As you walk around your yard and flower beds, you can spot them easily - the mounds of sand that indicate ants have set up residence on your property. They could be fire ants, which can give you a painful sting, harmless worker ants or carpenter ants that can cause damage when they gnaw at your home's structure.
That's just the beginning of the early summer entry of insects on your grounds and possibly into your house unless you take steps to stop them. You can try home remedies and over-the-counter commercial products. But if an advanced population is already making itself known, it may be time to call in the professionals. Companies like Abell Pest Control can inspect your property, devise a treatment plan and advise you on follow-up steps to help prevent a recurrence.
Experts like Abell can also tell you what kinds of insects are crawling about your place. Are they really fire ants or the harmless variety? Is this a bee that will become aggressive on its own or will it bother you only when you swat at it?
If you're going to make any inroads in ridding your property of pests, it helps to know what you're dealing with.
There are some self-help measures you can take to keep the insect invaders from gaining on you. For instance, keep pests out of your house by sealing any cracks and crevices on outside walls. As an additional precaution, keep your trash cans closed with tight-fitting lids.
Draining any standing puddles and storing woodpiles several yards away from the foundation are other ways to reduce the chance of pests making their way from the exterior to inside the house.
Keep your flower beds weeded and free of debris to discourage pests. If you have fruit trees or other fruit-baring plants, be sure to collect and bag any fallen fruits and greenery before they decompose. Otherwise, you've not only got insect magnets on your land, but a feast for mice as well.
While you're walking your property, look for the possibility of hives and nests on trees and structures. You should be wary of getting rid of stinging insects, which should be handled by a pest service.
Cut back any plants that are touching your house. From grass to trees and hedges, try to plow a plant-free zone around the building so bugs won't go beyond the greenery and start attacking your shingles, sills and thresholds.
You probably already know that most people are repulsed by the simple sight of cockroaches. If you are personally dealing with a cockroach infestation, the feelings of disgust are probably even more intense. Unfortunately, the cold winter weather tends to be one of the reasons this pest ends up in your home in the first place, according to Any Pest. While you may know that you don't want to share your home with cockroaches this winter, there are a number of interesting facts about this pest that you've probably never heard.
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.
