by Jonell Elder
Non toxic pest control!! Isn’t that a much better way to get rid of pesty critters? Are you looking for ways that are Eco-friendly, natural, green and organic to help in the removal of pesty bugs without toxic chemicals? In this article you will learn different ways to do just that.
Among the many chemicals in our industrial environment that get into our systems and make us sick are the pesticides we use in our homes and in our gardens. We use them because they are toxic to the creatures that bug us, but they are also toxic to us. Sometimes the toxicity is immediately apparent: we get a headache, get sick or feel nauseous from the fumes or other contact.
Sometimes the toxicity is subtle and can accumulate resulting in chronic complaints and disorders that can be serious and even deadly over time (including allergies, cancer and miscarriages). Sometimes we even put poisons on our pets to deal with ticks and fleas, not understanding or realizing that these substances are not health for our animals or us.
We don’t need poisons to kill pests. We can repel them (and even sometimes kill them) with substances that are not only harmless to us but are actually healthful to us. What could this be? Therapeutic-grade essential oils.
One way to do this is to get a pistol-grip squirt bottle. Mix a few drops of the essential oil with some water, shake it up, and start firing. You can do this with most pests.
Specific Oils for Specific Insects
Ants: Peppermint or Spearmint. Smear a line of peppermint or spearmint across your kitchen counter or floor, or place a few drops on a cotton ball and put in their pathway. The ants won’t cross the line. If you already have a line of ants invading your house, just draw a line of oil across their path and they will turn back. It is fun to watch.*
Aphids: Cedarwood, Hyssop, Peppermint or Spearmint. Mix a few drops of the essential oil with some water, in a pistol grip squirt bottle, shake it up, and squirt the leaves and this drives the bugs away with no harm to your plant.*
Bee or wasp stings: Lavender, blend of Purification or Thieves. To neutralize the toxin and relieve the pain, apply a drop to the effected area.*
Beetles: Peppermint or Thyme
Caterpillars: Spearmint or Peppermint
Chiggers: Lavender, Lemongrass, Sage or Thyme
Cutworm: Thyme or Sage
Fleas: Peppermint, Lemongrass, Spearmint, Lavender or blend of Purification. Put a drop of any of these oils on your pets collar. Depending on the size of your dog or cat, the essential oil may be applied to the back of their neck and to the pads of their feet. It is very important to understand the power and concentration of quality essential oils and how to apply them safely to your pets Please contact me for more detailed information.
Flies: Lavender, Peppermint, Rosemary or Sage
Gnats: Palo Santo, Patchouli, Spearmint or blend of Purification.
Lice: Cedarwood, Peppermint or Spearmint
Mosquitoes: Lavender, Lemongrass, Palo Santo or blend of Purification
Moths: Cedarwood, Hyssop, Lavender, Peppermint or Spearmint
Plant Lice: Peppermint or Spearmint
Slugs: Cedarwood, Hyssop or Pine. Another tip, if you are a beer drinker, set cans or bottles with a little bit of beer left in the container, around the yard or garden. Slugs love beer and they crawl into the bottle, slurp it up and die.
Snails: Cedarwood, Pine, Patchouli
Spiders: Peppermint, Spearmint
Ticks: Lavender, Lemongrass, Palo Santo Sage, or Thyme. Put a drop directly on the tick, wait and pull it out with tweezers. Palo Santo seems to work the best.
Weevils: Cedarwood, Patchouli, Sandalwood
Insect Repellent: Lavender, Palo Santo or the blend of Purification. Apply any of these oils on exposed skin, run your hands through your hair and over your clothing. If you do get bit by mosquitoes, apply directly on the bite: Lavender, or Purification
Fruit Flies and Gnat’s: Diffuse Palo Santo or the blend of Purification.
Horse Flies: For horses, dab Lavender on their harnesses.
Do you ever have a situation where flies are really bugging you? Try this tip:
Fill a zip lock bag with water and 5 or 6 pennies and hang it in the problem area.
Regarding the science behind zip log bags of water, millions of molecules of water present its own prism effect and given that flies have a lot of eyes, to them it’s like a zillion disco balls reflecting light, colors and movement in a dizzying manner. When you figure that flies are prey for many other bugs, animals, birds, etc., they simply won’t take the risk of being around that much perceived action.
May you be less bugged during those pesty times of year and feel the added benefit of the use of therapeutic-grade essential oils and feel healthier from not using toxic chemicals that are in so many pest control products.
Note: Not all essential oils are the same. Therapeutic-grade essential oils are steam distilled and wild crafted, their oils are carefully extracted by way of hot water and steam and they are free from any synthetic chemicals. Many labels use the words “For External Use Only,” which means that they might include chemicals other than pure oil.
* This statement has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
Adding Years to Your Life and Life to Your Years
Volume 1, Number 5
May-June 2003
posted at http://www.raindroptraining.com/messenger/v1n5.html#one
IN THIS ISSUE:
1. Oils for Things that Bug You
2. Snake Oil and other After-Bite Remedies
Among the many chemicals in our industrial environment that
get into our systems and make us sick are the pesticides we
use in our homes. We use them because they are toxic to the
creatures that bug us, but they are also toxic to us. Sometimes
the toxicity is immediately apparent: we get a headache, get
sick or feel nauseous from the fumes or other contact.
Sometimes the toxicity is subtle and can accumulate resulting
in chronic complaints and disorders (including allergies, cancer
and miscarriages) that can be serious and even deadly over
time. Sometimes we even put poisons on our pets to deal with
ticks and fleas, not realizing that these substances are not
healthy for us nor our animals.
~^~How to Use Oils for Pest Control
As YLEO distributors, we don’t need poisons to kill pests. We
can repel them (and even sometimes kill them) with substances
that are not only harmless to us but are actually healthful
to us. To the right is a list of oils that will solve most of your
pest problems around the house.
And how do you use them? One way is to get a pistol-grip squirt
bottle. Mix a few drops of the oil with some water, shake it up,
and start firing. If you have bugs on your plants, like aphids on
your roses, you can squirt the leaves and drive the bugs away
with no harm to your plant. You can do the same with the other
pests. As for ants, you can smear a line of peppermint or
spearmint across your kitchen counter or floor and the ants
won’t cross it. If you already have a line of ants invading your
house, just draw a line of oil across them and they will turn back.
It is fun to watch. And as for flies, you can knock them dead
right out of the air with one shot from your pistol grip.
~^~Specific Oils for Specific Insects
ANTS
Peppermint
Spearmint
APHIDS
Cedarwood
Hyssop
Peppermint
Spearmint
BEETLES
Peppermint
Thyme
CATERPILLARS
Spearmint
Peppermint
CHIGGERS
Lavender
Lemongrass
Sage
Thyme
CUTWORM
Thyme
Sage
FLEAS
Peppermint
Lemongrass
Spearmint
Lavender
FLIES
Lavender
Peppermint
Rosemary
Sage
GNATS
Patchouli
Spearmint
LICE
Cedarwood
Peppermint
Spearmint
MOSQUITOES
Lavender
Lemongrass
MOTHS
Cedarwood
Hyssop
Lavender
Peppermint
Spearmint
PLANT LICE
Peppermint
Spearmint
SLUGS
Cedarwood
Hyssop
Pine
SNAILS
Cedarwood
Pine
Patchouli
SPIDERS
Peppermint
Spearmint
TICKS
Lavender
Lemongrass
Sage
Thyme
WEEVILS
Cedarwood
Patchouli
Sandalwood
~^~A Brown Recluse Experiment
Seeing how squirting a peppermint-water spray would kill flies
in mid-air, I wondered what pure oil would do. So I did an
experiment on a brown recluse spider. I captured a live one in
a jar and carefully placed one drop of peppermint on one side.
The pure peppermint repelled the spider who crowded to the
otherside to avoid the oil. When I tipped the jar to force the
spider to fall into the oil, it merely squirmed and got away,
still repelled by the oil, but not apparently harmed. Then I put
a drop of water with the oil and tipped the jar so that the
spider slid into the water and oil together and, instantly, it
shrivled up died.
Conclusion: The oil alone is an insect repellant. Combined with
water, it is an insecticide.
~^~Safe Insect Repellants
As far as repellants go, when you go into the woods and fields,
put a little lavender around your ankles, wrists, and waist-band
and you won’t have to worry about chiggers or ticks (or Lyme
Disease of Rocky Mountain Spotted Tick Fever). Lemongrass,
sage or thyme would work, too, but might irritate your skin so
put it on your pant cuffs and shirt sleeves.
As for your pets, you can put oils such as Purification, around
their necks and backs, but watch to keep oils from around their
eyes.
So there you have it. Non-toxic pest control.
~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~
===================================================
Therapeutic grade essential oils are not only good insect repellants,
they are also excellent after you have been bitten. Essential oils
are great detoxifiers for insect bites because their chemistry can
break down the poison and render it harmless.
Because the molecules of essential oils are all lipid soluble and very
tiny (less than than 500 amus) they all transdermal. Thus, when
applied to a bite, they pass through the skin in seconds, reacting
with the toxins injected by the insect and reducing their toxic
effects.
I was stung by a wasp recently and, within a few minutes, put
Purification oil on it the area that had become red and swollen.
The stinging sensation soon resided and within a few hours I could
not tell that I had ever been stung.
~^~Do You Sell Snake Oil?
Those who sell good therapeutic grade essential oils are
sometimes accused of "selling snake oil." If you are ever so
accused, your response should be, "Yes, I do. Would you like a
bottle?"
There are those in Australia who know what "snake oil" really is
because 100-200 years ago the Australians exported "snake oil"
to America because it was in great demand from miners, trappers,
and families who were moving into the wild and untammed West.
Early pioneers had to contend with many dangers which included
not only their exposure to the weather and the threat of hostile
Indians, but also the daily peril of rattle snake bites.
But there was a remedy. Traveling salesmen who serviced those
early pioneers had an oil that, when applied to a snake bite, would
penetrate the skin and detoxify the poison. That oil was Tea Tree
(Melaleuca alternafolia). And that is how the traveling merchants
of the West came to be known as "Snake Oil Salesmen." In the
beginning, it was a good name implying a good and effective
product.
Unfortunately, back in the pioneering days, some of the traveling
salesmen acquired bad reputations, not because their oils did
not work, but because they were dishonest in other ways. But that
is no reflection on the efficacy of melaleuca oil as an on-site
detoxifyer.
So there you are. Many of you really are snake oil salespeople after
all. And you can be proud of it.