Mosquito Control Needed

[john gault]

I get tons of mosquito larvae in my rain barrel; I always make sure I use up that water before the transform. I actually think that's a pretty good method at control.

[pinksand]

I made a batch of repellent based on some recommended online. It has witch hazel, vinegar, water, eucalyptus oil, tea tree oil, and lavender oil. I need to add rubbing alcohol or vodka to it as a preservative but didn't have either. I haven't had a chance to use it yet but will let you know if I notice any improvement. I also saw one recommended adding neem oil... has anyone tried that in their bug spray? It's an interesting idea.

Oh and I read as many mosquito related threads as I could find here and am definitely going to try the fan idea! I'll also have to look into the mosquito coils that are more natural, especially if you didn't have trouble with your asthma around them. I was reading about how horrible most of them are for your health... something like smoking 100 cigarettes... no thanks!

Does anyone have any thoughts on my leaves and mulch situation? Could this be a contributor? I wonder if between my yard being bordered with gardens and bushes and my neighbors yard being a jungle, we've just sort of created a safe haven for them or something.

[imafan26]

I was poking around looking for repellent recipes. Most of them use essential oils of rosemary, citronella, lavender, and eucalyptus, but in my ramblings I found this about a remedy for mosquitoes in the yard. It is made from 3 common ingredients and it might be worth a try. It is supposed to work for an extended time. BTW I use 70% alcohol straight up on my plants and as long as you don't do it in the heat of the day, it is fine. It does kill most bugs so it might not be that good for beneficials. I only spot spray. I have never used it area wide.
http://www.wect.com/story/3505494/homem ... uito-spray

[pinksand]

Ha! I have all of those ingredients handy Our fridge is overflowing with beer left behind by people at our BBQ!

I wonder what about the combination does the trick and how harmful it would be to beneficials. Is it possible that I could spray at a certain time of day to target mosquitoes more specifically?

I would assume it works when they breathe it in?

[applestar]

Ooh let us know! I would have to make a special effort to get some beer.

BTW I vaguely remember Listerine as one of MY spray's ingredients (also ACV). At the time, I thought it might be the eucalyptol and thymol.

Listerine ingredients
The active ingredients listed on Listerine bottles are essential oils which are menthol 0.042%, thymol 0.064%, methyl salicylate 0.06%, and eucalyptol 0.092%.
Listerine - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/listerine

[imafan26]

I think in the article he said he sprayed everything on the property including the bushes and the commenter said that mosquitoes do like to hide out during the day in the bushes.

My rainbarrel is almost always full. I am bad about emptying it. It has so much algae now. I have a screen in it so it keep the mosquitoes out but I also add either some dish soap and throw a mosquito dunk in it once in a while. I may have to put some bleach in it now to kill the algae.

[pinksand]

Dragonflies!!! I officially spotted my first of the season darting around like crazy. I also noticed significantly fewer mosquitoes last night and didn't get a single bite this morning when I was watering and filling the feeders. A couple days ago I was constantly swatting and got numerous bites doing the same tasks. Fingers crossed that maybe we just had some kind of freak hatch episode last week with all the rain!

[applestar]

Yay! Garden Patrol always comes through

[applestar]

Last evening-night it rained, so of course there were extra mosquitoes this humid morning. At first I was letting them bother me and get me exasperated, then I realized something: DON'T BE A VICTIM! Don't let them hunt YOU, hunt THEM.

...what do you need when you are hunting? Set up bait and lure them in, then get them. Right? Well, YOU are the ideal bait -- pheromones/sweat and blood odor, heat, carbon dioxide exhalation all of what attracts them, wrapped up in a single convenient package, and easily moved around.

Only a certain number of mosquitoes occupy an area, and it takes time for more to detect you. It FEELS like they are everywhere and swarming because you move around into different territories, then they ALL follow you around. SO pick your spot, start working and do the usual things like crouch and breath into the underbrush, disturb some foliage, then concentrate and as soon as you see or hear them, put everything down to free up your hands and watch.

Brush and shoo any that are around your head, force them down towards your torso and legs, and then slap them down. Easy even one handed when they land on you -- thank YOU! SLAP! Or you can make a video game out of it by following their back and forth flight patten with your eyes, then clapping your hands together where they are GOING to be. POW! One down!

It helps to slowly physically turn around, take a few steps, look up and down, turn your head. They seem to instinctively try to land on you and bite you in your blind spot -- other side of your hands and arms, below knees, behind legs, under the chin and jawline.

Once you clear an area, you'll have a few minutes of respite, so get what you wanted to do done in that area, then move on to the next spot. SHHHH! I'm hunting 'skeeters!

[imafan26]

Usually for parties you can put out citronella torches along the perimeter and light up a lot of mosquito punks. A few mosquitoes still get through so it is not 100 %. They have these new mosquito wrist bands, but I don't know how well they work. They are a one time use only.