Vincent Mozina July 2nd 1934 – January 13th 2012. Born in Venetia Pa., the middle child of the Late Frank and Mary Mozina (Domitrovic) friends and family called him “Jake” until he joined the military only to discover his true name. Vince graduated from East Washington High School in 1952 and later received his Aircraft & Engine License from PIA. Vince eloped with his high school sweetheart Janet Ross and the two built a life together, first in Pa. and then to Maui Hawaii. After the Army Vince worked at St. Joe Paper Co in 84 Pa. where he rose to a management position. Prior to their move to Maui Vince and Janet ran a small store and sold John Deere tractors. In that small community Vince was a public official, a volunteer fire fighter, ambulance and school bus driver. They sold the farm to buy a home in Kihei and Vince became the Chief Engineer at the Intercontinental Hotel in Wailea, where he completed a beautiful renovation of the hotel. Grateful for his attention to detail the company wished to move him to other locations but Vince didn’t want to leave his Island home. In 1993 Vince became the Bug Man, later joined by Tim and Mary Jo (Mozina) Drake. Vince and his family attended Calvary Chapel South Maui.

Vince is greatly missed by his dear wife Janet Mozina (Ross),of 57 years, Three Daughters, Kelly Bristor, Susan Yadao, and Mary Jo Drake, Two Son-in-laws, Rodrigo Yadao and Tim Drake, and Nine Grandchildren, Roger, Victoria, Katheryn, Nathaniel, Joseph, Francesca, Abigail, Benjamin and Alexander.

Vince touched so many lives where ever he went, he was a true friend to many. The family has arranged a public viewing and brief service will be held at Ballard Family Mortuary at 440 Ala Makani Street, Kahului, Hawaii on Saturday January 21, 2012 from 5pm to 9pm. Donations can be made in the name of Vince Mozina to the Shriner’s Hospital for Children.

While we have lost a good friend, we feel a responsibility to continue on in the strong legacy of service and commitment that Vince taught us.  We are still that same Bug Man and will continue to learn and grow and offer the excellent service that you have come to expect.  Like any forward thinking business owner, Vince put plans in place years ago to ensure that Bug Man would not only carry on but grow.

Well…when it comes to bugs, it sure does help.

This article is about something that restaurants, especially small ones, sometimes dread…cleaning.  Especially when business is slow, it can take a lot out of a small restaurants budget to get some very basic cleaning services done, yet sometimes, that cleaning can do more then just make things sparkle.  German cockroaches, the food establishments biggest pest threat, can live off an enormously small amount of debris, they breed rapidly, and once a population is established, can take an enormous amount of resources to eradicate.  Yet by cleaning everyday, you can remove the main reason why the roaches stay, the food debris.

Now, I’m not saying that an excessive cleaning has to be done everyday, but some very basic things should be done on a daily basis.  I know what kind of work has to go into keeping a restaurant clean as I worked in the food industry for 2 years, long before I got into pest control, and we had a clean and tidy kitchen without a lot of extra effort.  We had a thorough cleaning done once every quarter by a professional company and we did some very basic things on a daily basis, and I think that these might help you evaluate whether your

• All standing surfaces should be wiped down and cleaned after closing.
• The floors should be swept and mopped using a de-greaser everyday.  Especially underneath any grills or fryers, as the grease that is produced by these is great food for roaches, and also breaks down any insecticides used to treat a kitchen.
• After mopping, all the standing water should be squeegeed into the drains.  If the water won’t dry within an hour, then it’s too wet.
• All drain strainers need to be cleaned out daily.
• All dishes should be left clean.  No server trays piled high with dirty dishes to be left overnight (I know to some that sounds unbelievable, but I have seen it with my own eyes).
• Soda dispenser heads and drain pans need to be cleaned daily, and the drain pan needs to be thoroughly flushed with water to clear the drain of sugar.
• Keep the storage or use of corrugated cardboard, down to a minimum.  Cockroaches LOVE to hitchhike in the corrugation as the glue that holds the boxes together is usually made out of a potato starch and is a great food source.  I know that restaurants that use a lot of grease in their cooking, sometimes use the cardboard on the floor to prevent slipping.  If this is you, at least throw away the cardboard every night.  An even better idea would be to use the heavy rubber anti-fatigue mats that are made for this purpose.
• If you have anti-fatigue mats, they should be cleaned with a de-greaser, every night.
• And finally, if food is left out to defrost overnight, make sure that it is still in it’s plastic wrap, or else the roaches will use that nice piece of food as a midnight snack, and then contaminate it with all the yuck that they carry around.

That about covers it for the basics.  If you need an inspection to help identify possible problem areas in your kitchen, please call us, the Bug Man.

Aaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!  The words every homeowner hates to hear.  Especially when those termites are the dreaded Formosan Subterranean Termite (coptotermes formosanus).  These guys do over $1 billion in home and structural damage in the United States, every year, with 10% of that being done in our beautiful state of Hawaii ($100 million).  These little buggers were reportedly first noticed in the Honolulu area as “wood eating maggots”  in the late 1800′s but were never confirmed until the early 1900′s.  Their colony size can range from 2-20 million termites in a single colony, and it is this enormous colony size, that drives them to eat large amounts of wood in a very short period of time.  They need large amounts of moisture to survive, and therefore, the colony itself  does not generally reside in a structure, but rather in the ground, close to a source of constant moisture.  From time to time the colony does reside in a structure, but usually only when there is large amount of moisture available inside the structure.  Signs of an infestation (other than the severely obvious, like the opening picture) include sagging in the walls or ceiling, mud tubes extending from the ground, dirt slits appearing in drywall or visible wood, or possibly even alates.

If you have seen any of these signs, it’s possible that you have a ground termite infestation in your home, and you are probably wondering what needs to be done to keep them out of your home.  The first thing is to call a professional in to help evaluate the situation and develop a plan to eliminate the current infestation and create a protective barrier around the home to protect your home.  That professional should recommend one or two of a few possible choices.

• Termidor Perimeter Plus liquid barrier-This is a treatment using a widely known and available termite control product called Termidor.  This product claims to be able to eliminate an entire colony, but more importantly, this product is in a class of non-repellent termiticides, that the termites are unable to detect, and so walk through contaminated soil without realizing that it is there.  The product also has what the manufacturer refers to as a “transfer effect”, where the product can pass from termite to termite through normal social insect mingling, which is why they claim a full colony elimination.
• Sentricon or other types of termite bait (Advance, Exterra)-This is a treatment that involves putting stations around the exterior perimeter of the structure, every 10 -20 feet, that contain what some refer to as an “inspection cartridge”, but is basically a really yummy (to termites) broken down cellulose that the termites consume but has no termiticide in it.  These stations are meant to be checked on either a monthly or quarterly basis, and when termites are found in the inspection cartridge, it is carefully removed and replaced with a “bait cartridge” that actually contains the termiticide to kill the termites.  The product usually effects the entire colony and has been proven in independent studies, that a full colony elimination can be achieved.  Be careful with these products, as not all of them use the same active ingredient, and some of the active ingredients, while they work on other types of subterranean termites, do not work on the Formosan termites for one reason or another.  I have also witnessed termites missing the stations completely and infesting the house.
• Tent Fumigation using Vikane-This is only done when an aerial nest is found in the house itself.  This is a worst case scenario.  If this is recommended there will more than likely be one of the other types of treatment also recommended, to prevent the termites from getting back into the house.

So, if you are concerned about Formosan ground termite problems, please remember to call a professional, and if your on Maui, call Bug Man.

Are you having problems with Whitefly, Mealybug, or even that pesky Bumpy Leaf Mite???  Bug Man has just the service to be able to knock out those problems.  We offer an ornamental foliage treatment to help eliminate those pesky plant suckers.  Our service includes a one-two combo that both kills the insects that are currently infesting the plant, and provides a long term residual action that continues on long after the service is completed.

The Tallest Building Bug Man has ever fumigated!  The seven story high rise at Hale Pau Hana, was fumigated in August.  The job took a 6 man crew, 3 days to complete.  We ordered in extra long tarps to reach the ground, 70 feet below.  Pacific Pile and Crane lifted the 200 pound rolls of tarp up onto the roof,  while rope and double 6 inch water snakes sealed the tarp to the building and ground.

While the building is constructed from Cement, the doors, cabinets and some flooring in the 49 units was all being eaten away by hungry Drywood Termites.