Unlike subterranean termites that invade our homes from underground, drywood termites actually enter our home above ground through cracks, unscreened soffits and gable vents. They typically first infest exposed wood such as window and doorframes, trim boards, eaves, attics and crawl spaces. Drywood termites remain hidden in the wood on which they are feeding and are seldom seen.

At certain times of the year, primarily spring and summer, king and queen drywood termites will emerge from the colony and take flight. The purpose of these flights is to establish new colonies. The swarming typically takes place at night, but can be quite substantial.

Evidence of swarming termites, termite wings and pellets are signs of an infestation.

Termite wings are often present after a swarm and are typically found in small piles near window ledges or other light sources.
Drywood termites excrete pellets of partially digested wood. These pellets are pushed out of areas where termites are feeding and often accumulate in piles on window sills, baseboards and other wooden objects. You may see little holes above where the pellets were found. These holes were created by the termites as they kicked the pellets out.
The best way to protect your home from a termite infestation is having a professional termite protection program and an annual inspection.

As the warm weather arrives and our grass starts growing rapidly again, it’s important to make sure you’re mowing properly.  Mowing plays a critical role in the health of your landscape and if done incorrectly, can leave your lawn exposed to weeds, insects and diseases.  Here are a few mowing tips that will help ensure that your mowing is adding to the health and beauty of your landscape.

• Mow Frequently:  You should mow at least once per week during the warmer months and once every 10 – 14 days during the cooler months.
• Mow at the Proper Height:  Different grasses require different mowing heights that vary from 1-4″.  Mowing too low will cause the grass to turn brown and possibly take weeks to recover.
• Use a Sharp Blade:  A dull blade will “rip” the grass rather than make a clean cut.  This leaves the grass exposed to disease and the ripped tips will turn brown leaving your lawn unsightly.
• Avoid Mowing Wet Grass:  Wet clippings can clog your mower, reducing its efficiency to effectively cut your grass.
• Leave Clippings, If Possible:  Grass clippings return vital nutrients to your landscape.

For those of us who enjoy the great outdoors and love to spend time hiking or camping in the woods, now is the time to be cautious of ticks and the diseases they carry. The peak season is typically May – August and finding ticks crawling on clothing or skin after a venture into the woods is very common.
The most infectious disease ticks carry is Lyme Disease, which can be debilitating if left undiagnosed or untreated. A circular outward growing rash around the bite helps identify Lyme Disease. The rash typically appears within 3 days to a few weeks after the bite and expands, usually developing a clear center that spreads out from the site of the bite. Flu-like symptoms may also develop, including headache, fever, fatigue, joint aches and a stiff neck.

Fortunately, not all ticks carry Lyme Disease.  But if a tick does bite you,  here are a few tips to follow:

• To remove the tick, grab it as close to the skin as possible with tweezers and gently pull outward.  Do not grab it with your fingers – this can cause the tick to inject the bacteria.
• If its mouth remains in the skin – don’t worry.  The tick cannot pass the bacteria if only moutparts remain.
• In most cases, ticks must remain attached for 36 hours to pass the bacteria.  Make sure to check yourself thoroughly after you return to promptly prevent infection.
• If you removed the tick from your body but start to notice symptoms of Lyme Disease, call your doctor immediately!

If you have additional questions about ticks or other pests, check out our Bug Database here!

Chinch bugs are tiny, hard-to-see insects that are active in hot, dry weather and can cause big damage! There appearance is red (when young) or black in color (when mature) with a white “X” on their backs.

They can occur almost anywhere in a St. Augustine lawn, however, they are usually found in hot, dry locations along sidewalks or driveways.

Chinch bugs cause damage by sucking the juices from the grass blades and injecting toxins back into the blade that causes your grass to die.  Their damage first looks like drought stress (where the grass blades begin to wither), then the grass begins to turn yellow and finally brown.  If chinch bugs are left unattended and untreated, they will spread quickly throughout the lawn and cause large areas of damage that could have to be replaced.  Having a thick, healthy lawn is critical when combating chinch bugs or any lawn invaders because it allows the lawn to recover quicker from damage.

As the weather warms up, we’re starting to see more and more pests attempting to gain access inside your home.  What you may not know is you could be offering them an easy way to get inside!  Here are a few tips to follow to help prevent pests from getting inside your home!

• Keep air conditioner filters clean inside your home.  Dirty filters can lead to moisture build up, which is a magnet for pests.
• Check grout around bathtubs and toilets.  Even if there’s a tiny space, small pests can still gain access into your home.  Seal up any areas with a good grout to keep them out.
• Repair torn window screens.  These can be an easy entryway for pests.  Pick up a screen repair kit at your local hardware store to stop them from sneaking in.
• Keep trash cans clean and lids sealed.  This will keep ants, roaches and flies from feeding and breeding in your trash.
• Ensure your irrigation system is working properly.  Check to make sure water is not accumulating near the foundation or spraying onto your home.

These are just a few tips to help prevent pests from getting inside your home.  For more tips and information, click here.

Most people are familiar with the term “Beauty is more than just skin deep.”   That statement is not only true for people, but also for our landscapes!   That’s why aeration is such an important piece of building a healthy and beautiful landscape.  Not only that, it’s also important for our environment!

Lawn aeration includes the removal of small soil plugs (about the size of your thumb) from your lawn.  This process helps oxygen, water and nutrients move into the root zone which results in:

• Improved watering efficiency for water conservation
• Reduced fertilizer runoff into our lakes and streams
• Improved drought and heat tolerance

By doing this, it allows your lawn to eat, drink and breathe.  Ahh…now that’s refreshing!

There are many other benefits to aerating your lawn.  Check out the Top 10 Benefits here!

As we head into the St. Patrick’s Day weekend, we wanted to share some fun facts about March 17th and the Irish!

But first, we’d like to make mention of three very special students at Killarney Elementary School (appropriately, a very Irish name)!  Paul Giordano, Vice President of Massey’s PrevenTech Commercial Division, worked in partnership with the Central Florida Hotel & Lodging Association by adopting Killarney and sponsoring a Math Miles contest.  This contest encouraged students to significantly improve their math scores in a specified amount of time.  The top 3 winners won 2 tickets each to see the Orlando Magic and sit in the Massey sky box!  Congrats to our winners!!

Paul Giordano with the Massey Math Miles winners

Now, onto some fun facts!  Did you know:

• The New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade has taken place over 250 times
• There are over 450 churches named for St. Patrick in the U.S.
• 40 lbs of green dye is used to turn the Chicago River green each year
• 39% of Americans say they celebrate St. Patrick’s Day
• 8 million Americans exchange St. Patrick’s Day cards annually
• 650,000 babies have been named Patrick in America in the last 100 years

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Daylight Savings Time is upon us and it’s time to spring ahead one hour.  We lose one hour of sleep and it takes a few days to adjust to the change, but having an extra hour of daylight in the evening is always nice!

So as you go changing your clocks around the house, you should also remember to check a clock that most people forget – your Irrigation Timer!  Watering at the wrong time can have a negative impact on the health of your landscape.  You should finish watering your landscape right around sunrise to ensure the landscape has time to soak up the water and any additional water evaporates as the sun rises.

Did you know that some Water Management Districts, like the St. John’s Water Management District, have their watering restrictions coinciding with Daylight Savings Time?  So it’s important that you check the Water Management District where you live to ensure you’re not violating any restrictions.

Also, this is the perfect time to get your Irrigation System checked – we offer Free Irrigation Audits if you need yours checked.

Oh, and don’t forget to change your alarm clock too – you don’t want to be late for work on Monday!

We’ve all heard that it’s very hard to detect a termite infestation in your home.  Unfortunately, a scary fact is many people don’t discover the damage until they break into the walls of their home to begin a renovation, whether it’s renovating the bathroom or replacing the windows.

Even worse, the average cost to repair termite damage to a bathroom can range between $5,000 – $8,000!  That’s on top of the renovation expense they were already anticipating to spend!  And to make things even more challenging, most insurance plans do not protect against the havoc that termites can cause.

That’s why having termite protection, backed by a strong guarantee,  is so important to have for your home.  Learn more about termite warning signs around your home.

Last weekend, we held our annual Eagle Circle Awards Banquet at Rosen Shingle Creek. With nearly 1,100 attendees, it was quite the evening!
Our Wild West theme was fun and entertaining, as our Massey Deputies searched for our “Most Wanted” team members who went above and beyond in 2011.

In addition to over 90 Service Technicians and top Office & Service Managers being recognized from each of our regions, we also honored our top Sales Inspectors, General Managers and Corporate Team Member. We saved the top two awards for the end of the evening – our President’s Award and our Harvey L. Massey Team Member of the Year.

Highlighted below are a few of our Most Wanted Team Members:

• Corporate Team Member:  Debbie Sewell, Administrative Assistant
• First Place Sales Inspector:  George Vaughn, North Orlando Service Center
• First Place Eagle Circle Winner (General Manager):  Donne Schwahl, Lake Mary Service Center
• President’s Award Winner:  Paul Demarais, Service Manager in our Brooksville Service Center
• Harvey L. Massey Team Member of the Year:  Sammy Ramjitsingh, Service Manager in our Leesburg Service Center

Congratulations to all our 2011 Winners!!