Winter control: what not to put off until spring
A winter pause in control leads to twice the pest population by April.
In winter, outdoor pest activity falls, creating a deceptive sense of calm. Nothing has changed inside heated premises: there is warmth and food, and there are no predators, so conditions for breeding are better than they are outdoors in summer.
A winter break in monitoring therefore means deferred costs, not savings. By spring, pest numbers will not be the same as they were in autumn but significantly higher, and the season will have to begin with control rather than prevention.
A basic winter programme takes little time. Bait stations remain in place and are checked every one to two weeks. Bait is replenished as it is eaten; bait that has dried out or absorbed moisture becomes less attractive and stops working. Points with consistently high consumption are marked separately: there is usually either a nest or an entry route nearby, and that is where the search should focus.
Break rooms require separate attention. In winter, staff eat at their workstations more often, and eating areas become the main food source at the facility. Inspecting lockers, managing waste properly, and ensuring no food is left out overnight will achieve more than adding monitoring points in the production area.
