I believe 2016 will be one of those years we talk to our grandchildren about. Between the roller coaster ride of a presidential election to drastic swings in the weather. We have spent most the time not knowing which way is up.
January and February were seasonally average months. Then March warmed up. This made for a busier than expected spring. I have worked 60 plus hour weeks since the last week of March. November was warmer than normal. Even did a large termite service in Kenosha the second week of November. Traditionally my termite rig is already winterized by the first of November. What were some of the seasonal surprises in 2016? In late March and early April the paper wasp were behaving more like what you would see in October. What was the cause? It appeared far more wasp survived the winter in the safety of attics and overhangs. Since our Indian Summer of 2015 was a slow gradual occurrence. Their trigger to hang out in the sun wasn't dramatic enough. Follow that with a mild winter, yet not too mild. They came out in late March......sunned themselves and most perished from "old" age. Most of the summer, where we were expecting a higher level of wasp due to the spring activity, did not occur. The Mediterranean/European Paper wasp seems to be taking over. Their peak season is late July and by mid-August, they are done reproducing. Their behavior then changes to clustering outside of their paper comb hive. BED BUGS! Yes, BED BUGS, have continued to increase in activity. This has been our busiest year yet for bed bugs. Since I specialize more in the higher end homes, that has also been where most of our bed bug calls have seen the largest growth. Yes, they like everyone equally. Nice hey? Whether it has been Hunters Ridge, River Oakes, Forest Park, Allendale or many of the other residential subdivisions, bed bugs have been on the increase. Travel being the leading cause of introduction, followed by returning college students. I have seen more than a few pieces of bed bug furniture being sold on online rummage sale sites. Carpenter Ants had a bit of a setback mid-summer. The hard drought was not as bad as 2012, it got too close though. This caused carpenter ant population growth to slow down. It also likely killed some parts of the colony off. Carpenter Ants are tough and know how to survive our climate. They will not only rebound, they will likely over react. Thus causing them to produce more than average reproductive swarmer’s. These winged ants are mostly fertile females. There is a smaller number of winged males. Expect carpenter ants to be busy the first 70F day of April. MICE. Mice were up this fall. More deer mice than I can recall in a while. These are the native species that will typically come and go throughout the year. Settling in for the fall and winter months. They seldom reproduce indoors. The common grey house mouse usually move in for the long haul. They are more comfortable being around humans than even the deer mouse. The national pest control journals all agree 2017 we will be seeing and even greater pressure from bed bugs as well as a possitive oulook of our economy.
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AuthorI am the owner and sole operator of Spectrum Pest Control. Hope you enjoy my helpful hints, predictions and fun stories. Archives
March 2018
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