Mosquito control
May 13, 2017 1:39 PM Subscribe
I live in Florida and my God right now there is so many mosquitoes in our back yard. I didn't put in insect repellant one day by mistake and boy was that a mistake.... anyone uses with success something for your yard that prevents mosquitoes and controls them?
Effective control lakeside Up North Wisconsin has been an rotating electric box fan on a pedestal. Creates a wavering breeze that keeps the bugs away.
posted by Jesse the K at 2:05 PM on May 13, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Jesse the K at 2:05 PM on May 13, 2017 [1 favorite]
Industrial fan when humans are outside in the areas humans hang out in, and paying for professional insecticide spray treatments is what worked for us last year.
Haven't found much luck with the propane mosquito traps (you don't want them to go away, not come towards you) especially for smaller properties and the bug zappers kill more beneficial insects than mosquitos.
posted by Karaage at 2:05 PM on May 13, 2017
Haven't found much luck with the propane mosquito traps (you don't want them to go away, not come towards you) especially for smaller properties and the bug zappers kill more beneficial insects than mosquitos.
posted by Karaage at 2:05 PM on May 13, 2017
There's not much, and every available lure-and-trap device (which are of limited use in humid and/or rainy climates) also kills bees and ladybugs and good moths etc.
In a place like Florida, there's so much available moisture to puddle that even if you hardscaped your entire lawn you're going to have a neighbor on each side that's got old tires full of water or old planter pots or a spot where the sprinklers keep it so wet it never dries, so you'd have to basically crop dust a couple square miles with Mosquito Bits to keep it tamped down at all.
Your best deterrents are personal repellent (best: wear full-coverage clothes, always a delight in Florida heat, and spray your clothes), and airflow. Use fans in your recreational areas, screen as much as you can, keep moving when you're doing yardwork. Make sure you're not unexpectedly generating carbon dioxide (compost, fermenting fallen fruit), as that draws them.
Where I am, mosquito season is short and quite tolerable, but we still use at least two fans (and often a third on the ground at lower-leg-level) on the patio to keep the air moving and our breath from being so much of a lure. I do burn citronella candles, but I'm not sure that's not just placebo effect.
posted by Lyn Never at 2:10 PM on May 13, 2017 [1 favorite]
In a place like Florida, there's so much available moisture to puddle that even if you hardscaped your entire lawn you're going to have a neighbor on each side that's got old tires full of water or old planter pots or a spot where the sprinklers keep it so wet it never dries, so you'd have to basically crop dust a couple square miles with Mosquito Bits to keep it tamped down at all.
Your best deterrents are personal repellent (best: wear full-coverage clothes, always a delight in Florida heat, and spray your clothes), and airflow. Use fans in your recreational areas, screen as much as you can, keep moving when you're doing yardwork. Make sure you're not unexpectedly generating carbon dioxide (compost, fermenting fallen fruit), as that draws them.
Where I am, mosquito season is short and quite tolerable, but we still use at least two fans (and often a third on the ground at lower-leg-level) on the patio to keep the air moving and our breath from being so much of a lure. I do burn citronella candles, but I'm not sure that's not just placebo effect.
posted by Lyn Never at 2:10 PM on May 13, 2017 [1 favorite]
This may not be feasible where you live, but I feed a bunch of ducks every morning a bit of bird seed. They then hang out between my porch and the lake, which you would think would give me a ton of mosquitoes, but does not as the ducks eat them.
posted by not that mimi at 3:05 PM on May 13, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by not that mimi at 3:05 PM on May 13, 2017 [3 favorites]
We put up a bat house and haven't gotten any bats (and it's been three years). Just for another data point.
posted by DMelanogaster at 3:21 PM on May 13, 2017
posted by DMelanogaster at 3:21 PM on May 13, 2017
If you can find any standing water around your house, get rid of it. Check your gutters. If you can't eliminate the standing water, get some anti-mosquito pods like these.
posted by wryly at 4:05 PM on May 13, 2017
posted by wryly at 4:05 PM on May 13, 2017
You can make a trap for mosquitoes with a 2-liter plastic soda bottle and some yeast and sugar water.
posted by Don Pepino at 6:40 PM on May 13, 2017
posted by Don Pepino at 6:40 PM on May 13, 2017
I live in Florida too- it's like hell, but less fun. I have had WONDERFUL results from calling up my county mosquito control office and telling them that my property is overrun with mosquitoes. They send a pair of guys out to look over the property and point out where I need to dump water or whatever. They also nose around the neighbors' properties and leave them notes to remediate their properties. Finally, they do an extra fogging around my property line and cheerfully tell me to call again if I still have a problem. They are super serious about mosquito killing now that Zika is a threat. You'll be surprised how helpful they are- I was the first time I called!
posted by PorcineWithMe at 6:48 PM on May 13, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by PorcineWithMe at 6:48 PM on May 13, 2017 [5 favorites]
You could try making a box fan mosquito trap.
posted by sevenyearlurk at 6:54 PM on May 13, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by sevenyearlurk at 6:54 PM on May 13, 2017 [4 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by kerf at 1:46 PM on May 13, 2017 [2 favorites]