“To kill termites, think like a termite.” Billy Tesh of Pest Management Systems, Inc., started thinking like a termite at age 14, when he began working on his uncle’s pest operation. His industry know-how helped him build a loyal base of customers in the Greensboro, North Carolina, area, cementing him as a pest management industry leader and subject matter expert.

His advice to put hard-to-kill termites to rest? “We rely on the Sentricon system,” says Tesh, who became one of the first Certified Sentricon Specialists^™ when the termite baiting system was first rolled out in 1995. The Sentricon^® system has undergone multiple advances since, including the introduction of Recruit^® AG FlexPack^™ termite bait stations to address aerial colonies, even in hard-to-install locations. Along with in-ground stations, Recruit AG FlexPack bait stations offer a holistic solution to nightmare situations where properties resist treatment year after year.

Assessing a difficult task

The photographers at Black Horse Studio experienced a nightmare situation. By the time Tesh’s team set foot in their vintage studio, parts of the building had already been structurally compromised by termite damage. “The building is a beautifully renovated warehouse with massive wooden beams in the ground,” says Tesh. “There was lots of earth-to-ground wood contact, plenty of moisture … it was termite feeding heaven.” The building owners had their studio treated by a different pest management company once before without success, but Tesh told them he was confident about the solution.

Tackling the challenge with Recruit AG FlexPack

To solve the problem, Tesh’s team reduced excess moisture, broke the earth-to-ground wood contact and installed Recruit AG bait stations on walls, wooden columns and ceiling corners throughout the warehouse where active termite tubes were found. “The ability to bait aerial colonies was critical to our success,” he says. “We were determined to find every colony — underground and above ground — to completely eliminate the infestation.”

Results were swift and effective. In fewer than four months, Tesh detected no further termite activity in the structure and he pronounced the termites dead and gone. Tesh’s team now regularly services the Black Horse Studio warehouse with the Sentricon system, providing preventative treatment against future infestations.

Turning exasperated owners into customers

“You don’t want to lose a customer due to a difficult situation,” says Tesh. “Some CSSs may be hesitant to use Recruit AG stations because they require more maintenance than in-ground Sentricon stations. But we wouldn’t have been able to address the challenges this property presented without them.” In addition to treating nightmare properties, Tesh believes using Recruit^® AG bait stations makes good business sense. “The lifetime value of one homeowner can be $200,000. Why leave that money on the table? If you have the tools to solve a customer’s problem once and for all, it just makes sense.”

The owners of Black Horse Studio are almost certainly inclined to agree.