While most bugs you see at home are more or less harmless, there are some bugs that are dangerous to you if they bite you. In fact, there are some that are extremely venomous even if they look harmless. So how do you make sure that you keep those kinds of dangerous pests away from your home?
Here are some tips on how:
- Observe for Colonies
Usually, bugs would travel in colonies. The fire ants, for example, would usually send out scouts to check the surroundings and would report back to the colony, which is most likely hidden somewhere in the woodwork. If you notice that you see strange bugs creeping into your house from time to time, it most likely means that there’s a colony nearby. The colony could be either inside or outside your house.
- Check the Outside First
More often than not, all bugs come from the outdoors to the indoors (unless the bugs built a colony in the woodwork even before you bought your house). So you have to make sure that you check all the paths that lead from the outside of the house to the inside. These include the vents, the pipes, the sinks, and any holes in the house. The goal here is to check these holes from time to time and block them off if necessary. If you can’t block them off, then put repellents there so that the bugs won’t go in.
- Start Protecting the Interior
Now that you’re done with the outdoors, you need to focus on the indoors because bugs may have already gotten in. The first thing you should do is ward the house off so that insects won’t want to go in. While you could use traditional insect repellent, there are some health hazards associated with its use. For that reason, we recommend that you use natural insect repellents instead.
One of the best things that you could use to ward off insects, especially those venomous spiders, would be to use citrus peels. These include peels from oranges, lemons, and grapefruit. After you’re done with the peels, rub them on various places in the house. Eventually, insects will smell them and will not want to go in. There are also some stores that sell natural, citrus-based repellents. You can spray this solution around the house to deter insects. This solution is extremely effective on those poisonous banana spiders. How poisonous is a banana spider, you may ask?
Well, the banana spider, also known as the Phoneutria, is an extremely dangerous species of spider – especially the Phoneutria nigriventer. These types of spiders carry venom that causes very serious medical conditions that are detrimental. However, they can’t stand citrus, so it’s possible to keep them out with it.
Bugs are also somehow weak to tea tree oil or eucalyptus oil. Solutions that contain a mixture of these two essential oils and water make the best spray repellents. Aside from citrus, you may also spray essential oil solutions around the house to get rid of bugs.
- Keep Your House Clean
This is something you should do whether or not you have bugs in your house simply for the sake of hygiene. In any case, bugs don’t like clean houses because there would be no place for them to breed and no place to eat. If you live in a tropical country, we recommend you clean twice a week. For four-season countries, once-a-week general cleaning would be enough to keep bugs away. Also, remember not to leave dirty laundry, stained plates, and other dirty things lying around.
- Seek Help from a Professional
If your house is already infested with a colony, then prevention tips won’t work anymore since you’ll be dealing with an army. In this case, it’s more efficient if you just flush them out in one go so that you can start anew. Exterminator services are usually offered to people with bug problems, so don’t hesitate to call one if you think a colony or a breeding ground has formed.
Conclusion
As you can see, it’s not that hard to keep bugs out of your home as long as you put some effort into it. You may experience problems once a breeding ground or colony has formed, but you can still flush them out if the colony is still small. If the colony is extremely big though, you’ll need a professional. In any case, these tips will help you handle harmful bugs.