For many families, the summer can mean great weather, outdoor fun and backyard barbecues. But this beloved season can also spell problems with fruit flies for many kitchens and homes across the U.S.
While a pest control service can come to your rescue, it's always best to try to prevent fruit flies from establishing themselves in your home in the first place. Here are a few tips to squish the issue before the flies set up camp.
As Real Simple magazine advised a restaurant owner, the best way to prevent fruit flies from annoying you and your customers is to clean everything. Restaurateurs can use an all-purpose cleaner to scrub down every surface where food and trash are kept. Next, you'll want to get rid of any old food or fruits. Fruit flies are aptly named - they love fruit, juice and wine. Exposed fruit isn't just an invitation indoors, it's also where fruit flies breed.
Also, take out the trash twice a day, mop the floors and scrub every surface. An area that's sometimes overlooked by restaurants or homeowners is the recycling bin. Whether it's liquid trapped in bottles you want to recycle or compost that hasn't made it outdoors yet, these green practices can lead to fruit fly breeding under the wrong conditions. Eliminate the possibility that they can breed, then wait for your space to be fly-free.
The University of Kentucky's College of Agriculture, Food and Environment explained that the only way to prevent fruit flies is to stop them from gaining access to what attracts them. This means you can't keep fruit out on the counter after it has ripened - eat it or put it in the refrigerator. UK noted that an onion or piece of fruit that got lost in the cabinet may turn into the host of thousands of breeding fruit flies.
It's also important to shut doors and windows completely, Real Simple magazine advised. Fruit flies can easily fit through most screens.
Since fruit flies can attack on picnics and cookouts too, it's important to practice indoor health habits outdoors. Keep everything sealed and covered until it's consumed. Store trash far away from food to avoid crossover contamination.
With fruit flies, it's important to act early, otherwise you might find yourself with thousands more to deal with the next day.
Because of the high amount of traffic and the versatility of the facilities, pests are naturally attracted to long-term care institutions. Many nursing homes, rehabilitation centers and other care facilities include on-site kitchens and cafeterias as well as private rooms and common spaces. All of these places are susceptible to attracting pests because of the presence of food, water and viable habitats.
During the summer months, some people love to go camping with family and friends. Yet this fun trip can be ruined with a few unwanted visitors, most notably different types of bugs. Crawling spiders, hungry mosquitoes and buzzing flies can become annoying quickly. How can you avoid these pests when you're outdoors? Consider these tips to keep bugs out of your campsite.
Carpenter ants can chew through the strongest studs and stringers in a house as they hollow the wooden beams out for nesting. The resulting damage can weaken the home's structural support and require expensive repairs. Professional pest control workers can remove a colony of ants, but the best practice for homeowners is to learn the best ways to keep out an ant colony and prevent the problem before it begins.
As the weather cools, you'll probably see fewer pests than you did during the warmer months, but that doesn't mean they're all gone just yet. Some insects can actually come out in full force during the autumn, while others might seek refuge in your warm home. Here are some key tips to keep in mind as fall gets underway:
As the middle of summer approaches, you need to be vigilant about keeping your garden free of pests. Many insects breed during the summertime, which means they're on the lookout for great places to lay their eggs. For many bugs, that means near a source of food. In fact, some species of insects will lay their eggs inside budding vegetables and fruit so their larvae have something to eat as soon as they hatch. That's why you have to keep harmful bugs out without damaging the bugs that could help you, such as bumble bees.
You might have noticed that, with the exception of the kitchen, you find more pests in your bathroom than in the rest of your home. This is because insects and rodents see the bathroom as a convenient watering hole. Pests love leaky pipes and standing water because these offer them a hydrating oasis in the otherwise dry biome that is your house or apartment. And if your bathroom develops mold, all the better for pests, who may eat fungus or use it to lay their eggs.
The kitchen is largest gathering place for pests in a residential home. The reason is simple: pests can grab a bite to eat and take a sip of water while they're here. And when they find such a bountiful place, they will return home to their nests and report the finding - before you know it, your whole pantry is a buffet for ants! The problem could get even worse if a piece of food falls somewhere and begins to rot. Similarly, fruit and vegetables you bring into your home may be harboring unseen pests waiting to hatch.
In the summer months, people love to stock up on fresh fruits and vegetables. Some even venture to farmers markets where the food is cheaper. However, not only do fruits come home with you, fruit flies may too. Once they've gotten acclimated in your home, they might stay all summer. These pests breed quickly, and tend to spread through whatever food you've got around. They also are happy to join in on any meal you have, be it a sit-down dinner or a barbecue in your backyard. Worst of all, like other flies, they carry disease. Consider these tips on how to prevent fruit flies from coming home with you.
