F.A.Q.

Stink bugs invade homes in cold weather because they're hunting for a warm, sheltered place to wait out winter. The brown marmorated stink bug, now common across Southwest Michigan, slips through gaps in siding, windows, and rooflines in fall and clusters inside walls and attics until spring. 

Protecting an agricultural property takes more effort than it does to protect a backyard. On Southwest Michigan farms and orchards, that means controlling the mosquitoes and ticks that bother workers and visitors while holding down the perimeter pests around barns and farmhouses, all across acreage far larger than a backyard. 

In Michigan, spring brings ants and the first mosquitoes. Summer is peak season for mosquitoes, ticks, and wasps. Fall pushes stink bugs, lady beetles, and rodents toward your home to overwinter.

Mosquito barrier treatment handles the biting pests in your yard through the warm months, while stink bug control is about keeping them from invading your home in fall. Many Michigan homeowners benefit from both, since the problems don't overlap. 

Garden pests damage plants in a few distinct ways: some chew holes in leaves and fruit, some pierce the plant and suck out its juices, and some tunnel into stems or roots. The type of damage often tells you which kind of pest you're dealing with. 

Focus treatment on the areas you use most and the breeding sites that feed those areas. Even if you have a very large property, this can make your day-to-day life a lot better. 

The breeding sites people miss are usually the small, hidden ones like clogged gutters, plant pot saucers, tarps with folds that trap water, and corrugated downspout extensions. Mosquitoes only need a tablespoon of standing water to lay a batch of eggs. 

Mosquitoes are most active during the hours around dawn and dusk, when temperatures are moderate and humidity is high. But activity levels also depend on the species, the weather, and how much shade your property provides during the day. 

Floodwater mosquitoes lay eggs in damp soil, and those eggs are able to survive the winter. They hatch when standing water covers them, and snowmelt causes that to happen all at once, causing an intense first swarm of the season.

Wooded areas hold water in places an open lawn never would. Shade slows evaporation, and natural depressions and tree holes collect rainwater that lingers for weeks so mosquitoes have plenty of places to breed unhindered. 

The best time to start mosquito treatment is early spring, as soon as the season is opening and before the population has a chance to build. In Michigan that generally means April into May, once temperatures are consistently reaching the 50s.

Check your entire body within two hours of coming inside. Pay close attention to warm, hidden areas like the hairline, behind the ears, under the arms, around the waist, and behind the knees. Don’t skip this because it’s the #1 thing you can do to prevent tick-borne disease.