When the weather warms up and the summer is in full swing, it can be hard to think that there are any drawbacks to the sunny days and long nights. But it’s the time of year when pesky bugs decide to come into your home uninvited. Here are five ways to help keep your home pest (and scream) free this summer.

• • Citronella Candles

Citronella candles are an utter godsend when it comes to steering biting insects away from entering your space. Although they look and smell attractive to humans, many bugs (especially the dreaded mosquito) can’t stand the whiff, making them decide to keep well clear. If you’re having an alfresco evening barbeque, then dot citronella candles around where you’re sitting outside, or if you have the windows open a lot in your house, place the candles inside.

• • Keep It Clean

Food left lying around on kitchen surfaces, kitchen waste bins that need emptying, or crumbs on the floor all act as an open invitation for many bugs to enter your home. Ants, in particular, will have a field day. Prevention is much better than cure, so if you want to keep your abode pest free over the warmer months, practice good hygiene. Clean food up after you and wipe tables and floors regularly. Dust away (or even better, vacuum) any spiders’ webs you find in the home to deter these much-feared bugs from setting up camp in your house.

• • Seal Up Holes & Cracks

Holes and cracks in the exterior of your home are gateways for all manner of bugs; from flies and wasps, to ants and even small mice (if the hole is big enough)! Regularly check your property for any suspect areas that might need attention. Fill in holes or cracks, either with cement if it’s a brick wall, or replace rotten wood with new panels. Keep an eye on your roof, as well, because tiny gaps provide great nesting opportunities for bees or even starlings.

• • Encourage Natural Predators

You don’t want bugs in your home, so one way you could deter them from coming into your house in the first place, is to make sure there aren’t lots of them in your immediate vicinity. How can you do that? Encourage animals that like to feast on these bugs. Birds and bats eat all sorts of insects, so put up a bat box in your garden and put bird feed out to entice the birds to your home.

• Get Window Screens

What is it about flies? As soon as you open a window, they’re straight in the house! There is nothing more annoying than having to chase a fly out of your home, when you could be better spending that time soaking up the sun. Don’t let flies and other insects with wings cause you undue stress. Add a mesh or fine screen to your windows and doors so that the bugs can’t get inside your home, but you can still fling windows or doors open. The screen is pretty easy to install, so it’s well worth the effort.