Is your company receiving reports of Termite Swarms?  Help us track termite activity this season – post under the ‘Comments’ section recent activity in the cities you are servicing.

Residex Solution Centers are reporting the following:

Norwood, MA- Termites are showing up but not in great numbers… ants just starting…very little other activity..snow still falling in northern portions of territory.

Hartford, CT – Some termite swarming being reported. Carpenter ants are also starting to move. Still waiting for the weather to break.

Hicksville, NY- Termites! Ants Ants Ants!! Solitary Ground Wasps! Boxelder Bugs! Flies! Bed bugs on the rise again!! Should be 80 degrees today!! Yippee!!

Elmsford, NY- termites are swarming in Downstate NY. Upstate NY is just starting out. Weather is just warming up now. Ants are in abundance.

Saddlebrook, NJ – Ants, ants and mice.  Few termite swarms.

Roselle, NJ –Stink bugs and boxelder bugs

Blackwood, NJ – Ants, small amount stink bugs, little bit of termite activity… waiting on the big brake……………….

Baltimore, MD – ants and termites are on the strong move.

College Park, MD –  Ants, ants and more ants.  Termites are starting to pick up a little and mice have been very active in Montgomery County and DC.

Richmond, VA – Termite swarming has slowed but customers are finding termites through inspections, monitoring, etc… Most customers have done more termite work so far this year as opposed to this time last year. Ants and flies very active right now.

Vienna, VA – Ants are rolling. Very few stink bugs. Very little termite swarmers.  Lots of carpenters bees.

Virginia Beach, VA – In Va Beach, we are still getting Termite Swarmers.  Ants continue to be active and Carpenter Bees are showing up.

Monroeville, PA – With the warm weather termites are swarming, sting bugs are coming out carpenter ants and all other ants are moving. 

Jacksonville, FL – Fleas still the number 1.
Longwood, FL –  Fleas and Ticks are the worst seen in years. We are also still seeing swarming Termites activity throughout central Florida. Lawn and Ornamental insects are in high gear and the shrubs and grass are in need of some rain.  

Tampa, FL – Termite activity moderate, ant activity still on the increase and seeing more activity with bed bugs.

Riviera Beach, FL – Termites have slowed down to very sporadic.  A lot of carpenter ant activity being reported. Lots of flees and some ticks this week. Bedbugs being dealt with on a continual basis. L&O fertilization slowing down, but still getting insect activity (i.e.; grubs, chinch bug, etc.)

“Waiting for the Big Swarm”, will appear in the upcoming issue of PCT Magazine:  The Termite Issue. 

Don’t sit idly by and reminisce about the good old days when termite swarms made your phone ring off the hook. Those days are gone, but that doesn’t mean your business has to take a financial hit. 
 

Much to the consternation of many in the pest management industry, the termite swarm season has come and gone without much fanfare in recent years. While you will find no shortage of theories for the apparent decline in termite swarming activity, the time has come for PMPs to stop waiting for the next “big swarm” and take charge of their own destiny.

Contrary to the industry rumor mill, Termidor and Sentricon have not impacted termite colonies to the point of extinction, rather termite colonies appear to be present, healthy and all around us. If that’s the case, termite services still represent a significant market opportunity if this area of your business is given the proper attention.

A NEW DAY. Remember the theme from the movie Field of Dreams? “Build it and they will come.” Those are the words pest control companies that are dependent on a strong swarm each year need to follow — you need to build a system to create a virtual swarm and the leads will come.

The companies that have fared better than their competitors during these lean swarm years are those that have invested in strategies designed to generate termite leads, such as cultivating relationships within the realtor community; investing in sales training; or funding an aggressive marketing plan that drives leads. Companies that wait and pray for a strong termite swarm are the same that wait for the phone to ring. In order to succeed during these challenging economic times, PMPs must create their own opportunities to ensure a consistent and steady lead flow.

Where has the termite swarm of old gone? The industry line is that the efficacy of Termidor and Sentricon has eliminated termite colonies rather than repelled the population, the mode of action of the previous generation of termiticides. There may be some small grain of truth to this theory, but realistically termite colonies are more likely simply going through cyclical changes due to the impact of extreme weather conditions, parasites, predators and diseases, the natural progression of life cycles and population dynamics that affects all life forms.

In the past, Texas and Florida and other parts of the American Southeast and Southwest have experienced long-term droughts followed by powerful hurricanes. Insect populations neither like drought conditions nor too much rain. Termites are very dependent on a high level of humidity within their colony structure to survive. These extreme climatic conditions place stress on once-healthy termite populations. Additionally, once the colony is under stress it becomes more vulnerable to disease, parasites and predators. And once termite populations crash, the parasite and prey populations collapse as well, allowing the strongest termite populations to rebound in the future.

The swarm is generally considered a sign of a healthy and mature termite colony; at least that’s what we’ve always been taught. I believe termites are simply in a down-population cycle and will rebound as environmental conditions improve. Once they rebound, populations and swarm sizes should be larger if termites follow a typical population dynamics curve.

BE PROACTIVE. Until our industry gets back to the days when the termite swarm is abundant and generates a 6- to 8-week backlog of service calls, PMPs need to take control. There are many ways to self-generate termite and other pest leads. Here are some suggestions to get started:

Invest in a termite monitoring program. There are a variety of high-quality termite monitoring systems currently on the market. The key is to make an investment in any one of these systems and commit to incorporating a termite monitoring option into every non-termite sales presentation. If you do, three things will happen:

 • You will find termite activity even when termites aren’t swarming.

 • You will create a new source of renewable revenue by selling a “watchdog” monitoring system to replace some of the lost termite income you’ve experienced.

 • The customer will call your company when other pest problems arise, which in turn will generate new revenue sources.

Advertise your termite services. Spend advertising dollars to notify the consumer that termite swarms are not as predictable as they once were and that their property is at risk of attack and damage from the unseen worker stage. Remind them that termite workers are active 24-7 and 365 days a year, even if there hasn’t been a swarm in or around their home. Noticeable damage can take years to show itself and in many cases the damage is significant once found. These are the factual messages both current and potential customers need to hear.

Create your own termite swarm. Rather than focusing only on pest-pressure dependent ad campaigns, each Spring — March in the Northeast and February in the Southeast — invest in a proactive telemarketing or direct mail campaign that warns homeowners of the unseen presence of termites.

Train your CSRs. Invest in training for your customer service representatives, technicians and sales staff to make sure they focus on educating consumers on termite biology, the swarm phenomenon and the absence of a strong swarm over the last few years.

In the interim, PMPs must take action and discover non-swarming termite populations in both current and potential accounts. Termites are out there and waiting to be found. By including a monitoring program in your service offering, you will preserve and grow your market share until the year of the “big swarm” returns.

Chris Donaghy, BCE, is CEO of Residex-Turfgrass.

A mass of winged termites (Reticulitermes flavipes) takes to the skies in search of a new home.

Filmed and produced by Richard Martyniak under the direction of Philip Koehler, UF/IFAS Entomology and Nematology Department. Additional footage provided by UF/IFAS Communication Services

Happy St. Pat’s to all!

An entomologist’s observations on this Winter: Over the past weekend those of you who live in the Northeast experienced one heck of a Nor’easter that created serious flooding and major tree damage throughout the region. I believe this was our 5th or 6th major storm since October when the Nor’easters began.

They say climate trends run in roughly 11 year cycles, and if that is true, then we are in the beginning of a cooling cycle that has reintroduced big Fall, Winter and Spring storms to us, just like I vaguely remember in the late 80’s. What I also remember about the late 80’s and early 90’s were the big termite and carpenter ant swarms that kept me very busy with leads and production. My assumption is that as an industry we are about to enter the return of the termite swarm. Here is why I believe that to be true.

The major storms that raged across the country from west to south and up to the northeast corridor brought soil insulating snows, so the soil never froze, and tree and home destroying winds and moisture. The combination of a non-frozen earth and an overabundance of deadwood littering the landscape is a combination that termites live to enjoy. Additionally the damage caused to trees and homes will create an easy opportunity for wood destroying pests such as carpenter ants, acrobat ants, carpenter bees, wood destroying beetles, fungus and termites to easily relocate or establish in homes and other buildings.

My home is situated on a heavily wooded lot in NJ, and each year the Spring clean up has been relatively easy until this year. I have never seen so much downed wood on the forest floor and lawns throughout my traveling region, and this wood will serve to feed billions of termites throughout the widespread areas impacted by the many storms this year. This abundance of food will energize termite colonies to possibly return to the levels of the 80’s and 90’s, or maybe even greater levels.

Termites won’t be the only opportunity out there for PMPs this Spring and Summer. Mold and mildew is and will continue to wreak havoc in too many homes to count in many parts of the country. This is the season to get on board with a moisture control program for your current and potential customers.

Mother Nature has delivered a big helping hand to our industry, now if we get a little improvement in the economy, then prepare for a banner year of sales and growth.

Residex will be here to help you in everyway possible.

Best wishes to you all this busy season.

Chris Donaghy

March 2, 2010

TALLAHASSEE – Termite season gets underway when swarming begins in late February and early March as temperatures begin to warm. Swarming means the termites are leaving their colonies to search for new nesting sites. So, Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles H. Bronson is once again warning Floridians to take steps to protect their home.  Termites cause about $750,000,000 dollars in property damage in the U.S. annually.   

Termites are most abundant in the Southwest and South, with the Gulf coast commonly known as “the termite belt”. Since termites try to avoid light and open air spaces, the insects do their damage behind walls. Many homeowners don’t realize they have a termite problem until swarming season when they see them flying around their homes.  The swarmers are winged, black inspects about ¼ inch long and look a lot like flying ants.  Click here to read the entire article

Field Sales Representative Jason Flemming from Longwood, FL is receiving reports from customers that termites are swarming. These reports are coming from the Winter Park, West and East side of Orlando, and Edgewater areas.

 If you have reports of Termite Swarms in your area, please send us an email at: marketing@residex.com or post a comment.  We would like to include your experiences in our ‘Termite Tracker’ as we head into season.

Courtesy of Lisa from Pest Advantage Services