As you take advantage of the fair weather of late summer and early fall, you may have noticed that there are an abundance of wasps and hornets buzzing around. While people tend to hate and fear them, these insects actually provide an important service by killing pests such as flies and mosquitoes. No one wants stinging insects buzzing around the house though, so take these steps to help prevent wasps and hornets from settling near your home.
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Don’t feed the wasps! Wasps spend the summer feeding their young and preparing their queen for winter, so when the end of summer and early fall roll around, they’re ready to focus on their own needs – which include the need for food. While wasps and hornets are mainly predatory insects, they’re also attracted to certain types of food, particularly those with a sweet scent. To prevent wasps from being drawn to your home, make sure that any exposed food is tightly covered and trash cans are equipped with tightly fitting lids.
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Maintain your home. Wasps are drawn to more than food; they also love the sweet-smelling scents found in lotions and perfumes. To stop them from sneaking into your home in pursuit of these scents, make sure that you perform regular inspections of the exterior of your home, repairing or filling in any gaps, cracks, and other crevices that could potentially house a wasp nest. Keeping gutters clear can also help deter insects. Filling in rodent holes is important as well, since yellowjackets like to make their homes there. In addition, make sure that window screens are in good repair, with no holes or gaps where wasps could get in.
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Use decoys and traps. The species of wasp that most people are familiar with is called a paper wasp. They are very territorial, and usually won’t build a nest within 200 feet of another one. You can take advantage of this tendency by hanging decoy nests at various places around your exterior to keep wasps and hornets from building near your home. If you already have a wasp problem and need to get rid of them, wasp traps can be purchased at home improvement stores, or you can easily make your own using a plastic soda bottle and some duct tape.
Encountering a wasp or hornet nest can be scary, but at Muth & Company Roofing, our roofing professionals are experienced in dealing with the unexpected. If you want a reliable roofing company to take over your roof maintenance and repair, contact us today at (614) 682-3060.