Ants
- Ants may be coming inside your home for food or shelter.
- Insecticides are good for controlling an area for a short period of time.
- Bait is best in most cases. Ants will take the food back to the queen. When she dies from the bait, the colony will die with her.
Bees, Wasps, Hornets
- Spray insecticides (like RAID) are best defense against nesting flying pests.
- Spray the nest at night or around dawn. This insures that the population is at the nest. Also, you’ll be less likely to be stung as they’re less aggressive at these times.
- Remove the nest when after everything has been sprayed.
Earwigs
- Earwigs like moist places.
- Eliminate moist areas around the home’s foundation, crawl spaces and entry points using chalk or salt.
- Insecticides will help around the foundation of the house.
- They’re attracted to light like most bugs. Dimming or removing outdoor lighting may help thin the population.
Flies
- Sanitation is the best defense against most flies.
- Put away any food that is out.
- Clean all counters and floors of food and debris.
- Throw out the garbage.
- Keep lids on garbage cans that are inside.
- Fly paper does indeed help control the population, but won’t eliminate the problem.
Rodents, mice, or rats
- Own a female cat. They’ll hunt and kill the mice for you without help from you.
- Place mouse traps in areas you’ve seen the rodent previously.
- Use peanut butter or cheese to bait traps.
- If problem is large, use poison bait to quickly reduce the population.
Termites
- Your best bet is to call an exterminator, pronto.
General
- Be careful with poisonous baits with pets or children around the house.
- Remove any food sources pests may have access to by putting all food into containers and cleaning up any crumbs or mess on the counters or floor.
- Insecticides generally repel bugs rather than kill them. Despite this, they’re still helpful when it comes to pest control.
