The summer bugs are upon us

I live in an older home with my wife. It was built in the 1930s, but since has had a number of renovations and additions, but it still has that old house character which you just can't beat. We still have the original, arched doorway in the front. It doesn't really open, but it adds a nice touch. But, one of the downsides of an older houses is that there are plenty of cracks and crevices for bugs and insects to come on in and make themselves at home.

This summer in particular, I've been dealing with lots of 'daddy long legs' spiders. It seems every day I find one hiding in a corner of the living room, dining room, or bathroom. They seem rather content in their existence, but I'd really prefer them to not be in my house. We had the bug guy spray a few weeks back, but they are still showing up.

Luckily, I haven't seen any roaches. I saw one or two last year right after I moved in. The house hadn't been lived in in around a year before we moved in. But, since those first few weeks (and spraying and setting traps), I haven't seen any since. Thank goodness. Roaches are the worst.

My brother recently moved to the Boston area, around a year ago. He also lived in an older home, although also renovated. I got to thinking about how his bug problems might be different than mine. I ran across a cool map from a pest control company, Insight Pest Solutions, that does work in the Greater Boston area.

The mapped out the most common bug types that they responded with. Apparently lots and lots of calls for ants. A good number of spiders are noted too. However, I didn't see any roaches. I know that roaches tend to fare better in warmer weather than colder, so perhaps that's the reason why. Now that I've seen the data for up north, I'd love to see one for the Piedmont area. I know the company has a branch in Raleigh... maybe they'll do one for that area too.

So here's to summer! In both the north and the south. Hopefully we can all stay bug free.