The difference is in the details

The Difference  is in the details. How many times do we hear this?
Many in my profession are very good people who only want to help their clients resolve their pest problems. And, that they do. So, what is the difference?  What separates them from what I do? Is there a difference between intent and execution? We all have our favorite Bakery, Fish Fry, Coffee Shop etc. What is it that makes us choose one over the other? Is it the quality of their food? The customer service? Friendship? We all have our favorites. 

When I discuss methods of control with my peers, I often discover they have a good grasp of how to kill the bad bugs yet have little knowledge of the nuances of how each product or method interacts with the entire population or colony of the pest they are targeting. Ants in general and specifically Carpenter Ants, have very intricate interactions with each other and the environment around them. If one does not have a full understanding of the holistic picture? They quite often win the battle and not the war. When approaching the elimination vs the control of carpenter ants, knowing the big picture is critical. For their colony is seldom in one location.

A mature colony will have up to ten thousand ants, spread out over a dozen satellite sites as far as five hundred feet away from the main colony with the queen. Few structures will have the proper water damaged wood to support the needs of the chamber the queen claims as her throne. More often this is found in a rotting tree, tree stump or landscaping timber. The satellites will be in locations ideal for very specif stages of development with in the colony.  The eggs, early larval stages tend to need the highest moisture levels, thus usually near the queen. As the larvae develop and grow, their dietary and environmental needs change as well. The workers will move them to the sites best suited. These locations may be bone dry, such as hollow core doors, curtain rods, window frames etc. Other locations for later stage larvae may require minor water damaged wood such as that found in the sill plate area where the house sits on top of the foundation.

How does all this make a difference in proper management and ultimate elimination?  If any product or method works too fast? It will not allow the colony to fail. Even if the queen is reached? The colony may already have future queens in the pipeline. Most commonly known as winged reproductive's . If the colony senses the loss of their queen they may force a new queen to emerge from the batch of reproductive's. 

There are now dozens of ant baits labeled for carpenter ants, yet only a few that actually gain complete control. How is this important. Even though they all are now accepted by carpenter ants and their picky palate, most will kill the ant before it can be transferred to the queen. 

Attacking wasp are important to have instant kill. Carpenter Ants require by comparison a slower approach. The methods I have perfected over the years will give reasonably fast results. The difference is, this may mean several days vs minutes or hours.  Why is this important to you? With Spectrum Pest Control, you are far more likely to see results that last well over a year. Sometimes even years. This allows me to be able to offer a full one year warranty against carpenter ants. Something only Spectrum Pest Control has been offering since 1998!

April is the month were the colony comes back to life after a long winter pause. The warmer temps will trigger their foraging for sugars, water and sweets as well as house cleaning their nest of the winter die off. It is at this phase of their season where the colony is the most vulnerable to a proper and aggressive approach. Only Spectrum Pest Control provides several follow up visits every seven to ten days. While most may only offer one follow up or worse yet. Force you into a maintenance contract of bi monthly or quarterly services. These options do very little to diagnose why you have carpenter ants and what needs to be done structurally to prevent future problems. 

Be sure to contact us today to schedule a no cost or obligation estimate inspection.