that specialises in insects? He absolutely loves it. He. Does OK. Yeah, well, that is Sean's not a fan, but Sean's more of a fan these days of bed books. Actually, he admitted it on he admitted it on one podcast that he likes them more than he used to.

Again, sorry, I'm just looking at the brown tail moth Caterpillar picture of some guy with a rush on his arm. So yeah, exactly the same theatrical hairs. It's not the visible hairs, but they'll open up their pouch and they'll eject the hairs.

It is, but yeah, there are more things to do. I need to look up these names to do. I do. Yeah, for their work, for their.

Yeah, thanks ACT Pest Control for commenting on it. Press follow if you haven't. If you're on YouTube watching, press subscribe. If you're on Spotify later on, give us a review. It all helps the show grow. It does, but yeah. So is there anything else you wanted to cover, Rob? I think we've covered the majority of it. It's been very informative. I'll move to any questions. Anybody want to do a quick fire question questioning to you Bob? No in in as you called it in Frogland it is 5 past 10 it will be.

Yeah, I'm going to be in bed by 11:00 or yeah, because I'm up at. Anymore. 4:45. 4:45 Any more questions? It can cover them, but I think I'll probably everything I want to get through. But yeah, it was good to OK Moles or rabbits, he said.

Martin said. Moles or rabbits? I don't treat rabbits because you need a trapper's licence. I do do moles, but I what I generally do with moles is I teach the farmer how to do it. OK. It's easier for them because they're always there, so they'll they'll buy their traps off me, I'll give them a couple of hours training and they doodle often do it themselves. Very nice, I'm a lady ACT Pest controls come back saying that they were quite common a few years ago but he doesn't see money now. They stripped the Leafs off.

OK, but it's it's not the box Caterpillar the the box Caterpillar isn't doesn't have the toxic hairs the. Box. Kind of. See on roundabouts or hedge rows where the complete hedges covered in cobwebs, but it's not those. Martin said something about that. He said earlier on he put we get hedge rows covered in silk. Yeah, look, Comet, comet here. That's what you said. And is the box Caterpillar Pirelle de vivie PYRALE do X word DUBUIS. So I think it's the box box Caterpillar, but treatment is with Bacillus transgensis.

Yo, I'll tell you what, you lived in France a while. You're very good at sounding French when you say these French names. Very good. The easy thing about pest control is all the names are the same so flacoma fan is flacoma fan. Oh yeah, you are. Yeah, but you give it a kind of French accent you like, I suppose. You're around French people, aren't you? You pick it up more. You do. In fact, I've got probably less than 5% of my clients are English, so I'm I'm always. Yeah. So you're definitely around it.

You are.

But yeah, though the French go oh, you got English accent and the well, they don't want to work in France. I'll tell you in a minute, Jackie, but yeah, the English go or plumbing. You've you've you've changed. You now say wine red instead of red wine. Why did I move to France? I I sold my house in the UK, in London. I had a spare bit of cash in my pocket. I was too busy drinking and smoking and ruining my life in the UKI did a motorbike tour down to Italy, go and see somebody and we had an idea of buying, selling his house and selling our house and investing.

But by the time we got down to Italy, he got away for the weekend. So I thought so that I'll move over to central France. And yeah, the first house I saw in the estate agents, I bought that. But yeah, that was 20 years ago. I had a five year plan to renovate it and retire and whatever. I'm in the year 2 1/2. I think out of the five years this wall was, all the crap was picked off that wall 15 years ago. I still haven't rented it. OK, Going well then. Going well. Yeah, it's, yeah. Living in France is is just a completely different way.

It's a little bit Dojo. It's just a. More relaxed way of living. As I said, if you're in the system, they'll look after you. The French people say they're rude, it's just they say things differently. So, you know, they go to a bar and say I demand a beer, which demand is I'm asking for a beer. So, you know, oh, didn't you want to see the different? Basically, Yeah. I think the one of the most shocking or the funniest culture shock is I went to a local gendarmes police station. And in the reception there's guys with blood hanging, you know, dripping off their faces and whatever.

And you just go in there and everyone says. Bonjour. And carry on. What? The guy with the blood? The guy with the blood on his face. Yeah, they'll all say bonjour, OK? It's they always say you've got to say hello, you've got to say goodbye. No, you'd be screwed in. You'd be screwed in London. I tell you. I went. Now I live in the countryside, in Rutland. I've only ever heard of it before. Little County called, it's called Rutland. Little County called Rutland. Yeah. It's and when we went to London, it's a shock, right?

People do not like when I'm not saying this is every person that lives in London, but a lot of them just don't say thank you for like, you know, you get a Greg like when you say, oh, it's a bit weird. And they all rush, they rush at speed, rush at speed and they're not one of them out on the air, the escalators. My son was terrified going down and he was trying to get past and I went, my son's terrified. You're going to have to wait. And he waited. To be fair, he looked like he was shitting himself because I was, I'm quite big and I was staring at him.

You know, that was my few years ago. And my son, son was a lot younger. It was, but he rushed, rushed, rushed, rushed. I was, I was, I was so hoping one of them was going to fall down the escalators. I thought that would teach him, but none of them did. They're so used to it, though, aren't they? Rushed you to put down the escalators, you know. Actually, when I was living in London, this is so, so like back, you know? Yeah, yeah. In London you have to do this and do that and do that and go out for a dinner and have a few drinks and do this and do that and yeah, it is, yeah.

Oh, might do that today. Might do that tomorrow. That's nice. That's life in London. That's the impression I got, but apparently Rob's telling me it's not. It's a laid back life. Life in London. Oh, France. Sorry, get it now. Sorry. I thought you made it with laid back in London.

No, France is just chilling. My nearest neighbour is 500 metres away. Yeah, yeah. So we've got a 25 acres of land and. Very nice, nice. Quite a big farmhouse, but yeah, it was bought from the change of selling my place in in New Malden. Nice. So looks like we've gone through all the questions. OK, yeah. But yeah, everybody wants to come out. They're more than welcome to come and visit and play with Asian Hornets anytime from mid-july until mid-october. I see they're on your course. Are they actually allowed to treat it or do they have to sit there and watch you?

It depends who's who's around, but you haven't legally got the qualifications to use the powder. But with Chris Venables, what I did, I treated the treated the patient of horniness with paintball gun and then I gave some blank paintball pellets to shoot whatever he wanted to. Oh, I see. OK. But yeah, no, it's just a matter of watching bodies. It's no different to me holding the pistol and then you holding the pistol. So, but yeah, you get you get closer and up close and personal. Nice. But yeah, I don't charge, but lunch would be appreciated.

That's nice here, so if anyone wants to do that, reach out. Or give a certificate of attendance, anybody that wants to come along. And it's it's normally a big fun three days we go driving around the French countryside and speaking French to people. Martin said he'd love to come, but he's got a busy year. It's fine in that window it says, but I've got a busy year. Fair enough. So in bees you see busy busy year doing bees if you. Give me another year you can do your own Asian homeless. Well, we'll have to say Won't.

We to if the new people's. Let you see. But yeah, thanks everyone for watching and there will be some CBD up tomorrow. I'll do a little quiz and yeah, you'll do the quiz and and you'll get a point. What's that? Sorry. 40,040 thousand queen termite eggs. Oh, 40,000, I'll put that in there. I will, I will for one of them. I will.

Jackie's saying she'd love to come over. I'm a married man, but you're more than welcome.

Yeah, also Marty says me and my wife can ride over on the motorbike. We'll, we'll, yes, because I've been. Thank you. I've got a Royal Enfield SM-650 Super Meteor, so there's some great roads to stand right in the next department. So bring your motorbike and yeah. Go biking. So yeah, thanks everyone. If you don't the British pass register, I'll do a quiz tomorrow. I'll pull it up then or you can self register. The podcast is up to you, whatever you want to do. But so thanks everyone and I will be back next week because I've actually started to book paper up.

I've got people booked till June now getting ahead of myself again. Yeah, you know, Sean, give my mobile number or give my phone number and it's a WhatsApp number or e-mail address. But yeah, if anybody speak to me, I never have pest control in France. Yeah, definitely. So if you if you want, there you go. If you want, if you want the note, just ask me. All all the people talking now all know me very well. I don't know ACT pest control though, but I know all of the others very well. I don't know.

So thank you everyone for watching and I'll just end the stream, Rob, just stay on for a second and I'll see everyone next week. All right. Thanks everyone. OSWA.

Tonight's Episode