Since Sunday, I have been plagued by insects. Minorly, but enough to really annoy me.
Flies? Check...er...well, we've got one fly and no swatter. He's a tricky one who hides when I go to get my flipflop and then appears crawling all over the rim of my coffee cup or my bowl of strawberries. Grrr...
We suddenly have ants attacking our kitchen garbage can. We live on the third floor. Are they catapulting themselves up? Tiny ladders? An elevator in the wall? We kill them and they just keep coming...they're terminator ants.
I'm itching like crazy from being eaten by mosquitoes. I would tape pot holders over my hands, but I've been known to rub them in my sleep with my heels. Hard enough to leave scars. Instead, I'm bathing in Benadryl gel. The extra strength stuff. I'd be fine soon, but new ones keep appearing! I was outside five minutes last night and I have seven new ones...
I'd like to know whose people I need to let go to get a reprieve. Really, I'll let them go. I'll even pack them a lunch. But no more bugs, 'kay?
Lifehacker has had a number of posts about ants and flies lately. Keep fans going constantly and draw a chalk line around the perimeter.
ReplyDeleteThere was something also about giving up bananas but not sure if I'm remembering it right.
Good luck. Doesn't your bird eat flies?
I thought about the chalk thing, and I know that baby powder sometimes does the same, but we don't know where they're coming from. We've walked around every outside wall we can, at least without requiring hover shoes, and there's no ants. I picked up ant traps yesterday, so maybe that will help.
ReplyDeleteAnd my dad mentioned the banana thing when I was over there, but I don't really eat bananas to begin with. Once every 6 months I'll have a couple, but I honestly don't like them that much. Then he told me to eat more garlic. Right...did he forget who taught me how to cook? Garlic is a mainstay in my kitchen, Dad. The Benadryl is working for now, so less itching = YAY!
As to Nancy and flies? Sadly...she's Oblivious Bird. She doesn't even notice if it lands in her food dish. *sigh*
Ants are attracted to moisture. If they're appearing in improbable places, for me that's the kitchen and bathroom which are in the center of the building with no outside walls, they might be climbing the pipes. I woke up to ants swarming my cat's food on Tuesday. Swept up all I could and took them out with the trash, then laid down a heavy line of baby powder. Haven't seen a single ant since. (That doesn't mean they won't errupt somewhere new tomorrow- my ants are persistant like that. But the baby powder seems to be working at least as well as a spray, without the toxic fumes.)
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, I share your problem with mosquito bites. And even worse, black flies. If one of those buggers get me I'm guaranteed to end up with a welt at least 3 inches across that lasts for weeks. The only sure fire solution I've ever found is to not go outside. Everything else is a crap shoot.