Pest Management Professional, May 2017

Brought to you By The fuTure looks bright N ot so long ago mosquito management was an occasional service for most pest management professionals PMPs An existing client might ask for an adulticide treatment for an upcoming backyard party for example or request mosquito dunks for their pond so they could enjoy the outdoors bite free for the summer For the most part communities were in charge of sending fogging trucks through their neighborhoods occasionally engaging a private firm for the task But in the past decade or so because of the heightened media coverage of first West Nile virus WNV and then Zika virus and their frightening prospects of birth defects or even death from a mere bite from a carrier More oNLINe Online at PMPPesttalk net join the discussion of how tick control pairs nicely with mosquito work mosquito the game plan has changed dramatically When warmer weather hits PMPs find the phone ringing for mosquito control almost as much as they do for ants and other warmer season pests Standing out from the crowd Pest Management Professional PMP recently conducted an exclusive reader survey about PMPs and the mosquito service segment Because of the comparatively rapid growth of this segment industry wide our readers report that the top obstacle facing them is the fierce pricing competition in the market David Bisaillon president of Envirocare Pest Control Watertown Conn notes that his company was one of the first five in the state offering mosquito and tick service to residential customers when his 20 year old firm got into the segment about five years ago I have four dedicated mosquito technicians who take a layoff in the offseason he explains noting that nearly 75 percent of mosquito service comes from existing general pest control GPC or termite management customers They come back in March for sales and applications start in mid April But Jeff Annis chairman of Advanced Services Augusta Ga notes there is no off season for mosquitoes in his market where temperatures are above 55 F nearly year round Even if it is just a visit where you work with an integrated pest management IPM checklist there is something you can do about mosquito control all months of the year he points out adding that firms that dont take IPM seriously would be wise to remember the acronym does not equal indiscriminate pest massacre Advanced Services Technical Director Bo Thomas ACE says his technicians are cross trained to look for conducive conditions during every service By HeatHer GoocH Editor pro tips paMela blauvelt The timing is right for mosquito services right now because the public sees mosquitoes not only as a disease threat but a threat to also enjoying their backyards Michael tulp If youre going to get into mosquito work do your homework and take it seriously You cant just slap a mosquito sign on the side of the truck Youve got to train and youve got to train and youve got to train DaviD bisaillon Mosquito technicians need to be physically fit and pay attention to detail He or she is going to be wearing a 40 lb backpack and doing eight to 10 stops in 90 F heat We supply water and send reminder text messages Are you drinking water We emphasize that drinking soda does not count mypmp net Pest Management Professional May 2017 MM11 illustratiON istOck cOm hakkiarslaN As mosquito opportunities grow so do lessons learned as PMP s 2017 Mosquito survey shows