While the summer can bring about sun, fun, and a lot more time spent with families, it also tends to bring about a whole host of insect pests. Bugs are a lot more active in the summer, which means that they can become much more of a hassle inside the home, as well. Here, we’re going to look at a few tips you can use to keep bugs, and flies especially, from becoming too much of a nuisance.
Cleanliness is king
Having a fly in your home is not a sign of a messy home, but flies are attracted to mess, it’s as simple as that. In particular, food smells that are left open will bring them in. If you want a peaceful home environment, make it a clean one, too. Get rid of clutter, do a spring clean, including surface cleaning and be especially active around any bins or areas where you store food. If you can make home made cleaning products using essential oils from the plants mentioned below, so much the better.
Don’t let any mess build up or linger, and avoid having any open containers that will attract bugs.
Use screens
If flies and other bugs don’t have any convenient way to get inside the home, then you’re going to have a lot less trouble with them. Keeping windows and doors closed is a good idea, but you might not be able to do that all summer, especially if those days are getting hotter. To that end, insect screens could be precisely what the home needs. They can fit onto doors and windows alike, and can even be tailor-made to the home. Otherwise, keep an eye out for any cracks or openings that insects can use and close them if you’re able.
Use the right plants to keep them away
There are some plants that have naturally built-in defences to protect themselves from insects, and having these in your garden or inside the home in planters can be a natural deterrent as well. Those that are most commonly used are basil, lavender, bay leaves, marigolds, and catnip. Of course, keeping catnip in or around the home is also a lot more likely to attract cats so you want to think about that. These tend to work in a local area, so they’re not all-round protection.
Traps
A lot of people have mixed feelings about using traps that can kill insects because, while they will work on flies, they can also work on insects that are less bothersome and might even be pollinators or have important benefits for the local environment. Sticky traps and light traps are the two most common kinds. If you want to use these responsibly, then you should place them in only the most problematic areas. Some rooms have worse airflow and, as a result, can attract flies more easily as smells disperse from them more slowly, so this might be a key place to put a sticky trap.
Of course, you’re not likely to entirely banish flies from the home, or two might get in at some point. But with the tips above, you can make sure that they’re not a constant annoyance.
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