In the summer, pests such as insects and rodents seem to be everywhere. Keeping them out of your kitchen is critical to your family's health and safety. Prevention is the best way to prevent pests from entering and nesting inside your kitchen and home. Here are some tips to keep pests at bay:

Cleanliness

1. Wash dishes after eating as soon as possible. Before putting them into your dishwasher, rinse them. Small ants can enter the interior of a closed dishwasher and feast on your leftovers otherwise.

2. Eat in only one area of the house, instead of snacking in the living room where crumbs tend to fall onto the couch.

2. Use glass and thick plastic containers for food storage instead of cardboard or plastic bags. Tiny insects can easily chew through cardboard or make their way inside bags. An alternative is to store certain items, like sugar or flour, in the refrigerator.

3. Speaking of the refrigerator, keep fruits and veggies in there rather than out on the counter where flying insects can get to them.

4. Vacuum, sweep and mop up sticky spills daily, after the cooking and eating are over.

Water Control

1. Avoid standing water in areas close to the house, as insects like mosquitoes can breed in there. Watch for standing pools of water in driveways, yards and areas near the house or next to the house. Pour fill dirt into yard areas that have poor drainage, and clear pools, gutters and birdbaths of leaves and debris, which creates a habitable environment for a variety of insects.

2. Take care of leaks inside the home immediately. Water leaks often occur in dark spaces that make ideal nesting places for pests like water bugs.

Sealing

1. Use caulk to get rid of gaps in and around baseboards, walls and cabinets, where insects can crawl inside.

2. Jam steel wool into bigger gaps such as those where pipes tunnel through walls. This will help keep rodents from entering.

3. Install aluminum or steel under doors, and add a door sweep or weather stripping to keep small critters out.

4. Keep doors closed as much as possible. Passing squirrels or raccoon could enter otherwise.

5. Check roof for missing shingles, and install a chimney cap to keep pests from entering the attic from the top of the house. Wire mesh works well for blocking vents that still have to function as a vent.

A pest control service can conduct maintenance spraying inside and outside your home to help prevent infestation. If you already have a pest problem, contact a professional to take care of it, because there may be other other nests or the problem could be worse than you know. To learn more, contact a company like Alliance Pest Management, Inc.