Who doesn’t love the summertime? The bright sunny days, popsicles, campouts, barbecues – the list of fun activities goes on and on. But there is one thing that can get in the way of those great summer activities – pests.
Nothing is more frustrating than playing lawn games only to be stung by a wasp or getting a mosquito bite during a bonfire or finding flies chilling all over your picnic. You can still have fun, of course, but the pests definitely take away some of your enjoyment. Even worse, though, is when those pests end up in your house. Trying to plan pest control or get rid of them isn’t easy, and you might feel like you can’t keep up with them all.
While most pests peak during the summer, there are a few that you really need to watch out for in and around your home. Let’s take a look at which pests those are and how you can keep them at a minimum this summer.
5 Summer Pests
1. Mosquitos
Mosquitos are definitely one of the most annoying summer pests. Not only do they buzz around you constantly, but they bite you and leave you itching for days. It’s hard to 100% avoid mosquito bites, but you need to avoid them as much as possible because mosquito bites can be dangerous. Mosquitoes can carry various diseases like the West Nile Virus that can be deadly to humans, so you really don’t want a lot of them around. This website offers mosquito repellent products that can provide long lasting protection from mosquitoes and other bugs.
You should always wear insect repellant and other protections (like long sleeves or long pants) when you’re outside during the mosquitoes’ most active times. But you can also do a few things to prevent high populations of mosquitoes around your home. One of the best pest control for mosquitos is eliminating standing water in your yard so the mosquitos have nowhere to lay their eggs. This should minimize the mosquito population significantly.
2. Grasshoppers
If you’re a gardener, you dread the arrival of grasshoppers. Their population booms in the summer and when that happens, your plants might be in for some serious harm. You’ll know that grasshoppers have been feeding on your plants if you see large bite marks throughout the leaves.
To keep grasshoppers away, try planting things that don’t attract grasshoppers. Some plants, like cilantro or marigolds, can actually deter grasshoppers from hanging around your garden. You can also try to attract more birds to your yard to eat the grasshoppers, but the birds might also find the fruit you’re growing tasty as well, so keep that in mind.
Calling professional pest control early in the year can help keep grasshoppers away as well. When done early enough, pest control shouldn’t cause issues for your plants and should prevent grasshoppers from showing up much in your yard in the first place.
3. Bees and Wasps
Isn’t it frustrating when your kids are playing out in the yard and then one of them comes running inside crying because she was stung by a wasp? For some reason, wasps and bees seem to like building their nests and hives in areas that children like to play. Wasps, in particular, like to build in playhouses and swing sets, so kids come into contact with them fairly often.
When wasps are in your yard, you can get rid of them with a store-bought pesticide. You need to be careful about when and how you get rid of the wasps though. It’s best to do it in the late evening when a lot of the wasps have returned to their nest and are sleepy because they’re less likely to attack you. Dress in clothes that cover you well in case any wasps do try to sting you. Of course, if you have a lot of wasps in your yard, you can call pest control for help as well.
However, if you have bees in your yard, don’t try to get rid of them on your own, and definitely do not use pesticides on them. Bees are endangered and their populations are still dropping, so we need to do what we can to protect them. They do a lot for us when they pollinate plants, and we can’t afford to have their populations drop significantly more. Instead, call a local beekeeper and they can come and pick up the beehive for you.
4. House Flies
House flies are usually more of a nuisance than anything. They’re attracted to sweet drinks, foods, and more, so you have to deal with them a lot when you eat outside. But when they come inside they are much more annoying – and they reproduce even more.
The best way to keep flies at bay is to eliminate smells that will attract them. Garbage, food left sitting out, animal feces, and so on can all attract the flies into your home, so doing all you can to keep your home clean will make a big difference in the fly population in your home. And if a few do come inside, a fly swatter will be your best friend.
If the problem does start to get out of hand – like if you start finding a lot of baby flies in your home – calling pest control is probably your best option for getting rid of the infestation.
5. Ants
Ants are one of those pests that end up everywhere. You might think, early in the year, that your home is ant-free. But when the weather warms up, all of that changes. Next thing you know, ants are popping up in your kitchen, your basement, even your bathroom. Honestly, you’re not sure where you’re going to run into an ant next, and it’s a little creepy.
Ants aren’t dangerous to humans, but they can contaminate food. So keeping them out of your pantry is super important. You can do this by storing food in airtight containers and setting out ant traps to eliminate the random ants that show up around your house. But the best way to get rid of an ant population is professional pest control because their treatments are powerful enough and thorough enough to actually drive out and kill the population of ants. Soon enough, you’ll be pest-free and enjoying summer completely again.
