(StatePoint) Spring is the official start to bug season, making it important to prepare your home. Here are four steps you can take you keep bugs at bay:
1. Do a spot check: Check window and door screens for tears to prevent flying bugs from getting in the home and make repairs where necessary. Also, take a quick look around for areas with standing water and try to eliminate them. Standing water creates a breeding ground for mosquitos. Lastly, even the sturdiest garbage bags can’t entirely prevent leaks and spills, and over time, your trash bins can begin to accumulate residue inside and around the rim. Bugs, especially flies, love leftovers, so give your garbage cans a thorough rinse.
2. Be ready: Put an effective pest control product in your shopping cart early in the season so you’re ready when you see the first sign of bugs in your home. If you see one cockroach, chances are there are more hiding in nooks and crannies. It’s hard to put a pin on how many, but an old saying is that for every one you do see, there are 10 more you don’t. Striking at the first sign of ants or roaches can help you avoid big problems down the line, as these insects can multiply very quickly. One solid choice is Zevo Instant Action Bug Killer Spray. Zevo’s BioSelective Technology targets and shuts down biological pathways found in bugs, not in people or pets. Easy to use, just spray on pests, then wipe up the dead bugs, as well as any excess product. Zevo is now available nationwide at The Home Depot and Target, and online at zevoinsect.com.
3. Protect your trees: Prepare for the upcoming visit of the 17-year cicadas. In many parts of the country, billions of cicadas will swarm and the females will scrape small twigs to lay their eggs under bark. Protect small and vulnerable trees (ones that are under 4 or 5 feet tall) with cheesecloth to spare them from attack.
4. Keep an eye on pets. Pets are liable to gobble up large helpings of dead cicadas. While not toxic, too many cicadas could cause some digestive issues for furry friends. Help keep them healthy by watching what they eat!
During the spring season, it is necessary to take steps both to keep bugs out, and to be ready if they do invade.
