Easy tips to get rid of pesky bugs
'Tis the season when bugs and insects are in abundance and try to make their way into our homes.
As the owner of Cape Breton Pest Control in Sydney, Richard MacDonald has made it his business to know all about these pests. His most common calls in this department are about ants, wasps, and earwigs.
To help prevent these insects from getting into your home, MacDonald gives the following tips:
• Keep plants and shrubs at least two feet away from your home and foundation
• Mulch looks nice, but it holds moisture that bugs love. Gravel is a better option for borders around the foundation.
• Seal any cracks and crevices around your home like in the foundation, windows, doors, or utility lines.
• Do not leave any food sources outside your home, especially anything sweet. This will attract ants and wasps.
• Remove any clutter and debris from around your home.
Members of the Annapolis Valley Gardeners' Club and the East Coast Gardening Club on Facebook also weighed in with their tried and tested ways of preventing insects from getting inside the house, or barring that, dealing with them once they're already there.
MOSQUITOES
Place pots of mint plants around your deck to drastically decrease the number of mosquitoes. In the areas where there are mint plants, you may also see a reduction in ants. As a bonus, when the mint flowers, bees will enjoy the plants too.
ANTS
• Create a mixture of Borax, icing sugar and a little water and place it where you see ants.
• Put cinnamon sticks by the door, or sprinkle ground cinnamon around the doors and windows where they are coming in.
• Take chalk and make a line in front of where the ants are coming in - they won't cross over it.
• Regularly spray vinegar in locations where ants are entering the house.
FRUIT FLIES
• In a cup, put some vinegar or some alcohol, as well as a little bit of fruit or kombucha, and cover the top with plastic wrap. Poke some small holes in the plastic wrap with a toothpick. The fruit flies will be able to get in, but they won't be able to get out.
• Because fruit flies are almost always attracted to fermenting food, they tend to hang out and propagate in the drain, where there can be food decay. Clean sink drains well, even with yogurt or baking soda and vinegar. Or pour some Windex in the drain, plug it up for five to 10 minutes, and it should kill them off.
• Keep the compost bin in the freezer
WASPS
Place a fake paper wasp nest, available at dollar stores, outside near where wasps are seen congregating. Wasps won't build nests because they think there is already one in the area.
SPIDERS
• Mix peppermint essential oil with water and spray it around your windows and doorways to help keep spiders away.
• Place whole chestnuts or walnuts in the corners of your room or areas where spiders like to hang out.
OTHER INSECTS:
• Place dried bay leaves in drawers and cupboards to ward off ants, weevils, moths and flies.
• If you are still having problems after trying other natural remedies, place diatomaceous earth on your window ledges and door jams to kill any bugs coming in. Make sure you use food-grade diatomaceous earth and wear a mask when
you apply it. While it is safe to eat, you still don't want to breathe it in, especially while you are applying it. Refresh it outside after it rains.
CLEANING TIPS
Clean every crack and crevice, up high down low. Make sure you have fully cleaned away the smell of food. Insects follow the smell of food, and the arachnids follow the insects.
When cleaning, add a few drops of cedar or spruce oil in with the soap. Mint does not work as it is not strong enough
If problems still exist, it might be time to call in the big guns, like MacDonald's team.
If you are noticing ants inside the house, they may be carpenter ants and you should have a professional identify them, as a professional treatment is usually required, he says.
As the summer progresses, wasps will build nests in the cracks and crevices of your home. If you notice wasps coming and going from a hole in your house, though, do not seal the hole. This will trap the wasps inside and usually lead to wasps getting inside the living space.
If you have a wasp problem,
MacDonald says, a professional should be brought in to do the job safely.