As the days get longer and the temperature starts to climb, the creepy crawlies begin to awaken from their winter slumber.
While some are quite helpful (bees) and some are just terrifying (spiders), there’s a few particular insects most of us dread interacting with.
We all know that high-pitched whine in your ear that has you trying to swat mosquitoes away only to smack yourself in the head.
These teeny bloodsuckers are a bane to every camping trip and backyard barbecue. They evoke memories of horrid itching and the stink of calamine lotion, or the suffocating aerosol bug spray and sickening reek of chamomile candles that don’t seem to work.
Then there’s the nasty, evil revenge-fueled flying nightmare, the wasp.
Once one of these little monsters decides it hates you, it will not stop until you are good and stung, and even then it will likely lie in wait until it can attack you again.
All you want to do is spend time outside while the weather is good, is that too much to ask? You don’t want to be eaten alive while grilling dinner or enjoying a cool beverage while the sun sets. Is there nothing that can be done to stop the insects from reclaiming your outdoor space?
As it turns out, there is.
Here are a few tips on keeping the bugs out for less stress and better times this spring and summer.
No, not with solid walls, that would defeat the purpose of an outdoor space. Instead, think of a screened-in outdoor area. Rather than your grandparent’s screened-in porch, use retractable screens to allow the patio to switch between “completely open to the elements” and “keeping the bugs as far away as possible.
Phantom Screens Okanagan are able to size the screens to fit your needs and can return your outdoor space to you and your family.
Ever notice how wasps seem to hang around where there’s food and drink? That’s because, along with being total jerks, they’re gluttons for sweets.
Make sure once the party is over that all food-related trash is in a well-sealed garbage bag and that your bin isn’t overflowing—the scent is nasty to us, but wasps will do whatever they can to get at the food scraps inside.
If you want to keep the wasps away before, during, and after the party, distract them with a sugar trap. DIY one by cutting a pop bottle in half and flip the top half so it’s inside the bottom half, and leave a bit of soda in the bottom. Not only will they be drawn to the sweetness and away from your meal, they will be unable to figure out how to escape.
Mosquitoes lay their eggs in standing water, so make sure you change the water in the birdbath, put a tight-weave screen over the rain barrel, and aerate water in decorative ponds. Dump out the water in the kiddie pool once in a while as well.
Even notice how on windy days there are fewer bugs to, well, bug you? A fan not only blows the weak little flying pests away from you, it also blows away what draws mosquitoes to you—carbon dioxide, lactic acids, and sweat.
Keeping the air moving will keep the skeeters elsewhere.
If you’re wondering how the bugs are getting into your house, be sure to do a check of all your window screens for any holes that may be acting as a welcome mat for insects. Also look at your screen doors and make sure they are good and sealed. Phantom can also fit your doors and windows with retractable screens, which allows you more flexibility with opening your home to the elements.
Want to know more? Don’t hesitate to call us for a quote today at 250.762.7592.
