Mosquitoes

[summer2007]

It's summer FINALLY! Can you tell by my name that I love it?

Anyway I love to sit outside at night now that I finally can. But on a lot of nights the mosquitoes are so bad that it makes me have to go inside.

Just wondering if anyone found a way to get rid of them when they are outside??

Ways of getting rid of them that are out are any kind of citranella candles...breathing in that stuff or anything else that you light on fire is actually worse than being bit IMO. And any thing you spray or rub on your skin.

Jim

 

[Texarkandy]

Citronella candles don't work very well. (Neither do Martin Houses, by the way)

My experience is as follows:

You must collapse the mosquito population in your immediate area (less than 100 yards - I forget the exact distance) Research indicates mosquitos don't go beyond this distance from where they are hatched.

To do this requires a multi-prong approach.

First - get rid of all standing water, no matter how small. If the water cannot be gotten rid put mosquito dunks (or pieces of dunks if a small pool) in it. The dunks introduce into the water an otherwise harmless bacteria (bacillus thuringensis) that invades mosquito larvae in the water & kill thems before they develop into mosquitos.

There is a spreadable type of bacillus thuringensis you can get for large areas, but as far as I know it's generally only available from a few internet suppliers in 55 gal drums from what I've found. It's mostly used by State, County, & Municipal "Vector Control" agencies. If you have a large swampy area your local city or county "Vector Control" (if they have one) may come do it for free. It spreads kind of like putting fertilizer on your lawn.

Second - get a "mosquito magnet" device, the kind that use propane - several different brands - research on the internet the various tests/reviews to determine which you think is best. Remember that these things take several weeks to really affect the mosquito population in your immediate area. First they must collapse the existing female mosquitos in your area, then the follow-up mosquitos from larvae those mosquitos laid before you killed most of them. So try to get it up and running as early in the season as possible.

Third - Foggers, I use a fogger to achieve an immediate reduction in the existing population, especially if I was late in the season getting the mosquito magnet up and running. The fogger only gets the ones flying around right now though, not the larvae about to hatch out tommorow, this weekend, & next week thought. Downside is the fogger will kill a lot of other bugs you might not want to kill, such as lightning bugs which we enjoy seeing on summer evenings.

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

Enclosed porch and pool.

 

[Walt34]

Screened in back porch. The pool is on back order.

 

[SC]

We have a lot of mosquitoes around our property. (We live in an unzoned area, and some of our neighbors have old tires, boats, cars, etc laying around. Plus, being in Texas, if there's an annoying insect out there, we've got 'em.) They're particularly attracted to DW. She has to put on DEET if she's going to be outside for more than a minute or two.

We bought a Mosquito Magnet when they first came out. At the time I think it cost something like $800. It was a huge disappointment. We moved it to various places, bought the expensive "attractant", and fed it propane throughout the summer, but it hardly caught any mosquitoes at all. I remarked that we could have caught more mosquitoes if I'd just hooked the mesh bag up to a strong fan and filtered them out of the air.

Fortunately, we bought it from a place that offered a 12 month, no questions money-back return policy, so back it went.

A screened porch or gazebo is the best way to enjoy the outdoors without mosquitoes. Lacking that, a strong fan will keep them from landing on you. I'm talking about one of those large industrial looking fans, with the 36-48" blades. DEET helps, but they still swarm around looking for a meal. We've thought about trying those beekeeper outfits, but they're probably not all that comfortable when it's 97 degrees and humid.

A park ranger in the Everglades once told us about the various critters that eat mosquitoes, and said (as the mosquitoes swarmed around) that we visitors were now part of the food chain.

 

[samclem]

Don't forget about the gutters on your house--if they aren't sloped right or are clogged with debris, it's a great place for the mosquitoes to hatch.

 

[Moemg]

I also hate mosquitoes. When I lived in new Jersey we were plagued with them but since I've moved to Florida no problem . My deck and pool area are unscreened and pretty bug free except for love bug season . In New Jersey we had a bug zapper and while not perfect it did take care of a lot of the bugs .

 

[Khan]

I also hate mosquitoes. When I lived in new Jersey we were plagued with them but since I've moved to Florida no problem . My deck and pool area are unscreened and pretty bug free except for love bug season . In New Jersey we had a bug zapper and while not perfect it did take care of a lot of the bugs .

You might be a redneck if...You consider a six pack of beer and a bug-zapper quality entertainment.

Amazon Online Reader : Jeff Foxwrthy's You Might Be a Redneck If...your Bicycle Has a Gun Rack

 

[travelover]

A large fan helps a lot. They aren't strong fliers, so if you keep a good breeze going, it makes it harder for them to buzz you.

 

[Moemg]

You might be a redneck if...You consider a six pack of beer and a bug-zapper quality entertainment.

or if you serve the bug zapper tray as appetizers !

 

[thefed]

im willing to try about anything right now,they are BAD this season

my neighbor swears by spraying listerine all over my deck i'm giving it a shot

i have and still do use skin so soft as a mosquito repellent, and it works as well as OFF

I also have a bug zapper 50 ft from the deck

 

[Grizz]

Here's the cheapskates mosquito magnet that I read about...You go to Wal-Mart and get a big box fan, then get enough mosquito netting to attach to the fan such that it traps anything that gets blown through the fan. Then you place the fan beside beside where your big lazy mouth breathing hound dog rests (and attracts mosquitoes) and voila a mosquito-less summer! Kind of weird, but the science seems right.

 

[jambo101]

Lot of people up in this neck of the woods postpone their trips to the summer cottage till the mosquito season is over usually late June,wearing long pants and long sleeved shirts is a must at this time of the year and spray on a 50% DEET insect repellent (on cloths not skin).Black Flies are the real problem up here as they usually take a chunk of your skin with them.

 

[packrat44]

My pond and waterfalls will sometimes become a breeding spot when I have been gone for for an extended time and the water had not been circulating. At times like this when I return and notice larvae in the pond I will pour about 1 oz of diesel on the surface of the water and larvae will suffocate fairly quickly.

 

[Notmuchlonger]

Darn deer fly bug me. Suckers bite hard. Up in Canada out in the woods its a swarm fest. Only thing good about them is they are slow and easily killed.

 

[summer2007]

Thanks everyone.

I tried a small fan and it helped but I'm still all bit up. The only way I know for sure to keep from being bit is to sit out only in the daylight...because as soon as it's dusk they all come out.

Jim

 

[Gazingus]

What's wrong with DEET? If that's the latest carcinogen, I haven't gotten the news.

 

[samclem]

DEET: I think it's just the normal skittishness about anything with a chemical name less familiar than "water". It's the most thoroughly studied insect repellent out there, and I'm not aware of any studies indicating any serious long-term health effects. If there were serious side effects, we'd probably know about hem by now.
For my money, I'd rather "risk" DEET exposure than West Nile Virus, Lyme Disease, malaria, etc. Certainly when traveling in the tropics, DEET is a must.

 

[Sarah in SC]

I have a friend who is a surveyor and he uses a Thermacell, invented by a surveyor. It works unbelievably well--we will go camping with him and as long as we are stay within about 15 feet of it, there are no bugs. None! And if there are places with more mosquitos than the swampy SC Lowcountry, I don't want to know about them!

Absolutely amazing technology--I just call it PFM!
Thermacell

 

[samclem]

I have a friend who is a surveyor and he uses a Thermacell, invented by a surveyor. It works unbelievably well--we will go camping with him and as long as we are stay within about 15 feet of it, there are no bugs. None! And if there are places with more mosquitos than the swampy SC Lowcountry, I don't want to know about them!

Absolutely amazing technology--I just call it PFM!
Thermacell

That's an interesting device. It uses small butane flame to cause the release of an insect repellent. Ironically, the burning of the butane produces CO2 which is known to be one of the things that attracts mosquitoes. I guess the repellent is more powerful than the attraction of the CO2.

 

[Dawg52]

Just wondering if anyone found a way to get rid of them when they are outside??



Jim

I go inside.

 

[summer2007]

Thanks Dawg52

I noticed I only got bit about half as much when I went inside!

Jim