The flies, mosquitoes, wasps and other insects are significantly more numerous than normal this season, as La Libre explained on Wednesday. How can we hope to keep them away? The answer with Frédéric Francis, professor of entomology at the faculty of agronomic sciences of Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech-ULiège.
Flies and mosquitoes: avoid the presence of stagnant water
“The first thing to do to keep flies away is to eliminate anything that can attract them, namely any type of food waste if you don’t want to find maggots there following a day or two, replies Frederic Francis. Similarly, for mosquitoes, it will be necessary to avoid the presence of stagnant water where the females might come to lay their eggs. It is also necessary to think of avoiding the lamps which will make them return in the houses in the evening. Another thing that attracts mosquitoes: the CO2 released by exhaling and our body odor, produced by perspiration .” Hence the importance of taking two showers rather than one when it’s hot…
Wasps: repellent plants
To scare away wasps, some recommend planting “repellent” or rather strong-scented plants in the garden, such as lavender, rose geranium, lemongrass, wormwood or even tomato plants. But when it comes to these natural repellents, whether it’s the smell given off by these plants, candles, essential oil diffusers, or ground coffee burning in a cup (a proven method), if these means prove effective, “
it is especially by the fact that these scents mask odors a priori attractive to mosquitoes or wasps. And not because they act as repellents
“, according to Frédéric Francis, for whom the most effective way to get rid of these beasts that annoy us remains the traditional traps and baits. This, as long as they are made cleverly and placed strategically.
And to trap greedy wasps
And why not in the fruit trees, so as not to see all your harvest of fruit nibbled by the gourmands?
Simple and cheap, one of these traps consists of taking a plastic bottle and cutting it in half. We then reverse the upper part with the neck down to insert it into the lower part of the bottle, in which we pour a bottom of sweetened liquid (syrup, beer, soda…). Enough to attract wasps which, trapped and unable to get out through the narrow neck, will have no other way out than drowning in the sweet drink. Don’t we say that gluttony is a bad fault?
