Insects, spiders and appearances

I have been cleaning buildings for over 20 years now and without a doubt, my job gets harder in the summer than any other time of the year. Not only is it miserably hot outside and sometimes even hotter inside, but the insects and spiders are in full blown hunting mode. In every corner there is a spider’s web waiting for some gnat or other unsuspecting insect to travel past. The hunting is good too. I have seen so many webs full of little carcasses just waiting to be munched on later.

I see them living their lives and doing their job just like I am and as a fellow inhabitant on this planet and I am happy for them, I really am. I actually feel bad about having to knock down their little kingdoms just so I don’t look bad to my customers. I do try to avoid killing them as I give them a chance to run for freedom (if I even see them) and live another day in another corner of the building. They make the appearance of every building look dirtier than they really are and from a cleaner’s point of view, they must be knocked down.

Unfortunately for some, they won’t take the hint to leave peacefully and decide to build in and around the doors of the front entrances instead. I knock these ones down too, but they always come back, sometimes they build back before I have left the building. Even the busiest of buildings have spiders lying in wait and surprisingly, sometimes in behind the door handle itself. I actually encountered a black widow spider at a store entrance near the mall not too long ago.

The spiders go where the food is and if you take away the food supply they will ultimately leave too. They seem to be worse from late April to October. The best advice I can give is to have a pest control company come on a regular basis and make sure they spray around the entrances of the building (or do it yourself). I guess bugs all want to come in the front door just like the rest of us, so a little deterrent there will help you from having an infestation and also make your cleaning person’s job just a little easier as well.