Contrary to popular belief, cockroaches aren’t simply attracted to messy households. In fact, cockroaches move indoors during fall and winter to find warmth and escape the cold. Of course, that pizza left sitting out on the kitchen counter is just asking for a cockroach infestation.
During the cold weather months, it’s more important than ever to create a plan for cockroach prevention in apartments, condos, and other homes. To maintain roach control, your strategy should include eliminating the three things cockroaches need to survive: warm shelter, food, and water.
Follow these six tips to prevent a cockroach infestation during colder weather:
- Tidy up around the house. Dispose of piled newspapers, empty boxes, unused paper bags and other piles of clutter. This helps eliminate places that may harbor roaches.
- Eliminate sources of water. Roaches need water much more than food. It’s critical to fix leaky pipes and clean up any standing water.
- Don’t feed roaches. Make sure to eliminate roach food sources around the house. Don’t leave dirty dishes in the sink, sweep routinely after cooking, and never abandon food on countertops. Any leftover food should be stored in airtight containers.
- Don’t give roaches a way in. Cockroaches can squirm through the smallest openings. Be sure to seal gaps around pipes with flexible caulk, as well as patch any cracks and crevices you find around the house.
- Insect sprays won’t solve the problem. Sprays are only contact killers – they only kill the cockroaches you see, not the ones you don’t. To have total roach control, you need a killing agent like Combat® that targets roaches at their source. Roaches feed on Combat® Baits and Gels and bring it back to the nest, thus killing the nest.
- Long-term cockroach prevention. The best strategy for complete roach control should be viewed as an ongoing effort. Use Combat® Baits and Gels in strategically placed areas to help prevent a reccurrence of a cockroach infestation.
If you would like more information on how Combat® Baits and Gels work and how to prevent cockroaches from entering your home during the colder months of the year, check out our helpful cockroach prevention video.
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