All I can say is wow. After a ‘green’ Christmas followed by a bit of snow at years end and a big warm-up for most of January I thought we were in for a repeat of last year. That brown ground sure was depressing to look at in late January. The calendar turns to February and then BAM! Like flipping on a light switch, storm after storm came barreling across the country, at times grazing us, and sometimes slamming us. So far, March looks like an instant replay of February. Will it ever end?

The insects reply with a resounding yes!

They are in fact waking up and roaming around many homes now. Recently, I was sent out to eliminate some carpenter ants living in a two hundred year farmhouse. Warmer March sun heating up exterior walls combined with a raging wood stove in the home’s dining room had begun to coax these guys out of the post and beam framework. Paper wasps are also stirring due to the stronger sun’s warming effects on our homes. Have you noticed lately even with all the snow that if you don’t get out right away to clear the driveway that the sun does a pretty good job for you?

You might be asking yourself, there’s still tons of snow out there so where are these things coming from? Are they coming in from outdoors? Actually the answer is yes, but they came in from the outdoors last fall. They’ve been quietly living rent-free in your home for the winter months in places like attics, eaves, crawl spaces or wall voids. The fact that Asian lady beetles, wasps, seed bugs and carpenter ants are waking up now and wanting to get back outside does mean that spring really is just around the corner.

How do you keep these guys that are waking up now from getting in your home to begin with? Having properly fitting doors, window screens, and sealing up openings where pipes and utility wires enter the structure can help to block insects from entering. Sealing or repairing damaged trim; gable screens or soffits can help to keep wasps out of attic crawl spaces. Even though these repair procedures can be effective at reducing the numbers of pests entering your home, it should be combined with professional insecticide treatments in the spring and fall. Colonial Pest Control’s semi-annual service is the perfect way to supplement those efforts.