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Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low 53F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph..

Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low 53F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph.

APM Mosquito had one of the busiest years trying to get the mosquito population under control in Fenton Township. 

Photo submitted by Jill Scott

APM Mosquito had one of the busiest years trying to get the mosquito population under control in Fenton Township. 

Photo submitted by Jill Scott

 Last year, a mosquito removal expert described the 2021 spraying season in southern Genesee County as “an explosion of mosquitoes.”

 Charles Mullins, general manager of APM Mosquito Control, said this in a report to Fenton Township in October 2021, which detailed how the company was over budget that year due to the number of mosquitoes and calls from residents for service. 

 Frequent rainfall, multiple thunderstorms and standing water contributed to the birth of several million mosquitoes and an unprecedented spraying season for APM. The company provides mosquito removal services for multiple local municipalities, including Fenton Township and Linden. 

 In 2021, from May 24 to Sept. 15, southwest Michigan had almost 22 inches of rain. Due to the wet conditions, there were seven additional broods of mosquitoes that came off from one of the original hatches in the season.

 “We were killing millions of mosquitoes but there were millions more coming. It was a cycle that, I’ll be flat honest with you, we couldn’t keep up with,” Mullins told the Fenton Township Board of Trustees in October 2021. 

 This year, Benjamin Seago, regional manager of APM north, said they are off to a “great start.”

 “The spring has been cold which has delayed larval development from years past. We’re hoping to experience less rainfall than last summer but we are fully staffed and prepared for whatever Mother Nature throws our way,” he said. 

 They’ve been conducting standing water treatments for the last few weeks, and they completed aerial treatments earlier this week. These treatments target mosquito larvae mainly in woodland pool sites. APM will begin truck fogging and backpack spraying the week before Memorial Day. 

 “Rainfall so far this spring hasn’t been a big concern. Spring aedes species develop in woodland pools that exist from snowmelt from the winter. As summer progresses, thunderstorms can certainly produce excess water in ditches and flooded yards. Aedes Vexan mosquitoes arise from these sites,” Seago said. “This was the primary problem we experienced last summer. If we experience an abundance of rainfall, we plan to ‘get ahead’ of the hatch by treating ditches and yards.”

 They’re constantly in contact with municipalities, golf courses, homeowner associations and private homeowners to prepare for the season. APM also mails information brochures to residents and the information is posted in township and city halls, as well as their websites, Seago said.  

 “We are in talks with township and city officials long before residents see any mosquitoes flying,” he said.

 Residents can call APM for service, but it’s not the only action they can take in preventing broods of mosquitoes. Seago encourages the public to store any artificial containers, such as buckets, upside down to prevent standing water. 

 “Technicians often find buckets, old wheel barrels, boats, etc. that fill with water and contain mosquito larvae. Standing water means mosquitoes. If any residents have wetlands or woodland pools they would like us to check out, please call the office. When the weather gets warmer, adult activity will increase,” he said. 

 Residents in municipalities that contract with APM can call (810) 766-9423 for backpack or truck fogging services at no additional cost. 

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