If you’re hosting a family reunion, Bar/Bat Mitzvah, Kiddush, graduation party or just a simple backyard barbecue, you’ll need a battle plan. Event planners and caterers say bug control strategy is now a standard item on client checklists.
Here are our top tips for customers’ events:
- Place out lots of oscillating and rotating Fans where people will be sitting/congregating.
- Make sure to regularly trim grass, especially before the event and trim low lying branches where ticks can hide.
- Have a table set out with a pretty tray filled with a variety of insect repellent sprays (some which have DEET as an ingredient), essential oil roll-ons (peppermint, lavender and cedarwood), and organic repellent bracelets. For advice on using repellants safely visit the Environmental Protection Agency's website: epa.gov
- Removing standing water on your property from plant saucers, clogged gutters and garden containers (mosquitoes can breed in a ridiculously small amount of water, even a bottle cap!) is as important as stringing party lights and stockpiling ice.
- Light citronella votives and torches around the party space
- For parties on hot, sticky nights pass out cool washcloths scented with lavender to make guests feel more comfortable -the scent also works as a natural bug repellent.
- It’s always a smart idea to tell guests in your invitation that your gathering is going to be outdoors. Guests can then choose whether to wear long-sleeve shirts, long pants or socks.
- Keep your exterior trash in sealed containers, put pet food or livestock food down only during mealtimes, clean up after cooking on the grill, and control other food sources to reduce wildlife traffic in your yard.
- If you have a dog, consider creating a fenced-in play area, if you don't already have one. This will reduce wildlife traffic in this location and prevent your dog from exploring your landscaping where ticks are likely to be waiting for a host.
- If you have bird feeders, move them away from your outside walls and out of your outside recreation areas.
- If you have firewood on your property, keep it away from your home and elevate the stacks so that the wood doesn't rest on the ground.
When mosquitoes bite people, the most common reactions to the bite are itching and swelling. Some mosquitoes can be vectors. A vector is an animal, insect, or tick that spreads pathogens (germs) to people and animals. The germs (viruses and parasites) that mosquitoes spread can make you sick. Adult mosquitoes live for about 2 to 4 weeks depending on the species, humidity, temperature, and other factors.It takes just a few infected mosquitoes to start an outbreak in a community and put you and your family at risk of becoming sick.Summer is the heart of tick season.
The heat and humidity give ticks what they need to survive in your landscaping as they wait to climb on you or your pets. If you'd like to have a tick-free summer, you need to take steps to control moisture in places where ticks, and also mosquitoes, prefer to hide. These tips should help you reduce both ticks and mosquitoes around your home during the summer months.
Queen “B” Pest Services offers 2 different Mosquito treatments. We offer a one-time event spraying to knock down the population for last minute events. Ideally, consistent treatment is best! We offer a Mosquito Service Agreement which consists of monthly yard monitoring and spraying between the months of March through October. This will help keep mosquitoes at bay and it really knocks down the population during their most active time. To receive a free estimate for a professional mosquito spraying of your yard or for any other pest problems, call Queen “B” Pest Services. 410-989-1919.
