
Ben’s Pest Control offers quarterly service plans. They work with each customer to determine a schedule that works best for them.
Effective schedules balance product residual periods with local pest patterns. For example, German cockroaches produce multiple generations per year, requiring tighter treatment cycles than occasional invaders like stink bugs. Environmental factors also impact pest pressure, including wooded areas that magnify harborage and moisture problems that shorten optimal treatment intervals.
Seasonal Pests
When temperatures rise, pests are more active and hungry. Getting ahead of them with preventative treatments in spring can help keep your home pest-free all year.
In addition to ants, flies and other stinging insects waking from their winter slumber, roaches are on the move. They’re attracted to damp areas and often invade kitchens in search of food, water and shelter.
As spring turns to summer, these pests reach their peak population levels. Mosquitoes, flies, ants and termites are all at their most numerous. They’re all attracted to a variety of foods, including sweets, meats and breads, oils and fats. Pantry pests such as merchant grain beetles and Indian meal moths are also on the prowl for grains, seeds and dried fruit.
Fall is another critical season to watch out for pests. Flying pests such as hornets, wasps and yellow jackets are active again and looking to establish nests in open areas like tree branches or on your roof. Cockroaches are also at their most numerous as they migrate indoors in search of warmth and moisture. They can spread bacteria, trigger allergies and cause structural damage to homes.
Keeping careful records helps spot patterns and adjust treatment schedules. For example, reviewing monitoring data every three months can help you determine if your current frequency is effective. In most cases, however, a general pest control treatment schedule such as monthly or bi-monthly will serve your needs. For high-pressure pests like cockroaches, termites and bed bugs, shorter intervals might be needed. This is based on your goals, pest activity and your home’s unique circumstances such as moisture or clutter. Termite infestations, for instance, can cost homeowners thousands of dollars in repair bills. That’s why it is imperative to have your property regularly treated by a professional. That way, you can avoid these costly problems altogether.
General Pests
For many homes, a monthly treatment schedule works well. This provides a steady level of protection and manages pest activity before it gets out of control. However, your home situation and pest issues will impact how often you need to be serviced. Whether you’re managing a mild infestation or treating for severe problems like termites, an effective treatment plan is essential.
For mild infestations, a bi-monthly or quarterly schedule works best. This enables pest control technicians to catch a wide range of pests before they become a serious problem. This type of schedule also gives you peace of mind knowing that you’re covered if new pests arrive.
A more frequent schedule works well for more advanced infestations. In most cases, the more visible signs of pests in your home — such as droppings or insect wings — the more frequently you should get services.
Weather and environmental factors also drive treatment frequency. For example, cockroach populations surge in humid areas where conditions are ideal for breeding. Similarly, wasps and hornets build nests where they can easily access food sources such as garbage, compost bins, porches and attics.
Mosquitoes are a persistent issue for many homeowners, breeding inside drains and creating itchy bites that can spread diseases like Zika. Pest control companies can offer targeted mosquito control that helps protect your family.
Powderpost beetles are a common problem in New York, attacking wood to create tunnels and turning it into a flour-like dust. These beetles are reddish-brown or black and can damage carpeting, furniture and stored clothes and linens. A pest control professional can install baits and monitors to target specific nooks and crannies where these beetles tend to hide.
Other pests such as ants, spiders and silverfish can be controlled by regular service and preventive maintenance. Likewise, rodents and wildlife such as squirrels and birds can be managed with regular inspections and targeted treatments for specific entry points.
For severe pests, a combination of general and specialized pest control may be necessary. This is especially true for carpenter ants, termites and wildlife like squirrels and mice. These pests can cause structural damage and even carry disease-causing bacteria in their droppings. Professionals can treat these pests with a mix of pesticides and baits and monitor progress to find the most effective treatment method.
Specialized Pests
The type of pest you have matters when deciding how often to schedule your pest control. For example, termites require a more intensive treatment plan than other general pests because the pest is able to survive regular treatments by changing its behavior. This type of pest must be proactively managed with a combination of baiting and liquid treatments to prevent damage. Other pests like carpenter ants and bed bugs require more than a general treatment plan to get under control, and they usually need specialized traps and granular applications.
A general pest control plan is good for most California homes, but the frequency may vary depending on the home’s level of risk or the specific pest. For example, a house with poor insulation is more likely to develop new infestations than a well-insulated, updated home. Similarly, a household that has a lot of wood piles in the yard is more likely to have problems with cockroaches and other wood-destroying insects than a yard with few logs.
It’s also important to understand that pest pressure is dynamic, not static, and effective scheduling combines pest biology, environmental conditions, and product residual periods to ensure that population levels are below action thresholds. For example, termite inspections are timed to take advantage of temperature accumulations that trigger swarming. This approach is more effective than waiting for the first sign of activity, which is how most homeowners schedule their initial termite treatments.
Other pests benefit from a similar approach with regular monitoring and a proactive response to shifting pest activity. For instance, mosquitoes can be controlled with frequent monitoring and targeted granular applications to minimize mosquito breeding areas. Similarly, ticks can be prevented with a combination of monitoring, ad-hoc trapping, and regular granular applications to the yard.
Most residential pest control companies offer a basic maintenance program that typically includes monthly or quarterly visits. Generally, this provides enough protection for most homeowners, but you can also customize the plan to meet your specific needs by adding more visits or switching to a different type of service. In addition, businesses like restaurants, grocery stores, and healthcare facilities have more stringent pest control protocols that may call for weekly or monthly IPM inspections and require documentation and third-party auditing.
Prevention
Pests like cockroaches, rodents, and spiders can be very dangerous to your health. They carry germs that can cause serious illness, including rodent feces which are a source of Weil’s disease and Salmonella; insect wings which trigger allergic reactions in many people; and saliva from stinging insects that can lead to painful rashes. Taking a preventive approach with regular pest control services can significantly reduce the risk of pest infestations.
A routine treatment schedule breaks pest life cycles, manages seasonal threats, and keeps severe infestations under control. A one-time service may solve the problem temporarily, but repeated treatments help build protective barriers over time that make it harder for pests to get inside.
Whether your goal is to keep pests out completely or you’re simply trying to keep them under control, a technician will recommend the best schedule for your situation. A monthly plan works well for most homeowners and provides more consistent protection than a bi-monthly or quarterly option.
Treatment frequency varies by season as pests seek food, water, and shelter at different times of the year. Local growing degree day calculations help determine optimal treatment times and ensure that pests aren’t crowded out of their habitat.
As outdoor food sources dwindle in the fall, pests look for warmth and shelter indoors. This is why a preventive fall pest control treatment can be so important, as it can eliminate rodent nests and other potential entry points before they have the chance to become a problem.
In winter, a pest control treatment can be especially helpful as rodents and other pests try to find warm indoor spaces in which to hibernate. Routine pest control in the winter can help prevent these invaders from getting into your home by sealing gaps and addressing other potential vulnerabilities.
For more frequent treatment than a monthly plan offers, a technician will usually recommend bi-monthly or quarterly visits instead. This can be especially effective in homes with more severe pest problems that require tighter control. For example, a termite treatment that requires multiple stages needs to be conducted more frequently until the pest population is under control.


