[Problems & Solutions] The Season of the Ant

The Season of the Ant
Q: At some recent workshops I’ve attended the discussions have turned to ants. It is always interesting to participate in these conversations because the pest management professional and the customer are usually both frustrated and the professional is having a problem making the customer happy as it relates to ants. Can you offer any training tips on ants? And how does a “green” approach fit into ant control?

A: Let’s discuss training first. If you read any articles on green, or are a QualityPro or QualityPro Green company, you know the technician will be making all of the decisions in the field. This decision making is based on the technician’s inspection and identification. If he or she misidentifies a problem then what happens? In one discussion I had recently, the technician said he identified (or “thought” he identified) the pest in question as a Pharaoh ant and started to bait appropriately. Unfortunately, the ants were odorous house ants. Now many of you may be reading this and saying, “Hey! There is a big difference between these two species!” Good for you! For starters, these two ants are different in color and size. Even if the approach the technician followed is correct, you have to identify the ant correctly for that approach to work.

When you have a huge infestation, it will be an intense and time-consuming control program. And when a green approach is used, it could take longer to resolve the problem. Here are my concerns as it relates to green:

1. Identifying the problem correctly.
2. Doing the proper inspection.
3. Communicating with the customer.

All these steps are part of a green program (or IPM if you want to call it that). There will be companies that may not embrace these concepts (especially when we start talking about monitoring, which is also part of these programs). Regarding the account discussed previously, the customer was not happy because he still had ants (although their numbers were greatly reduced). The technician was not convinced that continued baiting was the answer. So, what other products could be used?

Baiting for these ants (if you rely on that and no sprays, dusts or other formulations), will take a lot of bait AND you will have to refill those stations. This means more visits to the account. In addition, after baiting and spraying, “green” programs discuss monitoring. Would this be an inspection three months later? It could be if that’s what your service schedule is. But with odorous house ants and other super colony ants this could be a mistake, especially during the season of the ant. Are you set up for multiple visits to inspect monitors and bait stations? Or are you going to wait for the call? (“They’re baaaaaack!”)

One thing that I believe many will see, if they’re not already, is that keeping your customers happy in this economy will be paramount to keeping the customer.

I have notice an increase in the number of cars in stores like Lowes and Home Depot recently. Think your customers may decide to go DIY? I know the old story, they will be back when they find out they can’t do it, but my question is why give them the chance?

If we are going to follow the green movement into the future years then we better be prepared to shoulder the burden of talking to the customer.

The author is president of George Rambo Consulting Services, Seneca, S.C. Questions can be faxed to him at 864/654-2447 or e-mailed to grambo@giemedia.com.