Overwintering Pest Preparedness

October 2025 Edition:

Overwintering Pest Preparedness by Brian Beidle, BCE

Shorter days and cooling temperatures only equals one thing in the realm of pest control, and that’s overwintering pests attempting to enter our warmer buildings. A wide variety of organisms will seek to do this, and that can lead to some general and specific strategies at your IPM accounts.

First, the list of major players:

These include insects trying to essentially spend the winter inside.  While insects don’t technically hibernate, they do slow down their metabolic rate and enter a trance like state while they remain alive, but basically not moving. Most notably are insects such as Asian lady beetle, Boxelder bug, cluster fly, and sometimes leaf footed bugs, and even paper wasps.

Control Measures:

Exterior applications to entry points

• parapet caps
• weep holes in brick veneer or near window sills
• the base of foundations around the nearest doors
  • All are great places to target entry points of these pests.

Minor players:

Other crawling pests will enter as well but won’t necessarily survive the wintertime -- such as ground beetles, field crickets, and wolf spiders. These larger species can just create a nuisance for anyone with an office or workspace in the general area.

Said pests can move on to become a contaminant or source of distraction in a food facility. Ensuring proper seals are on doors and windows is first and foremost, but liquid residuals on a customer’s approved list and your regional list may also be attempted.  Temporary glue traps in shadowed areas, out of sight, help as well.

While they’re a pest all times of the year, the house mice and deer mice may both become strongly attracted to the structure as exterior food sources suddenly disappear during a harvest. Door sweeps made of rubber or brushes may be aggressively attacked, gnawed on and then left in a discarded pile with a hole giving clear indication at least one rodent has entered. Work with your customers if they do not have:

• strong door seals/ sweeps in place
• Solid, unrusted door frames or warped door frame boards
• solid metal plates on doors

Many of these can be mended by maintenance and excluder style door sweeps may also be used as a replacement in any of these situations. Remember the primary attraction with these pests is to get out of the cold, and/or access warm wall or ceiling void for a full winter time stay over.