How to Keep Your Cookout Pest Free | Bucksworth Home Services

Summer is a time for sunshine, cookouts, yard games, and just sitting around enjoying the nice weather and longer days. If you are hosting an outdoor gathering, one of the things you probably struggle the most with is keeping your cookout pest free. When you have people over, you want to keep your guests free of the annoyance of stinging and biting insects, not share your food with uninvited pests, and want to ensure everyone has an enjoyable time. We are going to review some tips for how to keep your cookout pest free.

How to Keep Your Cookout Pest Free

As we all know, insects seem to ramp up their game during this time of the year. In Phoenix and Tucson, ants, flies, wasps, bees, hornets, mosquitoes, and more, seem to want to enjoy our outdoor events, just as much as we do.

Pests are lively during this time of the year, making them a major nuisance. Below we review some tips for how to keep your cookout pest free.

Maintain Your Yard: Tall grass and other overgrown greenery, such as bushes, can increase the likelihood of you having pests at your next outdoor event. Be sure to keep your yard mowed and other greenery trimmed. Overgrown brush and weeds can provide great habitats and hiding areas for a slew of insects and other pests.
Eliminate Any Standing Water: Standing water is the enemy in your battle against bugs and insects, as it’s the perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes, and one of the main attractions for all pests and rodents. To keep your cookout pest free, make sure your yard and areas around the outside of your home are clear of water. Even the tiniest bit of water and dampness can attract these critters. If you have bird baths or feeders, children’s pools, etc., move them away from the area where you will be hosting your event and serving food.
Keep Trash Away: Garbage cans are the perfect breeding and feeding grounds for many pests. Make sure to keep your garbage and recycling covered at all times and away from the area you are entertaining in. When your guests are done with food, have empty plates, or create spills, clean up as soon as possible. The less you have laying around to attract pests the more likely you are to keep your cookout pest free.
Cover All Food: As we know, pests love food, whether in your pantry or outdoors. When you are hosting a cookout, your outdoor food items can create a feast for these critters. To help keep your cookout pest free, be sure to keep all food items under a cover at all times. If guests are getting food, make sure covers are replaced between each person. If you have a netted tent, that’s a great way to add an extra line of protection.
Serve Sealed Drinks: Most summer loving pests also love things that are sweet. At your outdoor party, that probably includes some of the drinks you are serving. By keeping all beverages in sealed containers and under some sort of lid, you are preventing attracting some of those insects. You can cover the tops of glasses with plastic wrap and put a hole and straw in them, use glasses with lids, or only serve drinks in bottles that can be closed when not being consumed.
Use Insect Repelling Candles and Torches: Citronella oil comes from a combination of naturally bug-repellent grasses. In candle form or torch form, it masks the scents of carbon dioxide and human lactic acid, which are so attractive to insects, and it’s perfectly safe (bob vila). Citronella is a common smell of summer, and there is a reason. The smoke from candles and torches also will help to deter insects.

If you want your next outdoor gathering to be the talk of the town, in a good way, you need to keep your cookout pest free. Bucksworth Home Services can help. We offer pest control and weed control in Phoenix and Tucson.

To set up a pest control program or service with Bucksworth, schedule an appointment and we will come out and inspect your Arizona home or business and suggest a program that is best for you. We offer interior and exterior service, window, door, and vent barriers, front and back porch barriers, year-round service, and more.