Mosquito control

[giulietta1]

I am getting eaten alive by mosquitoes every time I go out to the pool. I use a couple of citronella bucket candles but that doesn't seem to help much. Does anyone have any great tips on keeping them away?

Thx,
Jules

 

[The Mermaid Queen]

Move your pool to Nothern Kentucky? :lol:

Put up a bat house. Yes, I know, eww, but they eat TONS of mosquitoes!! (And they are kind of misunderstood, and not really that icky once you get past all the lore...)

 

[divnkd101]

Check in your area for the companies that handle mosquito control. Look into the type of units that emit a mist around your perimeter. My parents installed one 2+ years ago and have no mosquito problems. FYI, they have waterfront property and were usually infested with them before. The units must be professionally installed but they work wonders. Good Luck.

 

[giulietta1]

We do have a bat house, but we haven't put it up at our new location! That's a great idea.

I am rather fond of bats. We went to the international bat festival at Carlsbad Caverns several years ago; also took a "bat cruise" on Town Lake in Austin to watch the evening flight of the largest urban bat population in North America. So I don't think bats are icky at all. :-D

Thx,
Jules

 

[rogerbrks]

I'm lucky enough to live on the out skirts of Austin. round Rock does benefit from the bats. As well, there is another colony of bats in Round Rock that not many people know about. Of course it's nowhere close to an awesome site as the one on S. Congress. We do have people stop to look at them come out.

 

[stevenbrla]

I'm interested to hear how others handle this issue also.

I was browsing ebay last night... did a search on mosquito... prretty wide variety of solutions... of course all claim to be THE BEST.

Keep sharing!

 

[SeanB]

For short term control, there is a spray on product called "Yard Guard," that works well. You apply it with your garden hose and it will keep them at bay for a couple days. If you are having guests, just put it down the night before or morning of.

I think the foggers also help some but are more short term. At some point I may look into the misting control systems.

 

[vejadu]

We use the foggers and they do help. We live in Memphis and do we have mosquitos!! We had the misting people come and give us a bid. I've heard GREAT things about their system, but it's expensive. You pay one price up front and then have to refill chemicals (can only be done by professionals) and do routine maintenance. The price was too much for us, but it is a nice thing to have. It even kills flies (I hate them more than mosquitos) and all flying, biting insects. Not harmful to pets or plants. It uses some chemical from citrus plants I think.

 

[NWMNMom]

The Mosquito eater machines work fairly well as too - and if you start early, using mosquito dunks will kill the larvae in any standing water sources without harm to plants, animals or fish (in ponds) - mosquitos have a standard range so a mosquito eater unit can handle the average yard pretty well. Foggers work excellent on a temp basis and we do fog before company comes - the permethrin(sp?) product has a very short half life so will work well and then leave no toxic residue that lasts forever so is gone before it can sink into the ground water supply. We have a surface well so cannot use the malathion products - with the permethrin you have to be careful not to get that into ponds or areas animals with drink - so watch the drift on this.

 

[Abxflyr]

I live in Memphis as well. My yard has extensive landscape, foliage, and limited open areas in addition to the pool and a BBQ area. Last year we got bit to death, so for this season I vowed to do something about it. After extensive research and consideration I installed the mosquito misting system. It does use a "pesticide" called Hydropy, a product that is from a flower (pyrtheum) for misting and exterminating mosquitos. I had several companies survey and quote the system to me (yes, it is expensive). In the end, I purchased the hardware and did some sweat equity into the project to reduce cost. My estimate is that I saved around 1300-1500 in labor and profit.

So far it has been in place for almost 3 weeks with no problems at all. It seems to work flawlessly and I haven't experienced anywhere near the problems I had in the past (my kids were eaten alive!). I had tried the candles and other items (sprays mostly) before and had very limited results (not enough results). I didn't want to continue to expose children to consistently having to apply sprays to their skin.

If you can find it in your budget, a misting system is the only way to go!

 

[MarkC]

After having no luck with a mosquito magnet and going broke from the $15 propane refills every 3 weeks I took the suggestion from someone on the old forum and I bought a Burgess handheld electric fogger and it works great. They do go through the fogging liquid quite fast but I only use it when we plan to be outside for most of the evening. It only takes a few minutes to fog the yard. Here is the link for what they look like. http://www.pestproducts.com/burgess.htm

 

[NWMNMom]

Thats what we have. Hubby is the designated fogman

 

[RAA]

After having no luck with a mosquito magnet and going broke from the $15 propane refills every 3 weeks I took the suggestion from someone on the old forum and I bought a Burgess handheld electric fogger and it works great. They do go through the fogging liquid quite fast but I only use it when we plan to be outside for most of the evening. It only takes a few minutes to fog the yard. Here is the link for what they look like. http://www.pestproducts.com/burgess.htm

So the fog kills what’s there now but how does the chemical warfare on the mosquitoes last all evening? Do they just stay away from the area because of some residue?

Thanks,

 

[NWMNMom]

I'm not sure its killing a pile that are there (maybe?) but it is sprayed around the perimeter and keeps them from entering that area - more like a repellent than an incecticide. I believe that the active ingredient in pyrethrum is from Crysanthymum flowers - you will never see mosquitos hanging around those.

 

[rbielefeld]

I do a lot of fishing and outdoor activities, soon to be doing outdoor stuff around a new pool, but I digress, and I find that ThermaCELLs work great. A ThermaCELL is a small hand-sized device that runs on a small butane cartridge. They work by heating up a patch that containes a repellent. They work great on no-see-ums too. They get warm but not hot enough to be of any danger to anything or any body. I put one on or near the table we sit at on our back porch and we are never bothered by mosquitos or no see ums. I actually have three of these devices and scatter them around the yard when we are out back in the eveining doing yard-wide activities. There also are other products available from ThermaCELL. Just another possible solution. See this link for more info. Ron

http://www.mosquitorepellent.com/

 

[txborn]

Ron, thanks for the link and info! I googled for reviews and it consistently got 5 stars. I will definitely give this a try. There's a main street named "Marsh Lane" right by us if that gives any indication as to the mosquito population here!

Mark

 

[DONNIE]

Thanks also. Stopping by Walmart on the way home. Just had the mosquito problem last night. BTW...a sheet of bounce rubbed on your skin will also keep them away. Makes you smell like fresh laundry but no bites!

Donnie

 

[rbielefeld]

It takes about 10 minutes for the ThermaCELL to warm up before it becomes effective, so don't get upset if it does not repel everything right from the start. The longer you leave it on the better it works and the bigger the area it controls. Hope it works for you like it works for me. Oh, and it is not very effective in strong winds. The wind just dilutes the repellent. Ron

 

[uwimage]

Cool! I was just looking at the lamp this weekend, nice to hear something positive!! I'll buy a test one then I might invest in a few...maybe even the 'mood lanterns' :lol: if it works, rechargable batteries and a few of these will fit the budget nicely!

 

[txborn]

Yeah, nothing works too well in the wind but the pool/kitchen/patio are on the north side of the house and we seem to get mostly winds from the south this time of year. Certainly worth giving it a try!