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Help with Latrodectus infestation

I replaced my deck this past weekend and saw 22 black widow spiders.
With our mild winter and wet spring, I understand that insect life will be teaming.
I was not prepared for these pretty looking but for some, panic causing, spiders to be spinning in the direct sun on siding, railings, and posts.
Any recommendations as to how to discourage these ladies from nesting in popular places? I hate to have spent all this time, money, blood and sweat on the deck, to not have it be used.
Don't want to kill 'em, but why can't they stick to the crawl space, garage, or wood pile like they are supposed to?
Contributed by Zachary Nields on 27 June, 2012 - 8:03am

Sweep away their nests
We don't normally give pest-control advice, but this seems simple enough:

Take a broom (long-handled if you're nervous) and sweep their webbing away from areas you don't want them to be. If they stay in the nests, gently sweep them with everything else. It may take a few times, but eventually they should get tired of constantly spinning new nests and go somewhere else. If that doesn't work, you may need professional help.

If you're really nervous about getting too close, you can wash the webs away with a stream of water from a high-pressure nozzle.

Black widows aren't all that agressive, but they also don't see too well and may not understand that you're not something to hide under, so it's best not to get too close. The bites are way over-rated as a cause of death for full-sized humans, but they're still extremely nasty and should be avoided.
… Chuck Entz, 28 June, 2012 - 7:58pm

 
Excellent advice. Amazing wha
Excellent advice. Amazing what one can accomplish with a broom.

The only (safe?) alternative: build a glass "nature dome" to sit under. :-)
… Kevin Pfeiffer, 29 June, 2012 - 12:47am

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