Swarming Termites Mean Business

Mother Nature’s predicts the appearance of termites early in 2012.

The research department at Mother Nature’s Pest Control reports that 90 percent of all ­termite colonies swarm every year, usually in the spring. They typically swarm during daylight hours when it’s sunny and usually after a rain. Swarming termites should always be taken seriously because they are reproductive colony members being sent out to form new colonies. They live only four to six hours and are your “alarm clock” that termites are in the area.

Mother Nature’s predicts that 2012 is going to be a great year – for swarming termites! “Although swarmers usually appear around the first of April, they were reported this year as early as late February,” said Pest Manager Tara Pearson.

Mother Nature’s has been eliminating termite colonies since 1979 and is still the largest Sentricon installation and ­monitoring company in the state of Oklahoma. The Sentricon Elimination System is eco-friendly and provides homeowners great peace of mind. A licensed, experienced, and ­knowledgeable termite specialist will gladly do an inspection of your home and provide you with a free estimate and the best ­solution to eliminate existing ­termite colonies, as well as ­prevent future infestations.

About a year ago, Mother Nature’s introduced a new Sentricon HD Always-Active System, and each station is ­baited with a formulation that is reportedly 2.5 times more ­effective at ­eliminating termite colonies than the original Sentricon System. Although the original system is still effective, the new HD ­formulation is just a lot ­better and longer lasting. With it, traps generally have to be checked only once each year because there is bait in every station. Termites eat the bait, carry it underground into their respective colonies, and regurgitate it, where it is ­consumed by other members of the colony. As the deadly bait is consumed, activity becomes less and less until the colony is eliminated. Sentricon bait station installations save the homeowner from having their home drilled with holes in the foundation, which results in a “machine gun” look that never goes away.

Mother Nature’s lawn care department is led by Tom Sevitts, who has been in the lawn care industry for over 30 years. They treat all types of grasses with ­fertilizers and weed inhibitors, and apply treatments for the elimination and control of fleas, ticks, ants, spiders and other ­nuisance lawn insects. “Everything seems to be ­happening earlier this year,” says Tom. “If you haven’t already, call now to schedule an application of a good pre-emergent.” He also reports that cool-season turf ­(fescues) took a real beating with the prolonged heat and drought of 2011. If you did not reseed your fescue this past fall, Tom recommends that you wait until this coming fall to do so or lay new sod now. Seeding fescue grasses in the spring has a low germination success rate.

“Bermuda grasses,” said Tom, “are not showing anywhere near the winter damage we saw a year ago when northeastern Oklahoma suffered one of our worst winters on record.” Our area is already seeing signs of spring with blooming and leafing Bradford Pear Trees. Soil temperatures have remained warmer than normal and crab grasses will predictably appear sooner throughout the area. Tom ­recommends that you scalp your lawn early this year, with one ­caution. Be sure to wait until any threat of a hard freeze has passed. If you aerate, do so after your Bermuda is up and growing, which again, might be much sooner than normal. Bermuda grasses are already growing in some areas. “If you’ve already sprayed for henbit, the pretty ­little purple flowers in your yard, and they are still visible, mow them and they shouldn’t come back,” said Tom.  

Mother Nature’s offers monthly lawn care packages ­available March through November. Call or visit www.mothernaturesinc.com for details on all provided services and benefits.

 

For more information, contact

Mother Nature’s Pest Control

11356 E. 51st Pl., Tulsa

(918) 362-2000

www.mothernaturesinc.com