Country-house season: three pests people remember too late
Ants, wasps, and horseflies rarely make the summer prep list — and they should.
People usually prepare in advance for mosquitoes and ticks at their country properties. Other seasonal visitors come as a surprise, even though their arrival is just as predictable.
Ants. The problem is not the ants on the path themselves, but the fact that they farm aphids on fruit trees and shrubs and actively protect them. Fighting aphids without addressing the ants is usually futile. Baits and gels work — the important thing is for the active ingredient to reach the nest rather than kill foragers on the spot.
Wasps. A nest under the roof ridge or inside a wall is often not discovered until it is already large. In early summer, it is the size of a walnut, when the problem is incomparably easier to resolve.
Horseflies and blackflies. Their activity peaks in hot, humid weather near water. Repellent sprays and protective clothing help here, not treatment of the grounds — their flight range makes such treatment pointless.
A general rule for the country-house season: inspecting the property in early June takes about as long as a single later conversation about where all these pests came from.
