When I first started this business, over forty years ago, (ouch!), I had a mentor who trained me in the business. He was old school and did things a bit differently than we do today. A big part of his business was the pest control division. I ran a route for him and he paid me for the new clients I was able to develop.I still remember to this day what he told me. He said, “Blair, Every tree needs to be sprayed”. And then he said, “Every yard needs a service at least every three months!” Being the young man that I was, I believed him. I sold route after route and made good money. But this started to bother me because in a lot of cases, I didn’t really see that many insect problems. I also felt uneasy about killing off all the insects! In effect, I was mass cleansing all insect life from that yard.
So I asked him, “What about the beneficial insects?” “Doesn’t matter” he said, “we kill 'em all.” I quit doing pest control because I saw it as a racket. It did not seem honest to me and it seemed like I was messing up a balance that was greater than I realized.
Not all pest companies are like this one, and there are a lot of very reputable and honest firms.
There are also a lot of firms who do not care!