Avoid These 2 Bug Repellents

Yet again, we are reminded by the Center For Disease Control to use insect repellents, bug spray and thanks to the marketing industry, mechanical bug repellent devices to help prevent the spread of insect-based diseases. For the average consumer, there are numerous options out there. One may choose to use bug spray made from deet or possible essential oils. Offering up to 12 hours of protection, there are chemical and plant based pump spray bug repellents on the market today.

A popular trend today is more people choosing deet free plant based repellents. Made from oil of lemon eucalyptus, many of these types of natural or perhaps organically made products work for a bit warding off mosquitoes and ticks. 

Higher concentrations of plant oils have some effectiveness like the concentration found in citronella candles. Although one would need a large number of citronella candles to ward off from mosquitoes biting. 

Repelling insects is a fine tuned art backed by skill. So, do not be fooled into thinking mechanical repellents, light traps and other bug repellent devices do much more.

Avoid These 2 Bug Repellents

Ultrasonic Bug Repellents

Ultrasonic pest repellents are electronic devices having mixed reviews. They emit high-frequency sounds that are said to repel, injure and many of them marketed to “kill” household pests, including roaches, rodents and spiders.  The overall effectiveness of these types of devices has been disputed by testing labs and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

The facts are as follows: these types of bug repellents have shown to be effective at deterring insects such as crickets during late summer and early fall but, these same devices had little effect (if any) on cockroaches and other household pests.

When trying to figure out if it’s worth purchasing a fly trap think about this: you have several flies annoying you while on the deck in the evening. While these flies come and go there is usually an underlying reason for their attraction. This may be trash, rotting compost or other type of organic matter. Perhaps you have a dog doing his or her business nearby. Well, naturally flies are present doing their job. Now, say you get a fly trap and you see hundreds of dead flies in the trap over a day or two. The sad part of this is that one dead fly leads to hundreds of dead flies then the next thing you know, like a bug zapper, you are catching not just your flies but, flies from all your neighbors too.

Bug Traps

There are mixed reviews even for lighted and unlighted bug traps. In multiple tests experts have found that while lighted bug traps inside the home do effectively reduce populations of fungus gnats and fruit flies these devices do not eliminate infestations. That being said, the same goes for bed bug traps. These too will collect some (maybe tons) but, the infestation will always remain. Pest professionals use traps ( glue boards to help them better determine population size and to also help narrow down nesting sites. Glue boards and other types of sticky traps work well for professional pest experts when properly placed in and around your home. but, this is about as far as it goes for bug traps in general. 

So the bottom line is Avoid These 2 Bug Repellents and call a professional like Around The Clock Pest. There are solutions to repelling bugs this year.