Pest Control

Elizabeth Pearsall's not quite sure which bugged her more: the nefarious little subterranean wood eaters threatening her home or the pest control firm that went M.I.A. after she paid the service bill. I'll give you a hint: With a little help from the attorney general's office, the 62-year-old retired high school teacher eliminated one problem and kept the other. But let's go back to the beginning, when Pearsall hired Memphis, Tenn.-based Terminix Pest Control Co. three years ago to zap the termite trouble she inherited along with her parents' 50-year-old Cape Cod in Randallstown.

The lower leaves of my new Encore azalea are turning brownish. Is this variety partly deciduous, or do I have a disease problem? The plant was healthy all spring and summer and bloomed well. Healthy evergreen azaleas often exhibit color change in fall and winter. Depending on variety and site conditions, colors range from purple-reds to yellow-greens. They can be quite attractive in the winter landscape. Azaleas normally drop a few leaves in the fall, but the majority remain and green up in plenty of time for spring floral displays.

It's the females that bite.Ellen Wilgar learned this while working to keep track of the mosquito population by baring her arms each night in the headlights of a truck and being eaten alive by them.As a state pest control technician, Wilgar captures, kills and counts mosquitoes -- by letting them feed on her flesh -- to determine if the neighborhoods she patrols in eastern Baltimore County should be sprayed with insecticide.Some people might see Wilgar's job using herself as live bait as a nightly exercise in pain -- certainly worth more than the $7.70 an hour it pays.

A handful of parents met with Howard County school officials and a pest control expert yesterday to learn more about the school system's use of pesticides and how students' families can be notified.Though mostly satisfied with the school system's efforts to keep chemicals away from students, some parents still were concerned about the possible effect of pesticides on sensitive children.The meeting was prompted in part by two dueling House bills before the General Assembly. One would require public schools to give parents and employees advance notice when pesticides are used.

In an effort to expand its commercial landscape business into the mid-Atlantic region, ServiceMaster Co. said yesterday that it acquired Ruppert Landscape Co. of Ashton for an undisclosed price.Based in Downers Grove, Ill., ServiceMaster supplies businesses and homeowners services that include pest control, housekeeping, laundry and lawn care.Analysts said ServiceMaster hopes to gain a foothold in this region by expanding its TruGreen-ChemLawn subsidiary into markets stretching from Pennsylvania to Georgia -- an area served by Ruppert.

There's something about the ads of several pest control companies in Maryland that is bugging Daniel Pontious and his colleagues at the Maryland Public Interest Research Group.At a news conference yesterday, MaryPIRG released a report that it said was aimed at creating public awareness of what it called false advertising by pest control companies."We initiated an investigation into the marketing practices of pesticide companies in the state by researching yellow page ads placed in 20 phone books," said Pontious, executive director of the group.

An emotional debate over the safety of chemical pesticides has entered Maryland's classrooms.A coalition of parents, teachers and environmental activists is pressing for state legislation requiring schools and day care centers to give parents and staff written notice before using pesticides or herbicides around children."

Alfalfa growers can damage their crops by trying to save money on leaf-hopper control and by delaying cutting on short alfalfa, according to University of Maryland researchers.Severe leaf hopper damage in the form of yellowing and stunted plants can reduce crop yield for as many as five subsequent cuttings, said Les Vouch, extension forage specialist.Vouch recommends that growers treat leaf hoppers to affect the maximum residual control, with 21 days being the optimum.He also suggests cutting alfalfa every 30 to 33 days, even if there is not enough to bale.

Raymond GeigerEdited 'Farmers' Amanac'Raymond Geiger, who edited the "Farmers' Almanac" for six decades and staged his own funeral three years ago so that he wouldn't miss it, died Friday in Lewiston, Maine. He was 83.He died in a nursing home, where he had lived for a month, said his son and successor as editor, Peter Geiger. Mr. Geiger, who retired last fall, had Parkinson's disease.Under him, the almanac's circulation grew from 86,000 in the 1930s to its current 4 million. He became editor of the almanac -- which contains weather forecasts, planting and gardening advice, recipes and jokes -- immediately after leaving college.

Wesley H. GrahnRetired exterminatorWesley H. Grahn, a retired supervisor for a pest control firm in Baltimore, died Tuesday of heart disease at a hospital in Martinsburg, W.Va.He was 90 and had moved from Baltimore to Martinsburg about 10 years ago.He retired in 1977 from the Home Exterminating Co., now the Home Paramount Pest Control Cos. He had earlier worked for the Pied Piper Pest Control Co. and, after coming to Baltimore in 1940, he managed the Baltimore and Washington offices of the Meyer Pest Control Co.Before moving to Baltimore, he worked in Doylestown, Pa., doing research on a scentless marigold and a super double nasturtium for the W. Atlee Burpee Co.Born and reared in the Philadelphia area, he studied horticulture at Kent State University in Ohio.

As if the mosquitoes weren't bad enough, the rainy weather in recent weeks has also brought out another insect pest - swarming termites, streaming up out of the ground, or the woodwork. Michael Short, an inspector for J.C. Ehrlich Pest Control in Baltimore, was called recently to a home in Owings Mills. The winged critters were "all over the floor in the foyer, literally covering the foyer," he said. "The customer was obviously very concerned." The bugs weren't out to eat the house, just to mate and establish new colonies.

The lower leaves of my new Encore azalea are turning brownish. Is this variety partly deciduous, or do I have a disease problem? The plant was healthy all spring and summer and bloomed well. Healthy evergreen azaleas often exhibit color change in fall and winter. Depending on variety and site conditions, colors range from purple-reds to yellow-greens. They can be quite attractive in the winter landscape. Azaleas normally drop a few leaves in the fall, but the majority remain and green up in plenty of time for spring floral displays.

Elizabeth Pearsall's not quite sure which bugged her more: the nefarious little subterranean wood eaters threatening her home or the pest control firm that went M.I.A. after she paid the service bill. I'll give you a hint: With a little help from the attorney general's office, the 62-year-old retired high school teacher eliminated one problem and kept the other. But let's go back to the beginning, when Pearsall hired Memphis, Tenn.-based Terminix Pest Control Co. three years ago to zap the termite trouble she inherited along with her parents' 50-year-old Cape Cod in Randallstown.

Baltimore's school buildings are the oldest in Maryland, so whether there's a leaky roof or a broken boiler, officials are used to having things go wrong. But a school infested with chiggers? "I've never heard of chiggers in my life," said Alice Watson, a longtime school system official. "It's a first for me." The trouble began Friday afternoon at Violetville Elementary, when a teacher noticed on a classroom windowsill a slew of the mite-like bugs, known for bites so itchy they feel like a poison ivy rash.

Robert B. Hardiman, a district manager for a Baltimore pest control company and an avid tennis player, died Friday at Johns Hopkins Hospital of heart failure resulting from sepsis. He was 63. Born in Baltimore and raised in Essex, Mr. Hardiman was a 1961 graduate of Kenwood High School. He earned a bachelor's degree in English in 1965 from what is now Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, W.Va. Drafted into the Army in 1965, Mr. Hardiman was assigned to Okinawa for two years in finance and accounting while a member of the Army tennis team.

Dear Mr. Azrael: My friend purchased her home about four years ago and at the time of the purchase, the seller disclosed that there was a termite problem that had been addressed by a pest control company. The seller indicated that all termite damage to the home had been repaired. My friend recently hired someone to do the painting in her living room because there were several large unusual looking cracks in the walls that needed to be repaired, which she assumed was due to settlement, etc. When the painter/repairman cut the wall to remove the damaged sections, it was discovered that there was quite a bit of "old termite" damage that had never been repaired.

James A. Preston, a retired exterminating company technician and Korean War veteran, died of undetermined causes Wednesday at Johns Hopkins Hospital. The Bolton Hill resident was 70. Mr. Preston was born in Baltimore and raised on South Caroline Street. He attended parochial schools and enlisted in the Army in 1949. He was wounded in combat in Korea and discharged in 1950. For many years, Mr. Preston was general manager of Monumental Moving & Storage Co. From the late 1970s until retiring in 1985, he was a senior technician for Pied Piper Pest Control.

A local garden center recently recommended that I spray aphids with horticultural oil rather than an insecticide. I thought that horticultural oil was only for fruit trees and was only sprayed in the dormant season. Is that true? What was once called dormant oil spray is now generally referred to as horticultural oil. Dormant oil was primarily used during late winter and early spring to control insect pests before they became active. It is still used for that purpose; however, it can be sprayed in all seasons as long as the temperature is above 40 degrees and below 90 degrees.

The primary strategy for dealing with termites has long been to create a chemical barrier around the house to act as a moat of sorts to keep the hungry little fellows at a distance. Now, pest control professionals have adopted a couple of new strategies. Rather than merely repel the insects - leaving them to regroup and fight another day - they try to eliminate them. "Termites cause billions of dollars in damage each year," said Michael F. Potter, a professor of urban entomology at the University of Kentucky.

Can a house become infested with carpenter ants and termites within two years? That is what Kenneth Newburger of Pikesville wants to know after a pest control inspector recently found both types of wood boring insects in his 21-year-old house. Two years ago, when he bought the house, an inspection by a different pest control company found no evidence of infestation. Now he's faced with the cost of termite treatment and would like to know if he has any recourse against the first company that inspected the house.