Sufferers of bug infestation often want to use organic methods to get rid of the bugs, natural methods, or an approach that won't hurt their pets or the environment. Different insects can be killed and controlled with methods other than pesticides. Instead of directly killing bugs, some substances, called desiccants, dry the bug out. Others are used because they smell bad to insects. This doesn't so much kill them directly as drive them away from the food they need to survive. Another approach is to introduce another insect that eats or infects the original pest.
Instructions
Bedbugs and Roaches
1. To kill bedbugs and roaches, spread diatomaceous earth (DE) around possible entryways. The substance is fossilized diatoms and cuts non-flying insects' protective shells so they lose moisture and die. Mammals are too large to be affected by its sharp edges: it feels just like powder, not sharp at all.
2. For bedbugs specifically, put the bed legs in cups, then pour DE into the cups. This creates a barrier that the bedbugs must cross to get to the mattress.
3. Line the outside of your home with DE (dissolved in solution is OK), forming another barrier. Boric acid can be mixed in with any application of DE that is out of reach of pets and away from food. DE can be used around pets and food areas.
Ants
4. Pour boiling water onto the anthill.
5. Soak pipe tobacco in water, then pour the liquid over the anthill. The ants will die from nicotine overdose.
6. Use talc, chalk, or baby powder around window frames, other entranceways, and along the ant trails. Ants leave behind trails so they can return to the food source. These substances repel and kill ants. Also, because they avoid the ant trails, they get lost and die.
Lawns
7. If grubs infest your lawn, first determine what kind, since the approach will be based on the species.
8. Contact your county's Cornell Cooperative Extension office for proceed with introducing nematodes (microscopic worms).
9. Purchase the nematodes that match your grub species, then spread across the lawn. The nematodes will infect the grubs and kill them.
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