Have you ever wondered if any of the old wives’ tales that get rid of bugs actually work?
Finding yourself faced with bugs in the home, whether it’s spiders or cockroaches, can leave you feeling frantic for a solution. As one of the top pest control experts in the area, we’re here to set the record straight on the effectiveness of old wives’ tales.
First, what are the old wives’ tales that get rid of bugs?
Putting a Penny in a Bag to Get Rid of Mosquitos
Are mosquitos making you miserable? Not only can they crash your outdoor parties, but mosquitos make you itch and even carry diseases such as malaria and dengue fever.
When it comes to fighting off hordes of mosquitoes, one old wives’ tale tells us to put a penny in a bag full of water. But does this old wives tale do the trick?
No. If you try to put a penny in a bag full of water to get rid of mosquitos, you might find yourself disappointed. In fact, the opposite might happen with the bag of water acting as a magnet to attract mosquitos.
This is because standing water is a breeding ground for mosquitos. If they find standing water, you might find yourself with more mosquitos than you had to begin with.
If you want to keep mosquitos at bay, there are a few effective tactics that can work, such as putting up a bugproof barrier around your outdoor patio. You can also try using fans outdoors since the blast can help send them flying in another direction.
Above all else, be sure that there is no standing water around your entertainment area. This is one of the most effective ways to get rid of mosquitoes!
Drawing a Line of Chalk to Fend off Ants
If you’re agonizing over ants, you’ll find a lot of old wives tales for getting rid of these bugs.
One of the old wives’ tales for getting rid of bugs is to draw a line of chalk where you don’t want them to cross. The idea is that it will derail the ant trail and confuse them with the scent of chalk.
Why this might work for a minute or two, the results are certainly temporary. Ants are determined creatures that will easily find a way around or just pass over the chalk. Some believe that the chalk will make it difficult for the ants to climb over.
Unfortunately, this is nothing but an old wives’ tale. No amount of chalk is lethal to ants. You’ll only find yourself with a random line of chalk on the ground and no solution to your ant problem.
Pour Boiling Water into Ant Holes
If chalk doesn’t offer a line of defense against your ants, how about boiling water?
Some try to boil water in a pot and dump it down into ant holes. This will burn the ants out of the hole, right?
Not so fast. Fire ant tunnels can reach depths of 10 feet or more. You will need to dump 2 to 3 gallons of water inside the hole. By the time that the water makes it down to where the queen and ants are hiding, they will just move to another location. According to Texas A&M, the approach of using boiling water to kill ants works about 60% of the time. When you are dealing with an ant infestation, you’ll need something much more reliable to get the job done.
How to Effectively Get Rid of Ants
Now that you know the old wives tales for getting rid of ants, what can you do to actually make sure that they stay away?
There are several approaches you can take, ranging from bug proofing the exterior of your home to contacting professional pest control solutions such as Drive-Bye Exterminators.
- First, you’ll want to seal off any easy and obvious openings of your home. Add caulk around windows where ants may make their way inside. Ensure all cracks in the exterior are sealed up.
- Keep tree branches trimmed away from the roof, as some ants will climb trees and enter through your attic.
- Make sure garbage is tightly sealed outside, especially food. Food is one of the fastest ways to attract ants.
- If you have kids outside and they drop food in the grass, make sure it’s picked up.
- Keep kitchens clear of crumbs, including counters and pantries.
- Make sure there is no leaking water around the house since this gives ants a water source.
Cutting off the food and water supply will help keep ants away from your home. If you still aren’t finding success, there are other actions you can take.
- Identify the type of ant you have in your home. This can help you figure out where the ants are coming from.
- If you are unsure of the type of ant that you have, you can have a pest control company to identify the ant for you.
- Keep in mind the pest control companies spend a lot of time finding where the ants nest and where they are coming from. This can be one of the longest parts of the process when it comes to getting rid of ants.
- For example, carpenter ants can nest inside walls which can make them very difficult to track down.
When you are on the hunt for ants in your house, you can sometimes locate them in areas with water damage. This is because the water damage points you to a possible water source. Check in areas such as the attic or bathroom. Furthermore, ants like to hide out in damp areas, so places with water damage can keep you hot on their trail.
Once you locate the ants, you have some decisions to make. You can attract ants to one location using food as bait. They tend to like food with protein and sugar. Peanut butter can work well.
From there, you can start to kill off the ants with bait that is suited to their taste. The type of bait you use may depend on the ant, which is why it’s important to identify the type of ant that’s in your home.
Keep in mind that ant colonies can have up to 500,000 worker ants and the queen can live for 7 years. If you aren’t sure about how to get rid of ants, you shouldn’t rely on old wives tales or a DIY approach. The best course of action is to hire a professional pest control company.
Use Sugar and Borax to Kill Roaches
This is both an old wives tale to get rid of bugs as well as a myth. If you are trying to get rid of roaches, it’s an unwise decision to try to kill them off with sugar and borax.
Borax is the ingredient used to kill the roaches while sugar serves as the bait. The borax can kill off roaches but it can take weeks.
That’s if the Borax manages to wipe out all the roaches that you have in your home.
If the Borax isn’t successful, you’ll notice a lower number of roaches while the survivors continue to lurk around your home.
Meanwhile, keep in mind that roaches can survive for several weeks without food. If you’re trying to starve them out, it probably won’t work unless your kitchen is clean and completely empty for a very long time.
How to Effectively Get Rid of Roaches
Roaches are one of the worst creepy crawlies that can make their home your own. The German cockroach is by far one of the worst, but you won’t want any type of roach in your home for a myriad of reasons.
What is the best way to effectively get rid of roaches? As a pest control company, we have several solutions that can help.
- First, make sure your home is thoroughly cleaned. Roaches are attracted to dirt because they are seeking new sources of food. Don’t give them a shot of a new food source!
- Keep kitchen counters cleaned up.
- All food inside the pantry should be sealed up and properly stored.
- Wipe away all grease from the stove top.
- Take the garbage outside each night.
- Keep dog and cat food sealed away in airtight containers.
Meanwhile, you’ll want to make sure you get rid of newspapers and cardboard boxes. These are ideal places for roaches to hide when they aren’t raiding your kitchen for food.
Got Bugs? Contact Drive-Bye Exterminators
Bugs were here long before us and they will always be part of our lives. However, this doesn’t mean that your home becomes their home sweet home! If bugs are driving you bonkers, you don’t have to resort to old wives’ tales to get rid of bugs.
