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Fast Acting Natural Ant Killers
In this post, Iām going to show you how to keep ants from invading your house and bothering you without poisoning ALL of the ants in your yard which are protecting you from other worse pests like ticks, fleas, and cutworms. I hope this guide to natural ant control will give you a greater appreciation for ants while helping your home stay free of ants and other invading pests.
The best overall control for ants is simply cleanliness.
Like all creatures, ants need food, water, and shelter to survive. By limiting these three essentials, you make it impossible (or at least more difficult) for ants to live in the infested area. Simply by improving sanitation you can often suppress existing ant populations and discourage new ant invasions. Safe Solutions Tweetmint enzyme cleaner with peppermint is not only an excellent sanitizer it will literally “dissolve or melt” the ants!
The mistake most people make when attempting to control ants is trying to kill the ones they see. This “control” will never solve your ant infestation because the ants you see are not only sterile but they represent only a small portion of the ant colony. Typically, there will be thousands of additional ants including one or more egg-laying queens hidden somewhere in at least one nest. Eliminating queens and other colony members within those nests is the key to effective ant control. But, where are their nests? Ants build their nests in many different locations both inside and outside of buildings. Ant species nesting inside, or those that nest outside and come inside to forage for food or moisture, tend to be the most challenging ant species for you to control. Like all pests, ants require food and water to survive; by eliminating these basic necessities you can greatly reduce their numbers. Store all food and organic wastes in sealed containers, clean up all kitchen surfaces and spills and empty trash daily. Caulk, seal and/or screen all openings, cracks and crevices.
Ants have many natural enemies – so encourage them to help you control ant infestations. Some kinds of scavenger beetles inhabit ant nests and feed on larvae and pupae. Parasitic mites attack ants in their nests. Braconid and chalcid wasps attack ants in all life stages. Research shows that more than 15 kinds of spiders (including the much-maligned black widow) take a heavy toll of ants in farm fields, so itās a safe bet that spider webs are spread for ant foragers in your yard as well. In the worldās tropical regions, some mammals specialize in eating ants. Many of these animals are actually called anteaters, and they have long, skinny tongues with which to pull ants into their mouths. Many frogs, arachnids, feathered predators, serpents and other reptiles also like to eat ants. And any ant that falls into a stream, river or pond is likely to get eaten by a fish. Some people even eat ants. One kind of ant that lives in the Amazon rainforest tastes like a lemon drop, and the children who live there eat as many of these ants as they can find!
Ground beetles, antlions, earwigs, humpback flies, parasitic wasps, praying mantids, woodpeckers and the yellow-shafted flicker all dine on ants. You may see woodpeckers also pick up ants in their beaks and crush them on their feathers. What are they doing this for? Crushing the ant’s bodies releases tannic acid which in turn protects the bird from parasites! Flickers and other woodpeckers are especially fond of ants. Most other insect-eating birds include ants in their diet, and huge numbers of ants are snapped up on their mating flights by swallows, chimney swifts, and many other birds, including gulls. To enlist the birdsā help in your fight against ants, provide food, water and shelter for birds on your property. The Author often has thousands of birds at his various feeders throughout the year! Spread Mulch: In your garden, the best overall ant control is a constant layer of organic mulch over all bare soil. Three to four inches of organic mulch such as chopped leaves or wood chips helps to discourage ant colonies in the area. Mulch harbors their natural enemies, such as spiders and shrews. Stop all visible aphid and scale attacks before they begin producing honeydew. Pinch tender tips of plants where aphids cluster and put them in the trash. Scrape scale off leaf undersides with your fingernail. Or spray your plants with diluted Tweetmint Enzyme Cleaner at a rate of one ounce per gallon of water or lightly dust your plants with food-grade DE.
Turfgrass that grows thickly (from 6 to 9 plants per square inch) and has deep roots in healthy soil makes life difficult for all ground-dwelling ants. Dense, deep grassroots in the soil interferes with their ability to dig their elaborate tunnels. Foster dense root growth by periodically aerating your lawn. Properly water, fertilize and overseed for thicker grass!
Catnip, pennyroyal, peppermint, sage, and spearmint are plants that all repel ants. That is one reason why Safe Solutions Tweetmint Enzyme Cleaner contains peppermint. Tansy is often recommended as an ant repellant – but it may only work on sugar-type ants.. Warning: You do not want to plant Tansy anywhere that livestock can feed on it as it is toxic to many animals. Do not let it go to seed either as it may germinate and contaminate livestock fields. Simply sprinkle leaves and flowers from sage, mints or tansy around your home to repel ants. These plants can also be used as a living plant barrier for ant control, bearing in mind that they are very invasive plants.
Vinegar sprays in and around the house foundation will also repel ants. Keep these vinegar sprays away from the soil, plants, and concrete. Lemon juice concentrate can also be used to repel ants: mix 50/50 with water add a shot of dish soap and spray. You could mix equal parts Windex and Ivory Soap and spray ant-infested areas. Lightly dust baby (scented talcum powder), or freshly ground pepper or chalk dust or food-grade DE. Caulk all cracks and crevices in the building to deny the ants access. Be sure to use high-quality pure silicone caulking as these caulks are less likely to shrink or crack once you apply them. Scatter some cucumber peelings as an ant repellant. Cucumbers contain a compound known as “trans-2-nonenal” that repels ants as well as it repels cockroaches! Sticky barriers like Tanglefoot makes an excellent barrier and can be applied to tree trunks to disrupt the ants from climbing on them. Tanglefoot will naturally biodegrade itself towards the end of the season. NOTE: On young trees with smaller trunks or those with thin bark (aspens, birches, etc.) do not apply Tanglefoot directly to the bark surface. Instead, use some thin fabric tied around the trunk with the sticky stuff applied over this. Remove the fabric at the end of the season. A simple band of petroleum jelly will stop most ants immediately.
Fast Acting Natural Ant Killers
Pour (apple cider) vinegar down into the nest.
A sugar-soaked sponge works well for light invasions of ants. Use a large sponge with big holes in it. Soak it in a strong solution of sugar water and place it where you want to catch the ants. Freeze the sponge overnight and then rinse out the sponge every day in warm water;
After the rinsing, you can “rebait” the sponge with sugar water – repeat as needed.
Dust such as food-grade DE can last a long time. Their mode of action is to dehydrate the ants. They work slowly and are easy to apply with a bulb duster into voids and into cracks and/or crevices.
Make strong hot water and hot pepper “tea”. Use the hottest peppers you can find, finely chop them in a food processor, mix with hot water. Carefully pour the “tea” or simply boiling water directly into the active ant nest.
Repeated flooding of the nest every few days using plain water from your garden hose can often be enough to get the ants to relocate. You must be persistent with this method.
Sprinkle SplendaĀ® or aspartame around active ant nests and lightly mist the powder.
Overall Ant Summary
All ants can easily be controlled using a combination of the above information which includes good sanitation, baits, dust, caulking entry points, and eliminating active nests. Your very best control is cleanliness. The antās greatest enemies are other ants. Diluted Safe Solutions, Inc.Tweetmint Enzyme Cleaner with peppermint or Bug Mojo sprays can be used both to kill foraging ants and totally destroy ant nests. While the above facts, general biology, and control information will help you prevent and/or control most ant invasions there are also specific control strategies that may have to be used depending on nest location(s) and food preferences of the various species of ants that arrived hungry at your door – the Author would now like to present some more specific information and controls for some of our more common ant invaders. But, do you know exactly which ant is invading your home? Collection Tip – It helps to determine exactly which ant species you have infesting your building before you plan any specific control strategies – so put some foodstuffs in a plastic bag (sealable) and let the ants enter and feed – or find some infested material with foraging ants and place them in the bag – seal the bag and freeze it overnight – in the a.m., take several ant specimens and drop them into a vial of alcohol and then submit them to an expert for identification.
Individual Species – Facts, Identification and Control
Acrobat Ants – Facts, Identification & Control
Their Latin names are: Crematogaster spp.
Acrobat worker ants measure around 1/16ā – 1/8 inch long and are easily identified because of a somewhat heart-shaped gaster, especially when viewed from above. The ant has two nodes; it is shiny brown to nearly black in color. The workers appear to have their abdomens attached upside down: flat on top, ābelliedā below, and pointed at the tip. When excited they point their abdomens up or even over their heads, hence, their name. Acrobat ants are common over most of the United States. There are many species. Their antennas have 11 segments and their thorax has one pair of dorsal spines. Some species are quick to bite and emit a repulsive odor when disturbed. Acrobat ants feed on sweets and proteins and will tend aphids, scale and mealybugs for honeydew (so bait with honey and 1% – 2% borax or boric acid or food-grade DE) -they will also kill and feed on other insects. They usually establish their colonies in wet wood, e.g., in or under rotting logs, trees and stumps and will even occupy abandoned termite or carpenter ant galleries if the wood is damp enough. They can also carve their own small galleries in wet roof boards, foam insulation, house siding, porch rafters, pillars, sill plates, eaves, soffits, firewood, wall voids or virtually any part of a structure where they find wet wood that does not completely dry out. Like Pavement ants, Acrobat ant colonies occasionally dump their refuse. It consists of tiny wood shavings like those of the Carpenter Ant. The difference between Acrobat Ant and Carpenter Ant shavings is that those of the Acrobat Ant are smaller and always dark stained from fungus. Acrobat ants may forage 100 feet from their nest and may feed inside kitchens; they are opportunistic omnivores that feed day and night; they seem to prefer sweets, high carbohydrate and protein foods. New colonies are formed by swarming flights of reproductives. The workers in large colonies can inflict a painful bite and sting when disturbed.
If you need help with Ant Pest Control in Cooper City, Weston, Davie, or Pembroke Pines, please contact us
Carefully inspect where structural wood has had water leaks and in all foam insulation:
Look at the porch roof near the house, porch floors, siding where gutters overflow, ends of rafters in the shade, sills, and window and door casings where rainwater hits, and carefully inspect older buildings that havenāt been kept up. (Fungus or rot problems are very likely to cause more damage than the ants.)
Cockroach Classifications and Species
CLASS ā Insecta
ORDER – Blattaria (named for blattae, the domestic pest of the ancient Greeks)
FAMILIES – Cryptocercidae, Blattidae, Polyphagidae, Blattelidae and Blaberidae
TYPE METAMORPHOSIS – Gradual/Simple Egg
Found in a capsule or ootheca (of 4 – 60 eggs).
Nymph
The nymph resembles the adult in appearance but is smaller and wingless. (Think you have some albino roaches? All newly emerged cockroaches are white for several hours.)
Adult – Fertile males and females. Parthenogensis (or egg production without fertilization) does occur in American, brown, brownbanded, Florida woods, German and Oriental cockroaches, but egg capsules produced this way usually fail to hatch or produce only a few nymphs.
TYPE MOUTHPARTS – Chewing in all stages.
DISEASE ASPECTS – Cockroaches are known to be vectors of disease, especially intestinal infections, and are capable of carrying disease pathogens. Cockroaches produce secretions/fluids from various points in their bodies which have a foul (unpleasant) odor which may ruin the flavor of food and when the populations is high, impart a characteristic stench to the air in the general vicinity of the cockroach infestation. These insects are thought to be the transmitters of the causal agents (carriers of several disease-producing organisms) of gastroenteritis, food poisoning, dysentery, infectious hepatitus, leprosy, typhus, polio, boils, diarrhea, parasitic toxoplasmosis, cholera, salmonella and other illnesses. Some of the organisms which cause these diseases are carried on the legs and bodies of the cockroaches (similar to the house fly) and are deposited on food and utensils as cockroaches feed and move about. In addition, they cause gross contamination because of their annoying and disgusting habit of depositing saliva, excrement, fluids from their abdominal scent glands and a dark-colored vomit wherever they go. They often are a source of embarrassment and can cause anxiety and psychological distress in some people. Excrement and cast skins and dead roaches contain allergens and cause breathing problems, rashes, watery eyes and sneezing. Cockroaches are a leading cause of allergies – second only to House Dust mites. Vacuum and clean thoroughly with Safe Solutions Enzyme Cleaner with Peppermint.
Basic Description
Cockroaches are stout-bodied insects that have a soft, oval (broad) flattened shape, six long, spiny legs and long antennae, a pronotum (shield-like covering projects over their heads) and they have chewing mouthparts. Adults of most species have well-developed wings. The young nymphs resemble the adults except for the lack of wings and their smaller size. Depending on the house infesting species, roaches are light brown, reddish brown, dark brown and/or black, and some have characteristic markings; most have an unpleasant odor. Each species can be distinguished from each other by their appearance and their characteristic habits and habitats. The adults and immature forms of all roach species that are household pests are all present in established infestations. Cockroaches are normally nocturnal and will usually hide from bright light and only expose themselves to the light if they have no where left to hide, so if you see one during the day, you can be certain you have many, many more unwanted guests. Cockroaches are among the most common and adaptable of insects on earth and have been able to survive many changing environments is evidenced by the fact that approximately 4,000 species exist in the world today and about 70 species are known to live in the United States. The cockroach was here on earth before mankind and is capable of surviving mankind. They are found in caves, mines, animal burrows, orangutan, termite and ant nests and in all of our buildings. Cockroaches need moisture to survive and follow edges when migrating to and from their harborage to feeding/moisture areas. The English word ācockroachā was first used in 1624 by Captain John Smith. Repellents – Try dusting with food-grade DE or baking soda or talcum powder or CometĀ® or spraying with diluted Safe Solutions Enzyme Cleaner with Peppermint, eucalyptus and/or rosemary or cedarwood or catnip essential oils or fresh marigolds or cucumber peels or petroleum jelly or a fan to repel them from an area temporarily. covering projects over their heads) and they have chewing mouthparts. Adults of most species have well-developed wings. The young nymphs resemble the adults except for the lack of wings and their smaller size. Depending on the house infesting species, roaches are light brown, reddish brown, dark brown and/or black, and some have characteristic markings; most have an unpleasant odor. Each species can be distinguished from each other by their appearance and their characteristic habits and habitats. The adults and immature forms of all roach species that are household pests are all present in established infestations. Cockroaches are normally nocturnal and will usually hide from bright light and only expose themselves to the light if they have no where left to hide, so if you see one during the day, you can be certain you have many, many more unwanted guests. Cockroaches are among the most common and adaptable of insects on earth and have been able to survive many changing environments is evidenced by the fact that approximately 4,000 species exist in the world today and about 70 species are known to live in the United States. The cockroach was here on earth before mankind and is capable of surviving mankind. They are found in caves, mines, animal burrows, orangutan, termite and ant nests and in all of our buildings. Cockroaches need moisture to survive and follow edges when migrating to and from their harborage to feeding/moisture areas. The English word ācockroachā was first used in 1624 by Captain John Smith.
Repellents – Try dusting with food-grade DE or baking soda or talcum powder or CometĀ® or spraying with diluted Safe Solutions Enzyme Cleaner with Peppermint, eucalyptus and/or rosemary or cedarwood or catnip essential oils or fresh marigolds or cucumber peels or petroleum jelly or a fan to repel them from an area temporarily.
Overcoming Common Cockroach Control Problems
Because the cockroach continues to reappear no matter how many times it has been professionally eliminated from a structure, the pest control industry considers these ancient creatures its bread and butter, so much so that the majority of the pest control industryās income revolves around your need for continual cockroach control using their ineffective volatile poisons! Historically, over 15 billion dollars are spent each year (in the vain attempt) just to poison cockroaches. Obviously, this type of control has not worked – we still have the same amount of roaches and the volatile poisons are extremely dangerous to the human occupants and pets of the building. The only real control that can be obtained safely is to reduce the sources of food, water and the harborage points roaches need to survive. For the pest control community to actually control these pests permanently would simply destroy the poison applicators – no one wants to actually control or kill the goose that lays the golden eggs. Despite manās constant all out war waged upon this one insect for untold generations, its chances of ever becoming extinct and/or needing to be placed on a protected or an endangered species list are considered doubtful at best. They are all born scavengers, but the American roach will even feed on bed bugs when confined with them. They can live for weeks after their head is removed until they starve to death!
More money was historically spent yearly to ācontrolā the lowly cockroach with poisons than any other house infesting pest. Learn the habits of each cockroach so you will know how to actually control these terrible pests.
Most cockroaches are tropical or sub-tropical in origin, generally living out of doors and most are only active at night when they emerge from their hiding places to forage for food. Their preferred living area provides them with food and water and is warm and moist. Some tropical roaches only consume vegetation, and some are gaily colored. Cockroaches that inhabit houses not only eat all kinds of human food, with a particular fondness for starchy materials, sweetened or sugary substances, beer and meat, they will also eat a great variety of other materials such as grease, soap, cheese, bone, leather, dead animals, plant materials, glue, paste, cardboard, ink, shoe polish and even dirty clothes. They have even been known to chew the fingernails, hair and eyelashes off sleeping people, especially infants. The most common mistakes in using bait stations is not placing them close enough to the area where roaches live – not eliminating all nearby alternative food choices and/or not using enough bait on stations and/or using too much boric acid or active ingredient.
Basic Cockroach Control Protocol
Each cockroach has its own peculiar habits and nesting area as different from each other as deer are from beavers. When trying to capture any animal, we try to place our traps where they nest or travel. Therefore, we must learn the habits of all cockroaches, so we will know how and where to effectively control them. Cockroaches spend about 75% of their time hidden in crack and crevice harborages into which they can just squeeze. Therefore, we must first find, then vacuum, power wash or heat or steam or enzyme or dust and then caulk all cracks and crevices and patch all openings that lead into wall voids, etc. The most preferred harborages are those of the proper size that are located nearest food and water sources and are warm and have a high relative humidity. Control these conditions and you control the roaches. They are also excellent hitchhikers.
Nontoxic Pest Management Protocols
1. Prevention
Change the conditions conducive to infestation. First eliminate clutter, especially any/all corrugated cardboard, paper and plastic grocery bags, pallets and debris which provide hiding places or shelter for roaches. Properly store food and garbage. Then install dehumidifiers and/or fans or negative ion plates, then daily inspect all incoming items for cockroaches and oothecae (egg cases). Then follow through with routine performance of proper maintenance; make sure the building is in tight physical condition to reduce entry and finally the routine and thorough caulking and patching all cracks and crevices and other openings inside especially plumbing and heating runs. Do not allow eating in any area outside of the dining room or break areas. Inspect all incoming goods.
2. Good Sanitation
Continue to eliminate clutter. Adopt cleaning standards that daily reduce the amount of available harborage, garbage, food and water. Routinely and thoroughly clean with enzyme cleaner all shelves, counters, cooking utensils, steamers, floors, fryers, ovens, mops, break areas, soft drink and/or beer dispensers, storage areas, dishwashers, stoves, mixers, refrigerators (donāt forget to remove the fiberglass insulation), drawers, sinks, drains, seals, baseboards and all cracks and crevices and then fog or mist all drop ceiling voids and tunnels with Safe Solutions, Inc. Enzyme Cleaners or Eucalyptus or Peppermint Soap and/or borax. The best way to clean is with a power washer. Then dust, use glue traps or simply vacuum all electrical boxes, motors, etc. and your roach problems will drop dramatically. Do not forget to rinse out all returned or recycled pop and beer cans with diluted enzyme cleaner before bringing them inside. There is enough sugar to feed roaches for days in these empty cans and literally thousands of recycled or returned cockroaches can be and are brought into a store each day.
3. Inspection and Routine Monitoring
A thorough nocturnal inspection of the entire building using a flushing agent, e.g., an aerosol can of air and (red or yellow covered) flashlight is the key to successful control because it determines which specie is involved and exactly where any/all the infestations/populations are and, therefore, where and what additional treatment is required. Part of any good monitoring or inspection program is the use of cockroach traps; these can either be purchased commercially or home made. They will help you see the real problem. Put down several strips of double-sided carpet tape or duct tape (sticky-side up) to clearly see from where they are coming. To make a cockroach trap take a quart or pint-sized mason jar and tape the outside with masking tape or stretch a dark manās sock over the exterior; then coat the inside of the jar mouth with petroleum jelly, place in the bottom a 10 to 1 mix of water and molasses, a few inches of beer, some dry kibble and/or a slice of bread with a few drops of beer or a full pheromone trap and then set the jar upright in room corners. Cockroaches will climb up and fall into the jar to get the bait, but will not be able to cross the petroleum jelly barrier to escape. You can kill the trapped roaches with hot, soapy water, or simply screw a lid on the jar and put it in the freezer overnight. One of the primary means of initial cockroach infestation is being carried in, is on incoming goods, e.g., infested cardboard and grocery bags; look carefully before putting grocerie/products away; leave the bags and boxes outside if possible. Freeze used appliances and furniture before bringing them inside or put them in completely sealed plastic bags with CO2 for a few days or store them for several weeks or at least carefully inspect with air blasts all incoming goods, furniture, packages and luggage.
4. Elimination of water sources
The single most important factor in determining cockroach survival is the availability of water/humidity. Install and maintain fans, air conditioners and/or dehumidifiers. Repair all plumbing leaks. One leaky faucet can waste 6,000 gallons of water a year. Do not overwater plants. Empty refrigerator or air conditioner drip pans or add some Safe Solutions Enzyme Cleaner and/or borax. Repair leaky appliances, sinks and bathtubs. Do not let pet water remain out over night. Eliminate water (inside) humidity with dehumidifiers and/or air conditioners and collection sites outside and/or add a few drops of Safe Solutions Enzyme Cleaner and/or sprinkle some borax.
5. Humidity
Most roaches are attracted to moisture and areas with high humidity. Once people move out of an apartment unit and stop breathing, sweating, flushing, bathing, washing, showering and cooking the humidity drops and most roaches move away to a more humid unit. This should tell you a very important control secret. Use desiccating dusts and properly install and maintain dehumidifiers and fans and/or air conditioners. Repair all moisture problems and your roach population will also drop dramatically. Direct hair dryers on high or adjust tile softeners to the perfect setting and force dry, hot air into all cracks and crevices and see what happens. Fans left on 24 hours a day for 3 to 4 weeks will kill them.
6. Sanitation
Basically stated, practice proper sanitation; then routinely inspect the area carefully; use 5% or less boric acid or borax or food-grade DE or aspartame baits and/or dust only if and when necessary; paint/seal all bare wood, vacuum and/or steam clean and/or power wash thoroughly; routinely clean thoroughly; correct any moisture problems; seal and/or caulk thoroughly and screen thoroughly. Store all foods and wastes properly. Mop with diluted enzyme cleaner with sodium borate. Install pheromone traps. Vacuum them as they run from blasts of air during the day or vacuum at night with red or yellow lights to physically remove roaches ā do this once a week until all activity ceases – remember start one hour after dark or one hour after the lights go out. Remember to dispose of vacuum bags by burning, burying, sealing them in plastic and placing outside in the garbage or after freezing them for several days. Routinely and thoroughly clean with diluted Safe Solutions Enzyme Cleaner with Peppermint. Sprinkle talcum powder or baking soda or CometĀ®, or food-grade DE and/or mop with borax or Mop UpĀ®. Remove infested fiberglass insulation, paper bags and cardboard boxes. Caulk, caulk, caulk. Use copious amounts of nonvolatile bait with aspartame where they live or travel. Lower the temperature and humidity as often as possible. Spray Not Nice to BugsĀ® as needed.
7. Poison The Buggers
Later, after all else has failed and only if absolutely necessary carefully make a spot (nonvolatile) insecticide poison application. Start with boric acid or dusts, e.g., food-grade DE, talcum or medicated body powder or CometĀ® carefully placed in cracks, crevices and voids. Be sure to carefully read and follow the entire pesticide poison label regarding kitchen food areas, because some pesticide poisons may be applied only when the kitchen is not in operation while others may not be used in commercial food areas at all.
8. Follow-up or Maintenance Service
Once an IPM program is carefully instituted, follow-up usually consists of nocturnal and/or daytime inspections with a flashlight and mirror and/or a flushing agent (canned air) and/or the use of monitoring traps or tapes to find missed or newly introduced cockroaches, and carefully vacuuming or spot treating any active reinfestations found. Search out the source. Reread the first sections. Clean and/or spray with diluted Safe Solutions, Inc. enzyme cleaner and/or Not Nice to Bugs
Cockroach Prevention
No matter where you live, itās vital to get rid of these nasty, pesky roaches! Now that you have an inkling as to how you can identify them, you can get rid of them. However, itās not all that easy to eliminate these roaches completely. Once youāve gotten rid of them first, youāll have to put in some effort to make sure they donāt invade your home again!
In addition, itās equally important to also kill all of the young roaches so that their population in your house reduces drastically. Roaches never dwell in clean places, so they can bring in a lot of bacteria into your home, which can be quite disgusting. Apart from the diseases they spread, they also secrete compounds that have a mild odor. Time is of the essence since these buggers can reproduce fairly quickly, so letās get to it!
Thereās a chance that your first few attempts to get rid of your nasty friends may not eliminate them completely. There are various ways in which they can gain entry into your house, which makes their intrusions unpredictable. Before you think about the cure, I would suggest thinking about preventive methods. This especially applies to people who want to prevent roaches from entering their homes, as opposed to those whose houses are already roach-infested. In some cases, it will take up to 8 weeks to eliminate them, but if youāre lucky, it can take as little as 2 weeks. Therefore, itās better to use preventive methods before anything else.
Prevention:
- An effective method to prevent roach infestations is to maintain a clean home. Roaches cannot survive in clean areas and thus, if youāre clean, it makes it very difficult for them to continue with their antics. Clean each and every corner of your house and make sure it stays that way. Sanitation is very important in order to prevent roaches from invading your space.
- Be sure not to drag any roaches home with you! If you spend some time in an unclean environment, be sure to check all your bags. Regardless of whether you are at a friendās home, a hotel or a warehouse, if there is a roach infestation itās better to be safe than sorry. It is very possible for roaches to accompany you back to your home. So, as a preventive method, check everything to make sure they are clean before returning to your abode.
- Make your home unsuitable for them. Make a conscious effort not to leave any food outside the refrigerator at night. Also, donāt forget to wash your dishes! Unwashed plates lying in the sink can turn out to be a huge party for these pests.Since they love warm places, they spend their time in bathrooms and kitchens more than the other rooms in the house. Also, you need to clean your kitchen cabinets by wiping them down from time to time.Seal all your food containers, ensuring that the roaches canāt destroy them.I understand that itās easy to preach than to practice, but you need to remember that if these roaches enter your home, they make it a point to stay with you for a long time.
- Surprisingly, roaches even feed on other miscellaneous non-food items, especially paper products. Items such as newspapers, books, cardboard, paper bags, etc. can easily absorb a particular pheromone that roaches give off. This pheromone relays a message to other roaches, informing them of the whereabouts of their comrades. Itās also used as a guiding system so that roaches can make their way from place to place. That being said, itās important that you avoid letting many of these paper products pile up anywhere in your house!
- Leaving food crumbs on the ground is essentially a direct invitation for roaches. Allocate a single room to eat your food instead of eating in multiple rooms. It can be difficult to mop your floor every day, but I would highly suggest doing it at least three times per week to make sure itās clean. After mopping, donāt forget to mop it dry since roaches will use the water to survive. Be sure to use a minimal amount of water to avoid splashing and spilling too much. Using your handy vacuum cleaner is also a great idea. Not only does your vacuum cleaner help you pick up all of your food crumbs, but it also helps you eliminate eggs and shed skins. The more you vacuum, the more likely roaches will leave your house alone.
- If you live in a warmer climate, you’ll probably find it a bit easier to get rid of roaches rather than preventing them. As the climate gets hotter, it becomes impossible to get rid of them and as a result, roaches thrive in places like Florida. However, even if you reside in a location with warm climates, you need to maintain a clean, dry home. Remember that ādryā is the keyword here, because roaches find it difficult to survive if your home is dry. As an added measure, you can also wipe your sinks, showers and bathtubs dry at night before you to go to bed.
- Roaches love to reside in trash cans and other dirty areas, so you need to pay attention and remove trash cans and keep your yard and other places clean.
- I mentioned that roaches love hotter climates, but the humidity also plays a major role. Simply put ā roaches tend to live in places that have high humidity. Therefore, you can control the humidity by using a dehumidifier if you want to prevent roaches from entering your house.
- Roaches canāt survive forever without water. However, they can still survive for at least a week without water supply. Of course, you arenāt supplying any water directly to them, but they are smart enough to figure out where they can find it.The main source is usually a leak somewhere. Since there are various places where water can leak in your home, you need to find them all and stop leakage, if any. Check your shower heads, garden hose, taps, hose bibs, meter lines and toilets to see if there are any leaks. Find a way to quickly fix all the leaks in your house or hire a plumber to do the job for you.
- Roaches usually enter through cracks, so it is very important to find all the cracks in your home and seal them, thus blocking their entrance. Itās important to seal the cracks on the exterior as well as the interior of your house to block every pathway. Of course, this will take some time, but this tactic is the most effective preventive method since you are eliminating their breeding and hiding locations. In addition, check all your kitchen cabinets, floors and walls to identify any cracks and seal them up completely.
- Trim plants that are around your building to increase the light circulation, particularly near vents as this reduces the possibility of dense plants growing there. Since roaches love residing in warm, dark places, trimming plants will reduce their population considerably. In addition, having gravel areas that are at least 10 to 12 inches wide surrounding the perimeter of the buildings can help keep roaches away.
If you need help withĀ Cockroach Control in Cooper City,Ā Weston, Davie, or Pembroke Pines, please contact us
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Benefits associated with pest control companies
Why do you need the professional services of exterminators?
Advantages of hiring exterminators in Davie
Are you suffering from the pests that have been making your home inhabitable?
When there are pests at home, chances are that you may never feel comfortable staying there. In fact, you will never
wish to leave your workplace because you are already aware of the kind of agony that is waiting for you at home. There are several pests that can be at home. They are troublesome in that they will disturb you and your loved ones. Some pests are very dangerous as far as your health is concerned. It is because of this concern that you need to find a reliable and sustainable solution that can keep any of these pests away from your family. All you need to do is to find out about the best companies that are able to control these pests and hire their services. Since they are many, you will have to be cautious and go for a company that can completely keep all kinds of pests off. The best way to learn about the ability of these companies should be through the reading of the reviews that have been posted by other clients. You will then make a comparison and hire the best-rated one. The following are some of the best reasons to hire the best pest control companies;
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Less damage
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Protect your health
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Convenient and affordable
Whether you are being disturbed by the presence of pests like flees, bugs or any other pests, you need to find the remedy early enough before the damages can be done. If you can approach the right professionals, they will come with the right equipment so that they can spray these pests and leave your home a comfortable place. You will be surprised on the ability of the exterminators. After they have sprayed, you will never suffer from any kind of damage because these experts would have controlled them before causing more damages at home.
Protect your health
Research has indicated that various pests have got the ability to affect your health. Depending on the type of pests that have infested your home, they always have the negative impacts that they leave behind. You, therefore, need to contact the professionals who are offering the control of pestsā services so that you can have a chance to keep your home and your loved ones save from any kind of infections that can be caused by these pests.