Finally the weather has warmed up and it feels like summer is here – did we skip spring? Time to throw open our windows and let the warm, fresh air into our homes along with some flying insects of course – am referring to the usual suspects of flies and wasps.
Like many others, I will aim to spend lots of time in the garden soaking up as much vitamin D from the sun rays as possible (whilst wearing sun protection of course!) and no doubt listening out for that all too familiar buzzing sound of wasps and bees –a sound almost synonymous with summer time. It seems insects of all shapes and sizes, crawling, flying, biting and stinging have arrived with the good weather.
On Monday, I managed to spill an entire cup of boiling hot black tea onto kitchen floor (and me!) thanks to a fly. It was buzzing noisily up by our skylight windows in the kitchen and distracted me. Clumsy of me I know, but I do blame the fly too.
Yesterday I got home to find ants in my kitchen! Cue husband flattening each insect individually by hand and furiously searching for their entry point into the house – we have not found this yet.
Ant powder has now been liberally thrown across points at the front of the house by main door (this was previous entry point for ants a few years ago, but don’t think it is the source now). Not a very attractive look as you can see, but serves a purpose. Kitchen was also carefully swept up last night and will be mopped up today. Fingers crossed, those ants just lost their way?!
I am particularly concerned about wasps this summer with a very active toddler, who will want to spend much of the day outside on her trike and swing. As we have many fruit trees and sweet smelling roses in our garden, we do tend to see a fair share of wasps when it gets very warm. So wasp stings will be a big worry and I think last year there was a wasp nest in our neighbour’s roof, which doesn’t help matters.
Avoiding insects and their stings
Until recently, I did not think you could get bites from your common garden ant – but it seems I was wrong. On the other hand, am all too familiar with the pain of a wasp sting, which I received walking around a garden centre a few years back.
I don’t know if there is a way to avoid insects at summer, which is 100% fool-proof. But I know there are some things that can help reduce the risk of dealing with insects (crawling or flying) in the home.
- Net curtains on windows to stop flying insects – I find these a bit more attractive to look at then fly screens and it could just prevent those pesky flies, but I think it stops fresh air from getting into the room, plus it is no good for a room with just skylights. Anyone got other tips?
- Empty kitchen bins regularly – not just to avoid the smell in the warmer months but to stop it attracting pests into your kitchen.
- Sweep up crumbs and mop floor – the crumbs left behind from my toddler’s toast I am sure are very attractive to ants. I must remember too, that to remove the remnants of her sweet custard from the floor, mopping is also required.
- When outdoors, avoid wearing bright colours (like yellow), which to a wasp is the equivalent of a red rag to a bull.
- In the garden try to prevent toddler bashing plants around, which are currently buzzing with bees and wasps- it will only aggravate the insects and increase the risk of a sting.
Leave a Reply