Bug Off: Natural Ways to Keep Insects at Bay and When to Call a Pro

Everyone hates pests in their home. They bite, they sting, they go through your food, they carry germs around. Of course, they have their part to play in the great scheme of nature, but why do they have to play it in your house or mine? Bug business is big business, and the quantities of chemicals produced for it are huge. But suppose you don’t like using chemicals in your house, what are the options?

Common Sense Remedies

Bug Off: Natural Ways to Keep Insects at Bay and When to Call a Pro

Let’s start with the most natural remedy of all—keep them out. Every pest needs to get in somehow, and if we can find where they get in and physically block it, so much the better. If rodents are your problem, inspect your house to find their entry and block it with something they can’t chew through. If it is flying insects, use meshes to keep them out.

Bug Off: Natural Ways to Keep Insects at Bay and When to Call a Pro

Another thing is to prevent their access to whatever interests them, and then they will have less incentive to come in. If what they are interested in is you, of course, it’s not easy; but if it is , make sure that there is nothing that is easily accessible to them.

Try to restrict their habitat near to your house. Keeping a garden clean and tidy is a good start.

Natural Repellants and Barriers

Bug Off: Natural Ways to Keep Insects at Bay and When to Call a Pro

There is not shortage of recommendations for natural products that can deter pests. Some insects are said to avoid acid (although ants make their own), so you could try spraying vinegar around. Spiders apparently hate the smell of citrus, so leaving peelings strategically might help.

Other smells reputed to deter insects include: mint, cucumbers, cedar, and an assortment of strong smelling herbs like basil, garlic and bay.

Bug Off: Natural Ways to Keep Insects at Bay and When to Call a Pro

are widely marketed, claiming to repel rodents and cockroaches with an unpleasant sound that humans cannot hear. Where mice are concerned, a cat is a pretty good deterrent!

Bug Off: Natural Ways to Keep Insects at Bay and When to Call a Pro

 

If you can’t block of the access route for pests, you could try putting something across it that will stop them. You could try salt, hot spices, ground charcoal, even chalk. You can buy dedicated products made from the ground up silica shells of microscopic algae called diatoms.

Sneaky Tricks

Bug Off: Natural Ways to Keep Insects at Bay and When to Call a Pro

If you can’t stop them coming in, hit them when they do. are very effective at getting the wasps stuck to the jelly. Cornmeal is said to be irresistible to ants, but it destroys them from the inside. Sugar water will draw the bugs, and if a few drops of detergent are added they will sink in and drown.

The disadvantage of these methods is that they work by making your house more attractive in the first place!

Time for an Expert

Bug Off: Natural Ways to Keep Insects at Bay and When to Call a Pro

There comes a time when the natural remedies fail, either because the infestation is beyond your control or because the particular pests that are bothering you are not impressed by your efforts. That is the time to think about calling in a specialist pest control firm like . Pest controllers have some definite advantages over self-help:

They know their chemicals. Because these practitioners are trained and tested, they know when chemicals are needed, and they know how to use them for the most effect. Often they will use far less chemicals than you would use yourself, and they get much better results from accurate targeting. They may have access to chemicals that are not available to you in your local store.

Bug Off: Natural Ways to Keep Insects at Bay and When to Call a Pro

They know their pests. These people have studied the behavior of every kind of pest. They can track them to their base and attack them well away from you. They know when they will come out and go home, and they can be waiting.

They know their customers. Good pest controllers will take time to find out what exactly is bothering you. They may be able to put your mind at rest about the dangers that the pests pose to your family. They will advise you how to handle your own pest problem and, when the threat is past, how to keep it at bay. They want you to sleep peacefully in your bed.

A Pest-Free World?

Bug Off: Natural Ways to Keep Insects at Bay and When to Call a Pro

As long as there is life on our planet there will be pests, and people will constantly be at war with them. No house will ever be entirely free of uninvited guests. With a sense of proportion and an imaginative and flexible approach, we can all keep things at a level where we can live without letting them destroy our peace of mind.

 

About the Author
Louise Robinson is a Mom who banished chemicals from her home a couple of years ago. She now writes about natural and organic living, making small changes to your home and life, to help your health.

 

“Shared at Simply Natural Saturday”

“Shared at Sunday Fitness & Food”