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Why have you got insect pests in your home?
By Chris Meagher
Well, for starters, humans provide the perfect living environment for an enormous variety of insects. Insects are only pests when there are more of them than deemed acceptable. However, in our homes, the site of one insect can ring alarm bells of plague proportions for many people.
We provide habitat for insect pests: It's generally warmer inside your house in winter and cooler in summer. There are nice damp areas to be found, like the kitchen, bathroom, laundry, inaccessible spills, indoor plant saucers, etc. You get the idea.
We provide food for insect pests: I do not care how fastidious your cleaning regime is, food gets left behind. We're not talking sandwiches and legs of pork here, but miniscule traces, mere smears of food residue that can keep an entire blossoming family of beasties happy. You may very well think that you do not have to be told to keep a clean house, however, 'food' is a fairly broad field as far as insects go. Could be your actual carpets or curtains; bars of soap, your toothbrush, wherever "Fluffy" sleeps and eats, newspapers, sticky fingerprints, etc. You name it. Insects have been around since the dinosaurs, because they can survive on almost anything, even their own dead.
We provide protection for insect pests: Out there, outside in the real insect world, are myriad other creatures trying to eat them. One of the main reasons insects breed so prolifically, is because everything else is out to get them. Inside your home most of these insect eaters wouldn't dare venture and you wouldn't want them anyway. Chooks and ducks eat tons of insects, as a method of organic pest control they're great, but you don't want them inside, plays havoc with the carpet. If your problem is termites, an aardvark might prove somewhat problematical, too. So. What are you going to do about insect pests? Well for a start, just because cockroaches can survive an atomic bomb, doesn't mean you need to panic. Normal household cleaning should suffice, but everyone at some point becomes a bit tardy. If this is indeed you, then just pick up your game a bit. Who hasn't left the dishes overnight? This isn't the problem. Insects don't become a pest overnight and run off with your best china, it takes time for their numbers to build up to pest proportions, but if you leave the dishes every night, well, your just feeding them and they will breed up - thank you very much. Then again, don't go getting all Dutch about it either. If you are going to clean your house to within an inch of it's life every other day, it won't be worth living in anyway thanks to the sheer weight of cleaning chemicals used. I have nothing against the Dutch, I have lived with hordes of them, but they are a bit obsessed about cleaning things. About 10 years ago, a broom factory blew up and half the population needed grief counselling. Where do insect pests come from? Well, how long is a piece of string? Seriously, a lot of insects can fly. What state are your screens in.
All insects crawl. Do you have snug fitting doors, or protective strips on them. Corrugated cardboard is a favourite for many insect pests. Where do you store your empty cardboard boxes? Other entrances to the house. As houses age, they shift, expand and contract, this can result in minute cracks being created in odd places, generally where you cannot see them and can provide access points for insect pests. If your particular insect pest problem is in plague proportions, there IS no instant solution. Outright. If you have a problem of a plague of some particular nasty - call in the experts, who will fumigate your place. Don't muck around, just DO it, give penance later. Whether we like it or not, insect pests are a way of life, in and around the home. I hope this article has given you some insight into why you have insect pests in your home, and some simple remedies to prevent insect incursions. I will provide some solutions to insect pests in a later article.
Mr Meagher has been a gardener and organic gardener for 45 years, permaculturist for 29 years. Further reading to be found at : Gardening Secret
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 | | odls liked this intel. Jan 26, 2012 |  | | R Foreman liked this intel. Jan 26, 2012 |
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Very interesting and well-written article. I enjoyed it and learned a lot from it
CONTRIBUTOR'S REPLY
Hello there Tom Leigh.
Thank you for the comment. Pleased to add to anyone's knowledge.
Regards Chris.
Thank you for sharing this detailed information, Chris.
I'll be waiting for your pest control solutions, including the organic garden pest controls.
Best wishes.
Frederick
CONTRIBUTOR'S REPLY
Hello there Frederick,
always a pleasure to receive your comments.
Solutions, or at least some, coming soonest.
With Regard,
Chris.
My brother used to live in Spain, and there insects can be a real problem, typical of any hot country I suppose. A certain amount of insects we take for granted, but, when they become pests, action needs taking as you rightly say Chris.
 | | odls Jan 26, 2012 04:19 |  appreciated |
CONTRIBUTOR'S REPLY
Thank you for your comment odls.
Appreciated.
Regards,
Chris.
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