Summer is a time of happiness for a lot of families. The warm weather makes people want to spend their days outdoors as much as they can; barbecues, family reunions and even just a few drinks out on the porch are all things that make summer special. However, what a lot of homeowners concern themselves with around this time of year is pest control, and with good reason too. Times of warm weather and drought force pests to travel indoors for food and water. Pests (e.g. bees) that don’t necessarily try to come inside can be a dangerous nuisance for you and your family. With summer around the corner, here are five things you need to know for pest control:
1. Replace Screens and Seal Windows
Windows seem to wear fairly easily, and a lot of times they’ll end up with small cracks that easily go unnoticed. These are the cracks that let pests like ants and mosquitos get inside your home. Making sure your windows are air tight will help keep pests out.
2. Clean Up Spills Quickly
Ants are typically sent out to forage for food during the summer months, so the longer you leave any sort of spill or food mess lying around, the better the chance that an ant will find it. Once one finds it, they all will. Reason for this is because ants release a trail of pheromones when they travel to find food so that the rest of the colony can locate them.
3. Empty the Bird Baths
As you probably know, mosquitos can be incredibly irritating during the summer months. Mosquito bites leave you itchy, and west Nile virus is always a concern. One way to help keep mosquitos from congregating near your living space is to empty your bird baths or any other container of standing water. Mosquitos like to hover around water, so make sure they have as little reason to stick around your place as possible.
4. Watch Out for Bed Bugs When You Travel
Summer is filled with big events like weddings, graduations and reunions that force people to travel and stay in hotels. For this reason, summer is also a common time for bed bugs. You never know which hotel might have them lurking in the box springs, so be sure to do your own thorough inspection before staying in a room. This will lessen your chances of bringing bed bugs back to your home.
5. Inspect for Bee Nests
Bees are very common in the summer time as it is their time to pollinate. It’s not uncommon for them to make their nests in and around the outside of your home. This can cause you and your guests to get stung during gatherings. Because bees nests can pop up any time, it’s important to do frequent checks.
There are several pests that can interfere with your summer fun, but like all pests, there is also a way to prevent them. If you end up with an infestation, call your local pest control to talk about how you can get rid of them.
