From minimizing them outdoors to ridding them from indoors, there’s lots you can do to keep those bugs from invading your space in the summer.
After a lengthy conversation with all my neighbors about dealing with bugs during the summer months, I knew a post was in order. I grew up in a super clean home, and even though I’m not as good as my mother, I definitely retained some of her housekeeping tips.
Here are some tips both from my neighbors and from mom.
Keep your garbage cans clean! Line them with trash can liners, double bag any broken bags, and avoid adding non-bagged stray trash.
Spray Raid around your entire property (next season, do this as soon as the weather gets warm), in every corner, around window shafts, giving extra attention to the space where your garbage sits. I use Raid Max. It has minimal odor and a nozzle like a machine gun so you can spray from a distance. It kills and repels about 25 different types of bugs.
It’s very important to clean up all the food that was brought outside. That means freeze pop wrappers, supper plates, cups, snack bags, etc.
Invest in a good fly zapper. You can also use window fly traps. Put one on the window during the afternoon hours. By the next morning, most will be caught and you can get rid of it.
Don’t want to be seeing the flies? You can avoid that entirely by hanging an electric bug zapper on your property.
Keep doors closed as much as possible. It’s hard with kids running in and out, but it’s a good thing to train them to close a door whenever they open one.
Ants? Liquid Ant Bait came highly recommended by our readers.
If all else fails, it’s worth the money to pay a professional exterminator.
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what about food flies in the kitchen?
Hi! All these tips will help prevent and get rid of fruit flies as well. Additional steps you can take include not leaving food out on the counter, throwing out fruit that’s overripe and pouring bleach down the sink occasionally to flush the drain of residue. Good luck!
Keep a bowl of apple cider on the counter. It really helps!!
Wash your fruit immediately when you bring them into the house.
To avoid and get rid of ants this prudoct works magic. ORTHO BRAND ANT BGONMAX
Do these trash bags stay on the can ? Having trouble with garbage men taking my garbage liners when they empty the trash. They’re too expensive to keep replacing every garbage pickup.