Mosquitoes
- Thread starter marty319
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I recently tried Picaridin as an alternative to DEET. It seems to work as well with less chemical odor and it does not damage plastic (although the 3M Ultrathon DEET product I use is far less agressive on plastic). The one tradeoff is avoid applying it anywhere near the eyes as if it gets in there it takes 24 hours for them to stop burning.
The most pesky bug we get is the fruitfly when we have lots of harvested fruit in the house. There are no mosquitoes, no see-ums, black flies, etc.
Lol I wish I had only fruitflys,a bowl full of aple cider vinegar and problem solved
Yes, I have fruit fly traps that get most of them. At times I have 6 or 7 of them set out along with a couple yellow sticky cards.
JRHAWK9
Minister of Fire
Just did that this morning. I use Talstar P though, which is the same as Bifen I/T. May try Bifen XTS next, as it's oil based. Ran 20 gallons of solution through my backpack mister all around outside. I do it every summer, 2 or three times. This was the first time this summer though. I normally try to get out there soon after the trees leaf out. I need some foliage so when I mist 20' up it has something to settle on.
Mosquitoes are just starting to show up here, nothing significant yet. I was on a jobsite (a local church) and the ticks were everywhere. They seemed to be drawn to the lumber? Crawling all over it. They all appeared to be female dog ticks, the deer tick isn't as common here luckily.
It was a combination of variants was my guess. I had never encountered such a mass of ticks so quickly......the cement pad had been poured a week ahead of me showing up, the sand fill around the pad had been dumped only a few days prior to my first work day. As soon as I started laying the 2x4 plates on the pad the ticks started showing up. Within a hour I would estimate there was at least 25 ticks on the small amount of lumber I had laid down for the plates to do the stud layout. I had never encountered such a large amount of ticks. My assumption was that they had been drawn to the freshly placed sand from the long grass nearby, then became more active with me walking around....? I was surprised by the amount, a helper that was on scene was completely freaked out..... As the project proceeded the number of ticks present seemed to dwindle. Some ticks did manage to climb to the top (8') of the wood siding, where they too met the smooth end of a estwing...
![[Hearth.com] Mosquitoes](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/296/296493-39c958a85af2731a3bf07694a7100d87.jpg?hash=8-pmMuHTXU "[Hearth.com] Mosquitoes")
![[Hearth.com] Mosquitoes](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/296/296494-6d78379229669013af818b0b033b8ec6.jpg?hash=aFWD6qNiUz "[Hearth.com] Mosquitoes")
![[Hearth.com] Mosquitoes](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/296/296495-b703ddeba4170d83b8cc941080e85862.jpg?hash=y5jBzB6nmn "[Hearth.com] Mosquitoes")
Sandy areas tend to have more ticks, termites too. Im not sure why ticks prefer the sandy places.
EbS-P
Minister of Fire
Considering paying for a treatment or doing it myself. We have a wooded acre lot with neighbors on each side with the same. Would I see any results treating just my lot? It gets bad and the city will spray but I’ve not ever noticed much difference after they do.
Mosquitos? Yes, but understand that there are 2 populations that you’re finding in your back yard. Those that live on your land, and those that fly in. It’s easy to treat the ones on your property. The ones that fly in from places you can’t treat, that’s hard, lol.
A backpack rig like mentioned above will make quick work on grassy areas and shrubs. It’s important to be folding those leaves up while treating. They want shady, damp areas. A hand sprayer would be difficult. The wooded lot part might be difficult since that means different things to different people. If it’s trees with grass under, no problem. Dense underbrush? Harder, but if you have access to enough of it you can get it. If it’s woods and has 6” of leaves on the ground that’d be impossible. There are too many places to hide. Trees themselves aren’t an issue since the wind keeps the upper leaves pretty dry.
A backpack rig like mentioned above will make quick work on grassy areas and shrubs. It’s important to be folding those leaves up while treating. They want shady, damp areas. A hand sprayer would be difficult. The wooded lot part might be difficult since that means different things to different people. If it’s trees with grass under, no problem. Dense underbrush? Harder, but if you have access to enough of it you can get it. If it’s woods and has 6” of leaves on the ground that’d be impossible. There are too many places to hide. Trees themselves aren’t an issue since the wind keeps the upper leaves pretty dry.
![[Hearth.com] Mosquitoes](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/296/296778-65264cde187485bc933622562f331669.jpg?hash=6fycRJmlxQ "[Hearth.com] Mosquitoes")
SpaceBus
Minister of Fire
The mosquitoes here were not really significant until the last two weeks, each of which had one heavy rain. The humidity is down today, but the larger biting flies (deer flies, etc.) are out in force when it's dry. We can't seem to win this summer. I put some fly paper up in the alpaca shacka in the hopes it would cut down their numbers some. I'll be putting some in the chicken coop along with a bug light this evening. I put the bug light in there every year, it's near impossible to keep the bugs out of the coop. My chickens don't mind the "fast food" but it gets a bit excessive.
X2 is labeled for powered applicators. Commercial is not. But always read labels to be sure.
This is what we use. It does a great job and is not harmful if applied incorrectly. Make sure to flush equipment after use as it can react to stainless steel. Any “green” product can gum up equipment if not flushed after use.
Nature-Cide Pesticides and Repellents
Nature-Cide products are Pesticides and Repellents used by the professional pest control industry, made from all-natural plant based essential oils. All Nature-Cide products are proudly made in the USA.
nature-cide.com
I’m not sure if it’s offered in Canada.
![[Hearth.com] Mosquitoes](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/296/296807-7a5e0afcea8b4e0f849bd3eea72386b7.jpg?hash=gSWtOHUc-c "[Hearth.com] Mosquitoes")
EbS-P
Minister of Fire
I just got the cheapest new backpack fogger/mister on on eBay. 60 cc. Leaving town for a while but will report back on how it runs. Just couldn’t justify a name brand.
I use Bifen IT in a handheld sprayer (2 gallon), which connects to something called mosquito sniper, which is hooked up to my backpack leaf blower. I already had the backpack leaf blower, and for 40 ish dollars this turns your backpack blower into a fogger when you want it to. Works very well. Only downside is that you have to carry the 2 gal sprayer around in addition to having the blower on your back, but it works for me.
Yes I always wear a respirator with the right filter, and coveralls, even if it's 100 degrees outside. And I take a shower afterwards. But you're right, people need to be careful
Another downside is that it's an equal opportunity killer, knocking off a lot of beneficial insects along with the temporary removal of the mosquitos.
