Looks like I got all (or at least most) of the bugs out of the web radio show!  In the spirit of getting the bugs out, and with Springtime starting I don’t know about you, but we have seen a flood of bugs around our house.  So today’s show was dedicated to getting rid of bugs in a natural, safe and cheap way.

I was able to find some great ideas on ehow.com and combined them with ideas I have used in the past or have heard about from others.  Let me know if you have an idea that’s not listed here!

Prevention Tips- Don’t they say a ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure?

• Keep garbage cans and recycle bins covered.
• Don’t leave food or beverages sitting outside, keep beverages covered with a lid. Wipe up spills as soon as they happen.
• If you have water sources in your yard (bird baths, ponds), the wasps could be hanging around for the water (they get thirsty too).
• If you have fruit trees, keep the fruit picked and remove any that have fallen on the ground

• Leave mint out where you notice bugs gathering. Certain bugs, like ants and flies, have a natural aversion to mint, which will discourage them from entering the house. Try using crushed mint leaves or mint tea bags.

• A natural water mixture, such as one liter of water, one teaspoon of Borax, and a cup of sugar, will act as an insecticide. Soak cotton balls in the mixture and place them in a small container where bugs can have access. The solution will begin to kill bugs slowly upon contact.

• To naturally get rid of flying bugs, make a bug-catcher. Mix a solution of 1/4 cup syrup, a tablespoon of granulated sugar and a tablespoon of brown sugar. Soak strips of brown paper in the mixture and let the paper dry overnight. Hang the paper in rooms where you notice bugs congregating by poking a small hole at the top of each strip and hanging it with some string or thread. Flying bugs will be attracted to the solution and become caught in the paper, which may then be disposed of.

• Sprinkle diatomaceous earth on areas where you notice bugs congregating. Diamotaceous earth is a natural bug killer made from fossilized diatom remains (algae). The product comes in the form of a chalky powder and is harmful only to bugs because it is a mechanical, rather than chemical, killer. The substance works by attaching itself to the bugs’ bodies and slowly dehydrating them. Diatomaceous earth controls ants, ticks, fleas, cockroaches, bed bugs, spiders, slugs, flies, mites and other household bugs.
• Diatomaceous earth can also be ingested (as long as you buy the food grade one from your local health food store) and it will help clean out impurities in your body and help your digestive system.  This makes it safe for humans or animals to eat.  How does it kill pests? Diatomaceous earth is basically like microscopic coral, so when ingested the holes in the coral fill up with the unnecessary gunk in your body, but when bugs walk in it basically it’s like walking through jagged coral and it tears up their exoskeleton killing them from the outside in.

Ground Version

• Take an
  empty two liter pop bottle or any plastic bottle that has a consistently
  even width along the sides.
• Using a
  sharp knife, cut off the top of the soda bottle just below where the start
  of the bottle sides are at even width.
• Fill the
  bottom of the bottle with bait about 2″ deep (ideas below).
• Insert the
  top of the bottle upside down into the bottom of the bottle (remove the
  bottle cap first). The pieces should fit together nice and snug, but use
  duct tape along the top edge to secure the pieces together if you need to.
• Set the
  trap out wherever you’ve seen them (in flower beds, close to a hedge, near
  the bird bath, etc.).
• The wasps
  will fly into the trap to get at the bait, but have trouble finding their
  way out. They’ll eventually drown in the liquid bait.
• This trap
  setup will also work for killing
  fruit flies.

Hanging Version

This is well suited for hanging in tree branches or along the eaves of a
house (away from entrances since this will attract live wasps). They will fly
up into the trap from underneath, but have trouble finding their escape by
flying down and out.

• Take an
  empty two liter pop bottle, tighten on the cap then cut off the bottom few
  inches of the bottle.
• Taking a
  second two liter pop bottle, remove the bottle cap and cut off the top
  part of the bottle right underneath where the width is the same as the
  rest of the bottle.
• For the
  bigger bottle piece, puncture two small holes, one on either side of the
  bottle (at the top) and push through each end of a piece of heavy string
  or yarn, knotting at each end inside the bottle (this will need to be long
  enough to hang the bottle and strong enough to hold the weight of the
  trap).
• Seal the
  holes where the string runs through with duct tape to prevent wasps
  crawling out and escaping.
• Place the
  small piece up inside the bigger piece, securing together with duct tape
  around the edges.
• Fill the
  trap with bait about 2″ deep and hang.

Tips:

• Do not
  fill the trap so full of bait that there isn’t plenty of air space between
  the bottom (or top) of the pop bottle opening, you want the wasps to be
  able to fly in with no trouble.
• Empty and
  refill the traps regularly, wasps won’t be too tempted by a trap filled
  with drowned critters. You can submerge the trap in a bucket of water for
  about 1/2 hour to make sure all wasps are dead before cleaning and
  refilling.

Bait Ideas

Just like ants, wasps can be
looking for two different types of food sources depending on the colony’s needs
at the time: protein or sugar. Set out two different traps to see which bait
tempts the wasps best, then continue to fill with that type of bait. Or you
could do a sugar & protein bait together (for example: mixing juice with a
piece of meat).

• Jam
  dissolved in water (sweet enough to attract the wasps but diluted enough
  to drown them)
• Fruit
  juice
• Beer
• Sweet Soda
  Pop
• Wine
• Maple
  syrup diluted with water
• Molasses
  diluted with water
• If you need protein baits: Try
  adding a piece of raw hamburger or a chunk of canned tuna, canned dog or
  cat food to a trap with fruit juices or even plain water (deep enough to
  drown the wasps but the piece of meat bait needs to be sticking out above
  the liquid surface to effectively attract them).

Tune in Thursday at 10 to learn how to start your food storage!