Keep Your Outdoor Fun Insect & Pest-Free

The weather is beautiful, the food is delicious, and the conversation is sparkling. Things are going beautifully until uninvited guests crash the party - bugs. Whether the pests are flies, wasps, ants or mosquitoes, these unwanted insect party crashers can ruin the best laid plans. When you get ready for your next outdoor party, be prepared! There are a number of strategies that you can employ to keep your celebration from being overrun by insect pests.

The first way to keep bugs away from your party is to keep your party away from the bugs. Avoid damp spots like wet grassy areas and stagnant standing water. Depending on the part of the country you're in, you may also want to avoid having a party directly on a lakeshore or right next to a pond.

The next avenue of defense is the use of essential oils. Citronella is great in oil and candle form, but there are a number of other herbs and oils that will repel insects. Mint and catnip keep mosquitoes away and lavender and rosemary repel flies. Lemon (slices and essential oils) and garlic have the widest use since they drive off flies, ants and mosquitoes. Other than these herbs and oils, keep away from scents and perfumes since they tend to attract insects rather than drive them off.

The best way to keep wasps and yellow-jackets away from your picnic is to put out wasp traps a few days before. Most traps are just containers with sugar water inside - once a wasp flies in, it can't get out. Put these lures out a few days before and keep them out for the duration of the party. This will keep down the resident flying and stinging population and will continue to tempt them away from your food and drink during the party itself. Also, make sure to keep lids on food whenever possible - your food will be fresher and less of a temptation to wasps, flies, and yellow-jackets.

You can also take steps to make yourself a less tempting target to insects. By taking garlic, vitamin B or zinc, you will make yourself significantly less tasty to bugs that bite. And then there's always the traditional route: bug spray is the tried and true method to keep the buggy party crashers away. Applying citronella oil to your pulse points will accomplish the same thing - try them in unison for a one-two punch.

When planning for your outdoor party, remember that it's impossible to keep things 100% bug-free. However, taking these steps will make your party much more enjoyable for you and your guests and much attractive to the bugs.