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Handling current (& preparing for future) Summer Nuisances

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STINK BUGS –
If you live in a drafty old house, you’re probably seeing them everywhere right now, now that sunlight is brighter, stronger and warmer.
Try these methods – which have been used successfully by homeowners and entomologists – to keep stink bugs at bay:
  • Rub screens with dryer sheets – the more pungent the better. Some homeowners have found this can reduce stink bugs entering a home by up to 80 percent.
  • Hang a damp towel over a lawn chair or deck railing overnight. In the morning, stink bugs will blanket the towel. Dispatch bugs in a bucket of soapy water.
  • Squish a few stink bugs outdoors. The odor warns other stink bugs to flee.
When stink bugs appear indoors, your options vary based on how many bugs you’re facing. What can you do?
  • Don’t touch them directly or squish them. Grab them gently with a plastic bag to avoid touching them directly.
  • Stink bugs move slowly enough that you can catch them and flush them into oblivion.
  • Prepare a soapy solution for killing stink bugs. Choose a straight-sided 1/2- or 1-gallon container. Fill it one-fourth full of water mixed with 1 teaspoon of liquid soap or detergent. When disturbed, stink bugs tend to drop downward. Knock them into the bucket from walls, draperies, screens, etc. Unable to escape, they will ultimately drown.
  • Vacuum bugs, and empty the bag afterward. Don’t suck stink bugs into a bagless vacuum you use in your home. After vacuuming stink bugs, the vacuum will stink.
  • Do not apply insecticides indoors to control stink bugs. While insecticidal dust may kill bugs in wall voids, the carcasses can stink and attract other pests, such as carpet beetles, which can damage other things in your home. Applying an interior pesticide along baseboards won’t kill stink bugs nor will it keep them from emerging around the baseboards.

HORSE FLIES – Horse flies are a summer nuisance for both your livestock and your pool. They are one of the most ferocious breed of flies. Unlike a common house fly, horse flies have cutting and tearing type mouth parts and they bite to draw blood. They are attracted to water because they lay eggs near water sources. Here are some ways to keep your livestock safe and keep them away from your pool.

Horse Fly Prevention Methods:  Step 1 – Remove any trash or food sources from a swimming pool area. Flies are drawn to garbage for food, so cover any trash cans and keep them as far away from the pool as possible. Step 2 – Purchase a commercial fly light trap at a garden or home improvement store. This will attract the flies to the light, and then destroy them when they touch the device. Step 3 – Hang sticky fly strips around the pool’s area, high enough so that that people won’t walk into them. Change them often.
Homemade Fly Trap: Step 1 – Mix 2 cups of water, ½-cup of sugar and ½-cup of vinegar together to make fly bait, according to instructions found on Show Horse Promotions website. Step 2 – Cut an empty soda bottle in half and turn the top upside down. Place in the base of the soda bottle. Step 3 – Pour a few tablespoons of fly bait into the trap. Step 4 – Punch four holes on the sides of the trap with an ice pick and loop string on the holes so that the trap can hang from a wall or fence. Step 5 – Hang several traps around the pool area and discard them when they are full of dead flies.

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