Pests that love summer heat in Edwardsville, IL
Whether you live or go to school in the Edwardsville, IL area, you know that summer means high temps, days at the pool and a litany of fun activities. However, it’s not all fun and games for Midwesterners as the season heats up. While this area can be great for float trips and all types of summer enjoyment, it’s also a time for many pests to play as well. However, how do you limit pests while maximizing the fun you have this year. Well, the first step is becoming familiar with the enemy. Here are the pests you should look out for as the weather heats up and what you can do to limit your exposure!
Mosquitoes
When it comes to summer pests, there are few more feared than the dreaded mosquito. Not only do mosquito bites cause itching, but they can also spread serious illnesses that will have you worrying about a whole other problem.
While your municipality likely treats for mosquitoes, you may still see them in numbers this season. To prevent mosquitoes, limit any standing water around your home, as this is a breeding ground for the insect. Additionally, store-bought bug sprays, fly paper or citronella candles may help protect you while enjoying time outside.
Stinging Insects
The summer brings an unending onslaught of stinging insects to worry about. Whether it’s carpenter bees that bore holes in your wood deck or wasps that build nests underneath ledges, limiting nesting areas will also limit untimely meetings right outside of your front door.
To limit stinging insects, you can pick up a few cans of wasp and hornet killer at many stores and inspect your home for nests. You may find nests in garages and sheds, in trees, underneath ledges, inside wood surfaces, etc. You can also call a professional to ensure your completely protected if the problem is severe.
Ants
Ants are extremely active in the summertime, and if you aren’t careful, you’ll be warding them offer all season long. Ants love to find their way inside your home looking for food and anything they can carry away to their nest.
However, it may be easier than you think you eliminate these pests. Take a walk around the perimeter of your home to spot any nests that are close to your foundation. Next, be sure to keep trash and food sealed at all times, so as not to attract any hungry ants into your home.
Flies
Flies are another unfortunate part of the summer months, and they come in all shapes and sizes. From the tiniest of fruit flies to the dreaded horsefly, you’ll want to be sure you keep doors and windows closed and a fly swatter handy.
Limiting flies can be trickier because it’s difficult to know where they’re coming from. However, the best thing you can do is keep your home clean. Fruit flies are attracted to decaying fruit while common houseflies feed on garbage and filth. Keep it clean to limit these guys.
Ticks
If you live near a wood area, you’ll no doubt have your run-ins with ticks this season. Ticks live in piles of dead leaves and other wood areas, waiting to hop onto their next victim. Many times this is in the form of a dog or pet or someone that’s hiking or working in the woods.
Ticks can cause serious illness, so it’s best to give yourself a thorough inspection anytime you’ve been in the woods are somewhere that ticks like to hide. Additionally, be sure to treat your dog with tick and flea control medicine to ensure unwanted visitors aren’t hitching a ride right into your home!
Termites
Last, but certainly not least is the termite. Also very active during the summer months, this is the time when termites are foraging for food and working to build up their colonies. This desire for progress leads them right to your home to snack on the studs in your walls.
With termites, you’ll want to limit anything close to the home that could serve as an access point such as piles of logs, brush or other detritus material. Additionally, it’s important to seek the help of a termite professional, as termite infestations can cost you thousands in structural repairs – prevention is certainly the better option here.
Tips to keep ants out of your Glen Carbon, IL home
Keep ants out with these tips in Glen Carbon, IL
There’s nothing that ruins a good day faster than realizing you are sharing your home (and food!) with thousands of tiny soldiers. And while it is easy for homeowners in Glen Carbon, IL to easily attract house ants, carpenter ants or even fire ants, ant removal can be much more difficult. Once established, an ant colony can thrive for years in one spot. Make sure you take these tips into account when it comes to ants in your home, or contact a local professional to ensure the job gets done right!
All-natural treatments to keep ants out of your home
There are many all-natural methods for keeping ants out of your home. Ants leave a scent trail for their comrades to follow when they find food or any type of sugary substance, so one way to keep ants from invading your house is to keep food and sweets from falling on the floor. If you have kids or messy spouses, this might not be feasible. In this case, you can focus on repelling the ants by messing with their ability to communicate.
Ants do not like the strong aroma of coffee beans, chili powder or cinnamon because they disrupt the pheromone trail that ants use to signal other ants to follow them to food. If you want to keep ants from entering windows or door cracks, spray a vinegar/water mixture or spread baking powder, baby powder or flour along the boundaries. Ants will avoid traveling through the powdery substance.
Common ants and solutions for prevention
The three most common ants found in the Glen Carbon, IL area are the
- Pavement Ant
- Odorous House Ant
- Carpenter Ant
While preventing their interest in your home altogether is preferable, even your best effort at keeping your home clean can fall short. Natural remedies may work to repel ants that are simply looking for food, but carpenter ants don’t just want food, they want your wood, too. In cases like this it is important to remove the problem altogether. Sprays can kill the ants that are currently in your home, but what of the thousands that remain only a short distance away in the colony? And what about the queen, whose only function is to continue to create new pests to aggravate you.
To rid your home of trouble ants, you may need to pass the baton to a professional pest company like Imel Pest Control. They have been dealing with the toughest infestations since 1967.
