What to Do About Summer Bugs In Your Home
There are many reasons to love living in Alabama’s warm weather, but dealing with summer bugs in the house in August? That’s not one of them. Unfortunately, Alabama’s extended periods of humid, stagnant heat make this state a place where pests love to be as long as possible since most are cold-blooded and find warm, murky conditions as welcome areas for mating and laying eggs.
But why do pests like to come indoors and invade cool, air-conditioned homes if they love the hot outdoors so much? Some of our recent blogs dive into that exact subject. If you want to know what to do when you find summer bugs in your house, read on! Let’s look at the best ways to keep bugs outside where they belong.
Step One: Clean Your Kitchen
The first step to keeping pests out of your home is simple: keep it clean. If you have kids or a housemate who loves sneaking off with snacks, you probably don’t leave sweets out for them to swipe. Follow the same principle when preventing bugs: Don’t leave a buffet out for them.
Pests enjoy the same treats as people, so keep food and drink in air-tight containers. Bugs also love crumbs, sticky stuff, and any mess, like spilled drinks or puddles of water left on the counters, floor, or kitchen table. To prevent inviting pests to stay for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, wipe down surfaces, sweep and mop, and throw away smelly trash.
Step Two: Keep It Dry
Heat is not the only condition bugs love. They go crazy for water, especially stagnant water because that’s where they lay their eggs. To eliminate bugs, you must eliminate moisture.
We already mentioned cleaning up the kitchen, but what about your bathroom? Plenty of water and stench (another favorite of insects everywhere) lurks in your bathroom, behind toilets, in your bathtub or shower, on the floor, in that basket of dirty towels at the bottom of the closet—you get the picture. To keep pests out of your bathroom, keep it dry and clean.
Your beloved house plant may also be a source of moisture that pests are particularly drawn to in your home.
Overwatering your plant is already not the best for your plant’s survival, but it is also another moist spot that gives bugs invitations to reproduce. We recommend not overwatering your plant and changing the soil if it becomes a mosquito breeding ground.
Step Three: Turn Out the Lights
Ever heard the phrase “like moths to a flame,” used when someone is particularly drawn to something? That saying comes from the fact that bugs love light and will fly straight into it!
If you have a porch light right next to your door, you’re practically begging for summer bugs to come into your house, moving from one light to another (from the porch lights to the ones inside your home). Also, if you open a window at night, keep the lights off so flies won’t be as likely to come in.
Keep Out Summer Bugs in the House
While the tips we’ve laid out are great ways to prevent summer bugs in the house, they don’t guarantee that pesky pests won’t find their way in. However, there is an even better way to keep your home pest-free this summer and during any time of year: calling the pest control experts at Vulcan Termite & Pest Control!
Our team has provided the good people of central Alabama with superior pest control services since 1965, making us one of the longest-running, family-owned pest control companies in Alabama. Whatever pests you’re dealing with, our experts can help. Contact us today by calling (205) 663-4200. Plus, find more of our expert advice for preventing pests over on our pest blog.