Avoiding End Of Summer Stings

Avoiding End Of Summer Stings

The final weeks of summer are here, and that means it is time to enjoy as much of the warm sunny outdoor weather as possible. There a few weekends left to dine on hot dogs, hamburgers, pasta salad, and deviled eggs, and to go with family and friends to local fairs and festivals. It is important to remember that if precautions are not taken, stinging insects like wasps, yellow jackets, and hornets may also join in uninvited and ruin your outdoor fun.

Not only are we trying to squeeze in the most of the last days of summer, but so are stinging insects. In the late summer and early fall stinging insects are more active and ornery because they are stressed out about making sure they find and gather enough food to keep their queens well-nourished during the cooler weather months of the fall and winter seasons. This is the time of year to be aware of stinging insects and to try and avoid as much contact with them as possible.

Stinging insects like yellow jackets and others are particularly pesky pests at outdoor events and cookouts because most of them like to feed on the proteins and sweets that we also like to feed on. They are attracted to open containers of sweet drinks and plates of grilled food. Some things you can do to help protect yourself and your guests at cookouts and other outdoor events include:

  • Make sure to provide trash cans with tight fitting lids for people to throw their empty plates and cups in.
  • If possible provide cups that have lids on them.
  • Go around and clean up any food and plates that have been left behind during the party.
  • Place food inside, have people fill up their plates inside, and then come outside to sit, eat, and mingle.

In addition to protecting your guests and your family at outdoor events, there are many things that you can do around your property to help deter stinging insects from becoming an issue whether it is cookout season or not.

  • Remove old tree stumps, fallen trees, or piles of debris that stinging insects could use to nest in.
  • Limit the amount of flowers and other colorful landscaping that you have planted on your property.
  • Place outdoor trash cans away from the exterior of your home.
  • Make sure that gutters are not clogged and that they are draining water away from your home.
  • Make sure that screens are intact, caulk spaces found around windows and doors, and place caps on chimneys to help prevent stinging insect from getting inside and nesting within your home.

If stinging insects have created a nest in close proximity to or actually on your home or have become particularly aggressive, the best way to deal with them is to call a professional. Their stings can be very painful and their venom can cause severe allergic reactions in some people; because of these dangers, it is best to leave controlling stinging insects up to professionals who are experienced in dealing with them.

At Russell’s Pest Control, our stinging insect professionals have the experience, equipment, and knowledge needed to safely remove dangerous stinging insects nest from your property. Our Power Platinum program provides year-round protection for your home and family against a wide variety of pests including stinging insects. Contact us today, for more information about our stinging insect control services and enjoy the rest of your summer, free of stings!

Get Protected From Knoxville Stinging Insects!

Get Protected From Knoxville Stinging Insects!

Wasps, yellow jackets, hornets, and carpenter bees, are all species of stinging insects that can be found buzzing around during the spring, summer and fall months in Knoxville. Even though these types of stinging insects are very beneficial to the environment with pollination and insect control, our homes and families still need to be protected against their damages and dangers!

Carpenter bees, for example, can create nesting holes in the wood on the exterior of our homes in places like siding, decks, and porches. Female carpenter bees live alone in their nests, but many females may live in the same piece of wood. Over time, and with the help of woodpeckers who make the holes bigger looking for the larvae that the female carpenter bees leave inside the wood, the damages that these pests can create to the structures of your home can be quite extensive.

Stinging insects like wasps, yellow jackets, and hornets move from becoming environmentally helpful to dangerous when they decide to create their nest in the walls of your home, on your home near a window or doorway, or on your child’s play structure. Stinging insects will defend themselves and their nests by stinging whatever it is that they think is a threat. When their nests are too close to your home then the chances of you, your children, or pets getting stung greatly increases, especially if the nest is built in a high traffic area. While the sting is painful enough to warrant action, the venom from wasps, yellow jackets, and hornets is strong enough to cause some very severe allergic reactions in many people.

As a homeowner, there are several steps that you can take to help protect yourself and your property from stinging insects. Some helpful prevention tips from the professionals here at Russell’s Pest Control include:

  • Making sure that all the wood on the exterior of your house, like siding, porches, decks, patio and lawn furniture and swing sets is stained or painted because carpenter bees prefer to nest in wood that is untreated.
  • Chimneys should have a tight fitting cap on them.
  • Holes or small openings in your home’s exterior walls or foundation should be repaired.
  • Caulk spaces around exterior windows, doors and utility entrance points.
  • Gutters should be routinely cleaned so that debris doesn’t build up and collect rainwater that the stinging insects can use as a source of water.
  • Make sure that outdoor garbage cans have tight fitting lids on them.
  • Remove old tree stumps or fallen trees that stinging insects could possibly use as a nesting site from your property.
  • Reduce the amount of flowering, colorful landscape found outside the exterior of your home.

If stinging insects ever do decide to nest on your property and they start causing damages or become dangerous to you and your family it is best to contact a Knoxville stinging insect professional. Trying to take care of a stinging insect problem on your own can lead to stings and injury.

At Russell’s Pest Control we can safely remove a stinging insect nest from your property and offer continuous control services to prevent future issues through our Power Platinum program. The Power Platinum program provides year-round protection for your home and family against yellow jackets, wasps, hornets, and carpenter bees! For more information about protecting your home and family from stinging insects from the Knoxville stinging insect control experts here at Russell’s Pest Control, contact us today! Start your pest control program so that you can get back to enjoying your summer, your home and your property without a single thought of stinging insects!