[2004 State of the Industry Report] Pest Almanac 2004: Populations on the Rise

Many PCOs say this pest season has been better than last year’s, which by some accounts was on the slow side. Tommy Reeves, vice president at Oldham Chemicals Company Inc. in Memphis, Tenn., says general pest control business has been up by 15 to 20 percent overall. (Oldham is a regional distributor serving the Southeast.) Reeves said substantial rainfall in some areas of the South have helped pest populations.

Peter Schopen Jr., vice president of Mid Central Pest Control based in East Dundee, Ill., says in his area, the business for general pests has been strong, unlike last year. "We’ve had a very good summer," he said. "We’re seeing a lot of foundation ants — odorous house ants and a lot of pavement ants." In addition, he said, "We had a very wet spring here in Illinois so the mosquito and earwig populations are just booming." His termite work has been way up too, he said, which may come as a surprise to some since his company serves northern Illinois and Chicago. He attributes the increase to word-of-mouth as well as more termite activity in the area. "We do a lot of termite inspections and we’re finding more termites, it seems," he said.

Jeff Jones, vice president of Admiral Pest Control in Bellflower, Calif., says this pest season is better than last year’s for both termites and general pests. He attributes this in part to the area’s dry, warm spring weather. "We had a really good March and April, which generally is just lackluster," Jones said. "I think the season started earlier this year than normal."

Marcel Deshaies, owner of Advantage Termite & Pest Control in Lebanon, Tenn., agreed this pest season has been better than last year’s. "The swarm season last year was horrible," he said, "but this year it picked up a bit." Furthermore, he said, ant and beetle work has been significant this year.

A stronger economy may also being playing a role, many PCOs say. Ned Ewart, owner of Bug Master Exterminating in Austin, Texas, says while last year was an off-year, this has been a very good pest season. "This year has been a more normal year weather-wise and I do think the economy is somewhat stronger than it was a year ago," Ewart said. Where termites were concerned, Ewart said, "I think that this has been just a good solid year. It hasn’t been a blockbuster but everyone that I’ve talked to I think is doing well this year."

THE FLIP SIDE. Not all PCOs have experienced a strong pest season. Richard Gross, president of Pro Star Pest Services Inc., in Amherst, N.Y., said this pest season has been slow to moderate, on account of cold and rainy weather. Even though business has been ahead of last year, he said, "we should be doing a lot better than what we are."

Some PCOs found that while one pest was down, others were up. Gary Rottler, president of Rottler Pest Control & Lawn Care in St. Louis, Mo., says while this year’s termite swarms were disappointing, a number of general pests in his area have been exceptionally strong, including pavement ants, carpenter ants, mosquitoes, brown recluse spiders and Asian lady beetles. "We’ve had different problems that have helped us have a good year," he said.

And Phillip Cooper, president of Cooper Pest Solutions in Lawrenceville, N.J., says ant calls were surprisingly off this year. His company serves central and northern New Jersey, parts of southern New Jersey, and suburban Philadelphia. "Weather patterns would have led us to believe that it would have been a bonanza year," he said. "However, the call volume does not indicate that." Cooper said he’s not sure if the weather is playing a role in this phenomena or whether the new control chemicals being used have had an impact on ant populations. Overall, he says, the company’s ant work is down 75 percent. That’s concerning, he notes, because ant work is the No. 1 conversion into a routine pest control service for Cooper Pest Solutions.

"We had the perfect weather for a great bug year and it never materialized," Cooper said. He said there was a very cold, consistent winter and then a mild and wet spring, with few dramatic swings in temperature, which he says tends to be hard on insects’ metabolisms.

However, it’s not all bad news for Cooper. "We’re in the middle of one of the best wasp and yellow jacket years in recent memory," he said. These stinging pests have thus far been the company’s most economically significant pest this year, he said, "by far."

Meanwhile in Florida, weather patterns may be helping pest control business, says Lou Cortes, owner of Safeguard Environmental Care based in Orlando. With a two-year drought that began lifting in 2003, pest populations have finally rebounded. "This year there’s been so much rain here, there have been more pests and people have been reacting more quickly," he said.

Besides weather conditions, economic conditions may also be playing a role. Cortes says both residential and commercial customers are more receptive to purchasing pest control services, in part because the economy is in better shape. "We’re finding more companies, more clients, that are willing to pay a little more for pest control and are more willing to cooperate with us as an industry," Cortes said. As one example, he said, customers are more willing to accept proposals for such things as $1,200 bird control jobs, which might have been rejected two or three years ago. "It’s a better season from the standpoint there are more people willing to take on more pest control, particularly in the residential market," he said. In addition, he added, commercial accounts are willing to pay more for services.

The author is a contributing editor to PCT magazine.