Here it is January, it’s frozen outside and we have these tiny flies flitting around inside. I can’t figure out where they could be coming from. Any ideas? V. B., Everett, MA The first thing you need to do is have a professional exterminator inspect your home to identify the flies and find the breeding
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For the holidays, a good friend gave us an “old country ham” that she purchased at a farm market. Apparently, these are hams that are cured or dried unrefrigerated for a year or more. They look terrible with mold on the surface (that’s normal) but supposedly taste great. The problem is that we have seen
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Last year when we put up our Christmas tree inside, we had these strange black bugs crawling all over. What can we do differently this year to make sure we don’t bring tree insects into the house? S. K., Loudon, NH You don’t say whether you cut your own tree or purchased one from a
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I’ve just realized that we seem to have a silverfish problem. I’ve seen a couple in the bathroom at night and also found one inside a cookbook. Can you tell me what they feed on so I know what to do to get rid of them? L. Y., Amesbury, MA Eliminating the food sources could
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For most of the U.S., Zika virus season is over, or at least has slowed considerably as winter approaches. Except for isolated portions of Florida, you could say we’ve dodged a bullet so far. In those regions, Zika is likely to remain at a low level this winter. We expect Zika to be a real
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In the last couple of days, we’ve found three strange beetles in our family room. They’re gigantic, about two inches long, very shiny black, and they sort of bumble around. When I looked them up on the Internet, it looks like they might be bess beetles that feed on wood. Do we have an infestation
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I’m getting ready to move into my first apartment and I’m a little worried about getting bugs, especially from the neighbors. What kind of pests can I expect and what can I do about them? W. P., Peabody, MA Anytime you live as close to your neighbors as you do in an apartment, you can
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What are these strange bugs that suddenly showed up in my home? They’re mostly black with red-orange lines on their backs, about ½ inch long. There aren’t many bugs still active outside at this time of year so where did they come from? Y. M. Merrimack, NH Boxelder Bugs are Fall-invading Insects Hard to answer
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Everybody loves the woolly bear, or wooly worm, or fuzzy bear. Whatever you call this fluffy-looking, rust and black caterpillar, it has a place in weather folklore. People believe, or pretend to believe, that the band pattern on a woolly bear can predict the severity of the coming winter. The wider the black bands on
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Worcester, MA 01604
47 Thames Rd Ste 6&7
Hooksett, NH 03106