I never knew that about ants and cucumbers. I will have to give that a try. Every summer I have a major ant infestation in my kitchen, and I have tried everything to naturally repell them. One year it was baby powder, and one year fresh sage, and yet they kept coming. I don't want poisens, and like you, have a real problem killing anything living (spiders always get a personal escort out the door, down the stairs, and into the bushes outside.).

putting cucumber slices around the cracks just sounds like it's going to get soggy and gross.

I've read that cinnamon repels ants.

Right, so you keep the ants away, but sprinkle food all over the place inviting mice and roaches... um, no.

The only effective way to keep ants out (having learned this while living in Central America), is to seal ALL food in containers. All of it. And keep everything clean, ie: no spills left un-wiped.

As for wood-eating ants, chemicals are the only thing that works.

Lavender also repels moths and many other bugs, but I find that cedar is really the best natural moth repellent.

I do put lavender essential oil in other spots since it smells wonderful and does keep other bugs away.

If you leave out cucumber, it may repel ants, but it's going to attract cockroaches... they'll eat practically anything and everything. (Plus they track around all sorts of icky things from their voyages through sewers. I use natural repellents for everything but roaches, which get the heavy-duty chemical treatment. Their little roach souls can stay in the sewers, as far as I'm concerned.)

Anyone know of a repellent for centipedes???

Soul or no soul, nervous system or not, exoskeleton or skin, it's generally better to use natural deterrents because poison is generally bad for humans, bad for pets, and extra rough on the planet's water supply.

From an atheistic standpoint, these are even better reasons not to use pesticides whenever an alternative will do the job.

Though I am fond of Grant's ant-stakes.

i have found that cinnamon is a miracle repellent for ants and termites. surprisingly, it works much better than any toxic pesticide.

i also just re-caulked all the crevices in my bathroom to eliminate bug problems. this has been very effective.

wrt centipedes, we had a major, major problem with them. every morning I'd get up, and there's one in the sink, in the bathtub, crawling up the walls. I was seeing 6-10 a day. I couldn't take it and was ready to call in a pesticide company. Then, we added a dehumidifier upstairs (up to then, we had 2 running in the basement only), and bingo! they were gone. it never dawned on us to get a dehumidifer upstairs. We now have 3 running non-stop in our 800 sq. foot house. seems ridiculous, but it's always humid here. I still get them in the laundry room downstairs, but that's to be expected in the hot summer months.

Interesting remedies...mine is to squish bugs, except butterflies or ladybugs...yup I'm a bacist (bugs racist)...don't like the rest of them...

I've heard that to repel flies a ziploc baggie with water and pennies repels them. The refracted light all their eyeballs=fly freakout.

Fire ants have no soul. They are possessed by the devil and must be destroyed by any means necessary.

EVIL little creatures. Simply evil.

I use baking powder mixed with icing sugar against ants.

"Anyone know of a repellent for centipedes???"

Chickens - They love eating centipedes.

Natural or not, kerosene works on centipedes. Although, I wouldn't try using it inside.

I could never appreciate the existence or souls of roaches, so I use boric acid around all crevices. And, as far as I've heard, it's safe to humans and pets.

Initial thought before reading the suggestions: "Maybe I can figure out how to repel the little flies that seem to swarm around my mint plant!"

I don't know if the crushed mint suggestion is going to work on my flies. Out of all the herbs, they seem to love the mint and only the mint.

@cathie: Interesting, that jives with what I've heard about house centipedes too. I've heard they're attracted to moisture, and that the cleanliness of your house/leaving food out has nothing to do with it. Dehumidifier is a great idea!

Yeah right! Wasps, carpenter ants and cock roaches have a soul. Give me a break and break out the heavy duty pesticide.

For minor intrusions, just remove the source of attraction, or use boric acid as another poster suggested.

"Anyone know of a repellent for centipedes???"

As Cathie mentioned, they like damp places. Make sure to turn on proper ventilation when you cook and bathe, and/or get a dehumidifier.

It's not a natural option, but if they keep turning up, pouring some bleach down your drains will be sure to kill a few (mine always show up in the bathtub, barf). I'd think that dumping some boiling water down the drains would have the same effect.

Also get rid of anything centipede-friendly in your yard, deck, or balcony -- piles of rotting leaves, dead plant matter in containers or flower beds, bags of grass clippings, decaying timbers, etc.

ant's also HATE cloves!

@peachpie: they definitely have life just like you. should that not at least be respected? I'm not saying i avoid killing spiders in my crib either. I just acknowledge the life of said spider or wasp and send him on to his next incarnation

Can we just discuss insect infestations without all the quasi-religious stuff? I don't believe in any external soul, any karma, any mumbo-jumbo, and yet, I'm content to keep insects at bay by keeping the kitchen clean.

@megmosa, there are different kinds of flies. Especially if your mint is indoors, you're probably dealing with fungus gnats -- a pervasive houseplant pest.

They're a little larger than fruit flies, but equally irritating, and their larvae snack on the roots of your plants, slowly killing them.

Sadly every herb I've ever tried to plant inside has eventually died because of them (but they've never affected my ivy or ferns), so I don't have good advice for you :(

I bought a spray primarily made of rosemary essential oil, but I think it hurt the plants as much as the gnats (one of the plants was ironically rosemary).

@goofybuddha --

Perhaps these bugs were really bad people in their former lives and came back as bothersome insects...
...and their karmic fate is to be painfully squished?

Any thoughts on a natural Silverfish deterrent? They're everywhere from my Tupperware cabinet to the upstairs bathroom and closet. - thanks!

@Spacesha --

http://www.critterridders.com/silverfish.htm

Neem oil diluted with water and a couple of drops of dish liquid to break the surface tension. Works like a charm - even on those pesky fungus gnats - and it's good for the plants! As far as I know, most insects are repelled by neem, from bedbugs to mosquitoes.

Not quirky at all...I agree with you. However, ants and la cucuracha do NOT have the same manners as the folks living in my household - be they furry or otherwise. Did not know about the cucumber thing for ants, but they will tonight. They have come to visit with a vengence!

Sure fire fire ant killer. a 2 liter bottle of club soda on each mound. They try to rebuild for about 24 hours, but after that, they're gone. Non-toxic to pets and people too. Fire ants must die, they are quite dangerous to children and pets.

@kipi - boric acid can be a problem for humans and pets depending on exposure - according to the exterminator I had come in to get rid of my roach problem

Just use it sparingly and control where it is sprinkled.

@Spacesha: Diatomaceous Earth

Silverfish/Fleas: Diatomaceous Earth (nontoxic for people and pets, natural)

Grain moths/weevils: Add a bay leaf or cinnamon stick to your flour/grains/pasta because these bugs hate the smell but it won't affect your food flavor.

Check out the Natural Home Pest-Free article at

http://www.naturalhomemagazine.com/natural-remedies/pest-free-naturally-natural-pest-control.aspx

EW EW EW. Do NOT leave a cucumber out. They ooze and mold.

Also, I agree with @kelleyk. Fire ants have no soul.

Feh. When I was a teenager, I was once minding my own business, jumping rope in my driveway one summer and got stung right between the eyes by a bee. I proceeded to go inside and get my two yellow plastic nunchuks, threw a rock at the 'bee bush' and when those f-ers came out, I went Bruce Lee on them. It was carnage. It was awesome.

We use a combo of borax and diatamaceous earth. We have ridiculous earwigs, pharaoh ants and box elder beetles. For sure our best remedy? We put a birdfeeder about two feet off the ground near our front porch.

For whatever reason, I love the line "Ants are appalled by cucumbers."

Also, "ridiculous earwigs, pharaoh ants and box elder beetles" sound like Lewis Carroll characters.

Bugs. Yay.

I use to feed the birds and last year, I made the mistake of opening up a bag of birdfeed, not realizing that it was infested with moths. I had a bad moth problem, so someone told me about sticky traps called Revenge. I bought several...put them all over, and the traps worked really well. They're not toxic and you can put a trap where you keep food, in a pantry. I also use sticky traps for spiders that come in when the weather gets cold.

"Ants are appalled by cucumbers."
I guess their expression changes?

More remedies against silverfish?
(No idea where to buy & how to use diatomaceous earth)

I accidnetaly discovered that lavander repels ants. I have two very small messy-eater kids and I have the horrible habit of waiting for pasta and rice to dry on the floor - sometimes overnight - so I can sweep it up when it has dried. Well... we have ants on the balcony but they have not set foot on our delicious floor! I connected the dots the next time I washed the floors .. a while ago I started adding about 10 drops of Lavander essential oil in my alcohol-based floor detergent for the smell... but now I know that it repels, too!

You can buy diatomaceous earth at places like Home Depot, gardening stores, etc. It's very easy to use - you just sprinkle it around the perimeter of your house (or, I suppose, your doorway or balcony). I think it is more effective mix it with something 'attractive' to bugs to encourage them to crawl on it and ingest it. It kills them, but is apparently safe enough on non-bugs (I'm not sure where the line is...) that farmers use 'food grade' mixed with livestock food in farming to help keep animals free of worms and parasites, and it is also an ingredient in kitty litter. It also helps kill fleas and ticks! If you get the 'food grade' level you can even dust it around plants to get rid of bugs there.

Do NOT buy the synthetic kind. Only buy the natural kind. Huge difference in health hazard.

How about Shield Bugs/Stink Bugs [Pentatomidae]?

They're everywhere abound my place. I'm about to re-evaluate the seals around windows/doors/walls to get rid of points of entry - but does anyone have a suggestion as to how to get rid of the, well, little buggers?

How about a natural repellent for bees?
Or how about EARWIGS!? Those are the worst worst worst.

@kelleyk: I love your statement that fire ants are instruments of the devil. I'd never thought of them that way, don't even really believe in the devil but am SO behind that statement!

Fire ants are the epitome of awful...in pint sized ant form.

Cucumber does the trick with ants. Put one slice of cuke on each span of countertop and within 2 hours, there wasn't an ant in site. Vive la concombre!

Huge False on the cucumber thing. Or at least a not always. Now I have cucumber stuck to my countertops and stove, but no worries because the ants are feasting on them.

I would love to know tips to get rid of Earwigs... slinking around in our wicker chairs, under pots, outdoor cushions, YUCK.

I've found that vinegar/apple cider vinegar works well for getting rid of ants. They really like cat food, so I wipe up around the dishes with a cloth soaked in vinegar and then I leave a soaked paper towel around the dish. If I see where the jerks are getting in from, I leave a paper towel there and douse it a few times over the next few days. The vinegar doesn't seem to bother the cats, surprisingly. If I'm really annoyed with the ants, I'll just dump some vinegar down the crack that I see, and then plug with paper towel. This took care of them last summer and when I saw them sneaking in again this spring, I did it again and they seem to have gotten the hint that they're not welcome.

Come on people we are not talking about bees, or sugar ants, spiders or even earwigs. They can bothersome but certainly in the big picture cause relatively little harm.

Carpenter ants eat your f...ng house. They do not have a soul and they are destructive, they can only be wiped out by strong pesticides. Wasps have a function in that they eat termites and carpenter ants, but I am deathly allergic, so it's their live or mine. Pesticides are the only thing that work on these kinds of infestations.

Ants are deterred by cinnamon. Also use any household cleaner where you have ants trailing to wipe away their pheromone trails. Carpenter bees love antifreeze... so you could put an inch in a small bowl or container about 5 to 8 feet high where you see them flying around. Make sure that no animals can get to it. http://www.getmybugs.com

If you put citronella oil around the place where they enter the home, they will not cross it.

Can anyone help with natural bee repellent for highly allergic individuals? Rosemary????