Summer calls your guests outside for long days sunning poolside and warm nights dining beneath the stars and bistro lights. You invest your time and energy to create inviting outdoor spaces that will keep guests coming back for more, so there’s nothing worse than having pests crash the party and spoil the experience.
If you’re not taking proactive measures to protect your outdoor areas, the chances summer pests will make themselves at home are pretty high. Cockroaches, flies, mosquitoes, and ticks are all attracted to the summer festivities and the increased number of guests spending time outside.
Which summer pests are most likely to seek out your hospitality?
Mosquitoes
Mosquitoes can quickly kill your guests’ summer buzz. Being someone’s feast is unpleasant to say the least, and the itching can drive you mad. But did you know mosquitoes are considered the world’s deadliest pests? Bites have the potential to spread diseases like West Nile virus, Malaria, and encephalitis, so mosquito protection is something to take seriously.
Flies
Flies adore filth. It may seem like a minor annoyance for your guest to have to fan a fly from the rim of their glass. But the dirty truth is, flies could be spreading bacteria like Salmonella and E. coli. The key to keeping flies away is depriving them of the filth they crave. That means cleaning and rotating dumpsters and making sure drains stay polished.
Stinging insects
Getting stung is on no one’s vacation itinerary, and for guests with allergies, stinging summer pests are a serious threat. You can protect your outdoor spaces from yellow jackets, wasps, and hornets by limiting their access to the things they love: flowers, water, sweet foods, and drinks. If you think they’ve built a nest, seek out the help of a pest control professional to have them safely removed.
Ants
It can be tough to tell from their small size, but there are several species of ants that may come marching onto your property. While many are merely damaging to guest experience, there are some species, such as carpenter ants, that can damage structures as well. The best way to limit ants is to restrict access to their preferred attractions like sugary treats, water sources, and flowers. And if you suspect you may have carpenter ants, call your pest control professional for help.
Summer Pest Control Tips
Don’t leave your guests at the mercy of summer pests and your team locked in an uphill battle to eradicate them. Keep your cool all season long with these 4 summer pest control tips.
1. Keep it clean. Keeping your facility clean is one of the most important – and easiest – ways to help prevent summer pests from moving in on your guests. Food draws cockroaches, stinging insects, ants, mice, flies, and more, so remove used plates and glasses as soon as guests are finished. Likewise, any spills need immediate attention.
2. Mind the garbage. Remember how flies love filth? Well, they’re not alone. Trash is one of the biggest attractants for summer pests like flies, rats, and cockroaches. In addition to rotating and cleaning your dumpsters, pay special attention to any trash cans in your outdoor spaces. Ensure they can be covered tightly and are emptied and cleaned regularly.
3. Trim and mow. Landscaping is a powerful tool in your fight against summer pests. Overgrown vegetation attracts pests from stinging insects to ticks, so it’s a must to trim tree branches and shrubbery away from outdoor guest spaces and keep grass short with regular mowing.
4. Stay dry. A good way to have a chronic mosquito problem at your property is to have mosquitoes breeding on your grounds. We recommend staying extra vigilant about standing water. The water in an upside-down bottle cap is all they need to breed, so seek out and remove standing water around downspouts, flowerpots, and other outdoor décor.
Call in the Experts.
Keeping your hotel pest-free, inside and out, is a big job to add onto the list of job you and your employees are already doing to create the best experience for your guests. A professional can help you assess potential trouble spots around your property, create a plan for ongoing protection, help you understand how cleanliness and maintenance can play a role in Integrated Pest Management (IPM), and offer targeted, discrete, and even proactive treatment when needed.
In New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Delaware, our summers are short, making them more precious to people and pests alike. Vigilant maintenance of your outdoor areas can help prevent your guests’ experience from being ruined by pesky summer pests. And when it comes to summer pest control and protection from bugs and rodents all year round, you can’t beat an experienced pest control provider.