The History of Pest Control

The application of pest control ranges from home made structures to

the very precise deployment of chemicals and predatory insects by

highly skilled practitioners. Despite the fact that pest control is a world-wide

industry it is still ruled by household or 1-person companies. The ones that need

to regulate pests vary between householders to

largescale agri-conglomerates who must increase their yield. In between

Pest Control Shefford of these are bars, restaurants, food manufacturing facilitiesand farmers - in fact,

anyone who regularly handles food. Pest-control may make us more

comfortable - however may also save lives.

The term insect is subjective as one individual's pest might be still another individual's helper. For example, pest A may be a hazard to crop Apest B a threat to

harvest B. But if pest B is an all natural predator to pest infestation, then a farmer who

wants to protect harvest A can cultivate and discharge insect B among his plants.

There's a theory that without man's intervention from the food chain through

agriculture, hunting and longdistance travel there will be no pests. The

theory goes that individual's intervention (for example, in nurturing and

releasing insect , or in carrying animals long-distances ) has upset the balance

of their food chain, producing instability in insect and other animal amounts and

distorting their own evolution. This instability has led to over-population of a

given

species with the effect that they have become pests. Having said this, if we assume the exact first fly swat was that the first

instance of pest control - and we all understand that large critters swat flies - it could possibly be argued that pest control dates back way before humans came on the scene.

The earliest recorded instance of pest control takes us back to 2500BC once the Sumerians

used sulphur to control pests. Subsequently around 1200BC the Chinese, in their own great

age of discovery near the ending of the Shang Dynasty, were using chemicals to

control pests. The Chinese continued to develop ever more sophisticated

chemicals and ways of controlling pests for crops and for individuals relaxation.

No doubt the spread of pest control knowhow was helped by the high level state of

Chinese writing ability. Although progress in pest control techniques undoubtedly

lasted, the next significant scrap of signs does not come until around

750BC when Homer described the Greek utilization of timber ash spread on land for a kind of

pest control.

Around 500BC that the Chinese were utilizing arsenic and mercury compounds as a means

to control human body lice, a common problem throughout history.

By 300BC

there is evidence of the use of utilization of predatory insects to control pests, even although this method was almost completely developed before this date. The Romans

developed pest control procedures and also these ideas were distributed across the

empire.

The first known instance where predatory pests were hauled from 1 area to another comes from Arabia approximately 1000AD where date growers moved cultures of rodents from neighboring mountains into their own oasis plantations as a way to prey phytophagous rodents that attacked date hands.

Despite the enlightenment offered by the ancient Chinese, Arabs and Romans,

a lot of these teachings did not pass down though time. Certainly in Europe

through the dark ages, methods of insect control were just as likely to become based on

superstition and local spiritual rituals as some other proven way. Pests were frequently seen as workers of wicked - notably people who destroyed food, livestock or plants.

Even though there have been definitely studies of fleas throughout the dark ages, we don't have any recorded evidence of this.

It isn't before European renaissance when more proof pest control

emerges. His writings were (and remain) the root and

origin of prospective study into pests (in addition to plants and animals generally). In exactly the same time, the agricultural revolution began in Europe and mimicked a widespread application of pest control. With the work of Linnaeus as well as different scholars and the business should ensure livestock and plants were protected,

pest-control became more systemized and disperse throughout the universe. As worldwide commerce increased, new pesticides were detected.

Now pest control was performed by farmers and a few householders

as a regular activity. By the early nineteenth century nevertheless , this shifted as writings and studies began to show that treated pest control as a

distinct field. Increasing utilization of intensive and large scale farming brought

fitting increases in the level and scale of pest scares such as the

devastating potato famine in Ireland in 1840. Pest controller management has been scaled

up to meet those requirements, to this idea that pest controls begun to

emerge throughout the 20thcentury.

Back in 1921 the initial crop-spraying aero plane was employed as well as in 1962 flying insect control was altered when Insectocutor started selling fly killer

machines using ultra violet lamps.

Pest controller remains completed by farmers and householders to this very day.

There are also pest control specialists (some times called pesties); lots of are one person businesses and others benefit large businesses. In most countries

the pest control business is dogged by some bad practitioners who have

tarnished the reputation for its exceptionally professional and responsible majority.

One thing is for sure, away before the Sumerians of 2500BC to people in modern times, there happen to be - and probably will be pests (including some individual ones!) . Thank goodness, therefore, that we have pest controllers.