[Termite Control] Surviving No Swarms

The assumed demise of the termite market has a lot of industry professionals scratching their heads. Sure, revenues have been up and down. And, yes that has caused some PMPs to blend what was once their bread and butter revenue producer — termite control — into their overall menu of services. But have the termites really gone away?

The forces — real or perceived — causing this shift in the termite market are varied. Is it the economy? Is it improved product technology and treatment methods? Is it the weather? Is it the fickle behavior of this destructive insect? The truth be told, it is a combination of all of these factors.

At the 2010 University of Kentucky Short Course, Dr. Gregg Henderson, noted termite researcher from Louisiana State University, delivered a presentation that addressed this topic and his advice to those industry members in attendance was fairly straightforward.

"The bottom line is — don’t sell your termite rig. You’ll need it," said Henderson.

Henderson has been monitoring termite swarms for 20 years and he has seen his share of data swings over that time. Such shifts are nothing new for Henderson or other researchers who have studied this long-time nemesis of customers’ homes and businesses.

"We all know when they are going to fly in our respective region and so do consumers," said Henderson. "Swarming termites bring awareness to the homeowner, an awareness they sometimes don’t realize."

Henderson went on to say that consumers don’t think about termites after swarm season ends but that assumption can prove costly. "Termites are still out there, still being destructive and PMPs need to be diligent in reminding consumers of that," he said.

But are termite swarm numbers and populations really taking a nosedive as some experts have indicated? The answer is not black and white but a murky shade of gray depending on what metrics you use.

Henderson lists four factors that he feels drive the industry’s perception of the health of the termite market:

1. Swarm calls
2. Shelter tubes
3. Media coverage
4. WDIRs on home sales

For example, Henderson reviewed research provided by a national pest control firm that tracked customer phone calls from 2005 to 2009. The data showed there was little change in the number of "termite leads" generated mostly by swarm calls in that period, thus debunking the theory that swarms are going down.

"The research showed a flat line and that there is no association between swarm calls and termite leads," said Henderson. "Based on this data, the perception that swarms are going down is unfounded."

Certain changes in the pest control industry likely have changed our perception of the swarm numbers, according to Henderson. "It started with a smarter, better-educated public and industry, and also includes improved products and application methods."

The business of termite control is no longer the province of the swarm season but now can be a year-round process for pest management companies. This conversion to an ongoing treatment program for many companies is influenced by the factors Henderson mentioned.

The advancements in product technology and applicator training have expanded the scope of treatments to include additional inspections, monitoring and, depending on the technology used, treatment applications at different times throughout the year.

When Henderson came into the industry in the late ’80s, it was still feeling the effects of its chlordane "hangover" and in search of new products.

"Repellent products didn’t reduce population numbers significantly," said Henderson. "The introduction of the non-repellent termiticides that termites travel through and then transfer to other termites have made a big difference in our industry."

Baits also have had a significant impact on the way PMPs treat structures for termites and their effectiveness also has contributed to the perception that termite populations are in decline.

"Pest professionals are no longer treating and leaving," said Henderson. "It becomes an ongoing process and that dramatically changes the leads that will come in."

A COMPETITIVE SITUATION. Another factor impacting the termite market is the rise in prominence of other structural pests that have customers dialing the phone or visiting Google in search of a pest management professional.

The re-emergence of bed bugs has not only dominated the industry’s trade press but the mainstream media as well. Virtually every day, news of another major infestation appears on the local news or in major metropolitan newspapers across the United States, raising concerns among an already skittish public.

"The media — newspapers and television — love stories about urban insects," said Henderson. "Bed bugs are getting a lot of press, ants remain popular, and all these insects are competing for the same dollars from the homeowner."

With all this emphasis on bed bugs it isn’t out of the question that a consumer is more likely to turn the sheets back on a hotel room bed or examine their luggage after a trip for bed bugs than go in the crawlspace of their house to look for termite activity.

While media coverage has zero impact on the swarming activity of termites — unless the colony has cable television or an iPad — it does influence the perception of would-be customers. The more they hear about bed bugs, ants or mice, the more heightened their awareness becomes to look for them.

This makes it even more important for PMPs to be vigilant with their message to customers that termites — while not the current darling of the media — are still out there causing damage to homes.

One way some companies are approaching keeping termites on the radar of customers is to introduce complementary monitoring services as part of their monthly service offerings.

"It is a soft sell but a potentially very effective one," said Henderson. "You are not sending up warning flags without just cause and that establishes a confidence, trust level with the customer. Plus if you do have termite activity on that monitoring station, it makes a compelling case for the customer to act."

SURVIVAL INSTINCTS. While advanced product technology has led to increased colony elimination, there are several factors that lie beyond the control of PMPs and product developers that also impact termite swarms.

"Two things that are going to impact colony size are food resources and pheromones, and the size of the colony determines the size of the swarm," said Henderson.

While they would rather not battle with their fellow termites for food resources, Henderson said there are times when the competition for food can lead to colony takeovers.

"As long as a food source is available, most termites would rather be left to their own, even if its colony is located next to another," said Henderson. "However, 99 percent of start-up colonies will die because they can’t access enough food resources."

He also said groups of termites have been known to merge to form a super colony, thus putting more pressure on resources.

Termites, while adept survivalists in a variety of environments, are adversely impacted in the long term by climate change including drought and flooding.

"The extremes of soil conditions are flooding and drought and since termites are fragile insects, it’s much harder for them to find food sources when it’s dry," said Henderson.

While a colony won’t completely disappear in a drought, the dry conditions prevent the colony from bringing in the resources to produce the energy to create alates. (See "Hung Out to Dry," page 50.)

On the other end of the spectrum, flooding has proven to be a termite colony eliminator in some cases. For example, in 2005 the extreme flooding caused by Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi caused a sustained drop in the number of colonies.

Research data taken in the years following Katrina (2006-08) showed a significant drop in the mean number of alates found in traps in New Orleans. For example, in 2005 (pre-Katrina) the mean was 21,432 and in 2006 it dropped to 6,344. There was a spike in 2007 to 8,491 — possibly due to an abundant food source of discarded wood from the clean-up efforts.

Research by Dr. Brian Forschler of the University of Georgia and Henderson showed that populations dropped significantly following a series of significant floods in Georgia in the early ’90s.

"The population numbers decreased in the five colonies we studied, some by as much as nearly 130,000 in a one-year span," said Henderson.

Further research on the time it takes for a termite to drown revealed that it took 19.6 hours for 50 percent of Reticulitermes flavipes to drown, 13.9 hours for R. virginicus and 11.1 hours for Formosan termites.

While these facts shouldn’t lead PMPs to start putting garden hoses into termite nests, it does lend credible evidence that termite activity is also impacted by the unforgiving forces of Mother Nature.

FINAL THOUGHTS. Whether it is a perception or a reality, the fact remains that the notion of a struggling termite market remains for pest management professionals to deal with. Should industry professionals be making adjustments to their service or marketing practices or should they stay the course?

Henderson says pest management professionals should always be looking at ways to make improvements — big or small — to their businesses when it comes to all their service offerings, not just termites.

"Termites have been around for 200 million years and there are still a lot of termites out there," said Henderson. "They are not going away soon."

Jeff Fenner is partner of B Communications, an integrated communications/marketing firm specializing in the needs of pest management, lawn care, landscape and golf course management professionals. He can be reached at jfenner@gie
media.com.
 

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Hung Out to Dry

Homeowners, some of whom have endured thousands of dollars of termite damage, would find it hard to believe that termites are "fragile" insects, and thus subject to extreme soil conditions such as flooding and drought.

Louisiana State University researcher Dr. Gregg Henderson says that termites find it harder to locate much-needed food when it’s dry.

During his presentation at the University of Kentucky Short Course, Henderson cited data from the Historic Palmer Drought Indices from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that showed a correlation between drought and lower termite swarms.

For example, in 2000, drought conditions were either "severe or serious" across the country, including Henderson’s home state of Louisiana, where an extreme drought was present.

In his extensive research on Formosan termites in New Orleans’ French Quarter, something Henderson has been a part of for more than two decades, he saw the dramatic impact that dry conditions had on alate activity.

In 2000, the mean alates per trap in the French Quarter were 9,543. However, in 2001 those numbers dropped to 5,640 and in 2002, when moisture levels returned to above-normal levels, the number increased back up to 9,363.

"It takes about 365 days to develop an alate," said Henderson. "During a drought termites are stressed to locate food sources and while the colony doesn’t disappear, it can’t bring in the resources to generate the energy to create alates."

Henderson noted that the colony will "batten down the hatches" in a drought year but the drop in the swarm activity won’t be seen until the following year.