Insect & Pest Solutions

Warmer weather means opening up your curtains and windows, and letting in the light and fresh air. But, with all that welcome air and sunshine sometimes comes unwelcome bugs and less privacy. Let’s welcome back a classic that can surprisingly solve both issues: lace! Lace is the perfect medium for letting light in and keeping bugs out. Madelene lives in an old Swedish house and, when it gets hot, loves to open the windows and let the air in.

It will never be not true that solving a problem when it’s small is much easier — and, when it comes to home maintenance, drastically more cost effective — than solving a problem that’s grown. While we’re outside grilling or sipping on something relaxing this Labor Day weekend, we’re going to take a little stroll around the perimeter and see if there might be a little problem we need to address now, before it gets bigger.

Q: I’ve known for years that mosquitoes love me. More recently, some other type (types?) of insect bites me and the bites are terribly itchy. (One of the most recent is on the bottom of my foot.) I’ve inspected the bed for bed bugs (appears to be fine), and there isn’t an obvious culprit. It’s often in bed but not always. And when it is in bed, my husband NEVER gets bitten (jealous!!!)… It’s usually multiple bites over a body part (e.g.

Here is an entirely true story about my first week in my NYC studio. I was cleaning the kitchen (because I am a certified grown-up), and I got out the vacuum to get the nooks and crannies beneath the dishwasher and cabinets. Before moving in, I had gone a full year without experiencing more than a spider in my living quarters and I was not going to entice any new friends with crumbs from my Cheerio-based dinner. As I moved the vacuum under the stove, it caught something.

Wasps can be helpful little creatures- they’re to thank in part for keeping the pest population in check- but they can also be quite the nuisance. Picnics and other outdoor summer activities are a bit difficult to enjoy when wasps are swarming overhead, so try to keep things under control with a DIY wasp trap. 2-liter soda bottle Honey or sugar water Utility knife Stapler or clothespins 1.

Whether you’re just pulling out your sweaters or putting them away for the season, a moth repellent is key to making your winter wools last. Forget the stinky, toxic moth balls—and who really has the space for a cedar closet? What you need is good smelling, tiny alternative, and we’ve got just the thing!

I’m not typically squeamish when it comes to bugs. Until they get inside my house where they don’t belong, that is. The creepiest are usually those teeny tiny ones—like springtails—that are so hard to see I start getting paranoid that they’re everywhere. Springtails are minuscule wingless bugs found all throughout North America that thrive in dark, damp places.

Nothing strikes terror into the hearts of millions like one simple word: bedbugs. Thankfully, new research published yesterday reveals how to avoid bringing the creatures home with you, and therefore infesting your apartment. Instances of bedbugs have been on the rise, in part because of increased international travel. The study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, has found that there are some things you can do to prevent the pests from coming home with you.

I don’t need a Buzzfeed quiz to tell me that the Mean Girls character I most identify with is the “she doesn’t even go here”-girl. I just have a lot of feelings, OK? I talk to my plants like they’re people. They’re named after people, for goodness sake. And I can’t let go of a chair or a car on Craiglist without feeling like I’m abandoning a member of my family. “Is he going to take care of Heidi the Honda?

I live in Florida and I know very well how bugs can ruin both special outdoor events and perfectly ordinary daily moments. Just last week our s’mores summer kickoff was cut short by suuuuuper pesky gnats that insisted on hovering near our eyelashes and noses and we’ve endured more than one car ride with mosquitoes buzzing around in the van while my daughter screams in fear of being eaten alive (they do seem to feast on her especially, poor thing).

Stink bugs get their name from —wait for it —the odor they emit when they are disturbed or stomped upon. It’s meant to ward off predators, and by predators I mean us humans with our descending boots, rolled up magazines, and scary vacuum suction hoses. (Hell, I’d spray us with noxious fumes too.) Here’s what else you should know about these delightful little creatures.

I was reading a few sentences of an article recently that said something about September being an extra spider-y month, something about male spiders coming out to flirt with females? I didn’t really read the whole thing because who wants to really know that much about spiders? Here’s what I do know: I don’t love them, particularly when they like to call my bedroom home and dance on my face at night.

Chiggers (or red bugs) are tiny little mites that easily escape notice, but leave a lasting legacy in the form of red welts on your skin that will itch for days and drive you nuts. Summer is prime chigger season, so read up on how to deal with them around the house, and what to do if you get bitten. Chiggers love to get you in your body’s tender sweaty spots, namely the undersides of your arms, knees, belly and – yes – your private areas.

For the last several months my husband and I have had fans in our windows at all times. We had a hard time getting any breeze in them, but because the fans were in place, we hadn’t had a problem with bugs and mosquitoes coming in. As the temperatures dropped this past weekend, we removed the fans and all sorts of creepy crawly and flying friends came in, so it was time for some screens! Off to the hardware store we went!

Outside of using them for composting, worms just haven’t been on our radar. That is, until they invaded our Walnut tree (worm jerks!). So we sat down with our old friend Google and tried to find out exactly what was taking over our tree and how to make it stop. Were they web worms? Bag worms? Or the Eastern Tent Caterpillar? Find out the differences on each and how you can keep your trees in check after the jump.