Posted: 7/3/2011 7:19:08 PM EDT
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Whats the best way to get rid of the little buggers. they are really starting to drive me nuts its hard to go outside after the sun goes down with out coming back in the house with 50 or more bites. im about 800 yards from a river so that prolly doesnt help. what are my best options around here. do any of you guys do anything or just deal with it . i used to not really care i would hang in the house after dark but now with a new puppy thats kinda hard. my thermocell is worthless when only going out for a few min at a time. any one fog the lawn or use them things hooked up to propane tanks?
found this on the dnr page maybe i should try a bat house or two. DNR Bat house plans |
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Since skeeters hatch in stagnant pools, The river may not be your problem unless there is standing water nearby. There is a solid chemical you can drop in standing pools to kill the larvae. Kinda looks like a urinal cake. :)
The "mosquito magnets" are $$$, and have to be positioned just right, but folks who have them tell me they are very effective. I just sprayed my backyard yesterday with "Cutter". it's supposed to suppress bugs for up to 4 weeks, but it takes a couple of days to kick in, so I don't know how effective it is yet. |
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I have a similar problem but I live next to a swamp.
Step 1 is to remove as much standing water as possible. It is hard for mosquito to lay their eggs in flowing water. Then the following can be done with varying degress of success. I spray the parts of my yard I use with Cutter's backyard bug control (Link). This works pretty well. I can take my dog outside without being eaten alive. Personally I have very little luck with citronella based candles or torches. However, there are some other things I have used that seemed to work. These coils seem to work pretty well. We will get a few and put them around the patio. Mosquito beater works pretty well too. Also if you are having a hard time finding anything at the big box stores (walmart, menard, home-depot, ect), I would suggest trying the little mam and pop shops or something like Ace or True Value. The little stores tend to keep seasonal items in stock longer. Hoping my rambling helps. |
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Strangely, my yard has been fairly mosquito-free this year. Ask anyone who's visited in the past, however, and they will tell you we had a HUGE problem.
1) Eliminate all standing water, no matter how small. I re-routed plumbing from our watersoftener/iron filter regeneration cycle and have been going around the yard for weeks turning over buckets, making sure the boat seat is draining, etc. to eliminate any water in the yard and I'm still finding little pools. Understand that the bugs can lay their eggs in something like an ounce of water. If you can't eliminate a pool, toss one of the little urinal cakes discussed above in. IIRC the cakes contain some sort of bacteria that is harmful only to skeeter larvae. 2) MosquitoMagnets work - when they work. I have several, and one runs. The rest are for parts. They are VERY expensive (mine were given to me for free) and they break often. The company that designed/used to make them went out of business, and support from the company that bought them out sucks. If you aren't handy, I'd look at something else. 3) I'm going to have to try the Cutter spray. I still have some "Bug Slayer" stuff from last fall that worked awesome for Box Elder and Asian Ladybeetles. The info on the bottle has a mixing ratio for mosquitos that I'll be trying here shortly. Now, does anyone have a solution for Horse Flies? |
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I picked up some Ortho bug-b-gone max. I was a little doubtful about the stuff but watching the bugs when they get hit with it was amazing.
I got the type that screws onto the end of a hose so you can spray it as far as your water pressure will reach. We had started to get a few skeeters around here and I sprayed my yard and my neighbors bushes with this stuff and have not been bitten once since, not sure how long it will last (was applied two weeks ago) but it sure is nice while it does. When it stops working I will be giving the yard and bushes another dose. ETA: the stuff works on a protein only found in bugs, once it dries it is safe for kids and pets, according to the label, my two dogs have had no ill effects from it and my kid is a little old to be eating grass and such. |
I've used the Cutter hose spray product successfully many times before. It doesn't last 4 weeks IMO and you don't see the true results the same day. If the plans are to use the yard, I tend to treat every week or so. Not cheap at $9 per but worth it. I also get in the bushes and on trees and anything else I can spray, whether I should or not. I will probably learn that was a bad idea 20 years down the road when a third arm starts growing out of my forehead.  It has been my experience that when the mosquitoes really start ramping up, it becomes more difficult to find the product on the shelves. |
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Quoted:
Strangely, my yard has been fairly mosquito-free this year. Ask anyone who's visited in the past, however, and they will tell you we had a HUGE problem. 1) Eliminate all standing water, no matter how small. I re-routed plumbing from our watersoftener/iron filter regeneration cycle and have been going around the yard for weeks turning over buckets, making sure the boat seat is draining, etc. to eliminate any water in the yard and I'm still finding little pools. Understand that the bugs can lay their eggs in something like an ounce of water. If you can't eliminate a pool, toss one of the little urinal cakes discussed above in. IIRC the cakes contain some sort of bacteria that is harmful only to skeeter larvae. 2) MosquitoMagnets work - when they work. I have several, and one runs. The rest are for parts. They are VERY expensive (mine were given to me for free) and they break often. The company that designed/used to make them went out of business, and support from the company that bought them out sucks. If you aren't handy, I'd look at something else. 3) I'm going to have to try the Cutter spray. I still have some "Bug Slayer" stuff from last fall that worked awesome for Box Elder and Asian Ladybeetles. The info on the bottle has a mixing ratio for mosquitos that I'll be trying here shortly. Now, does anyone have a solution for Horse Flies? by asian beetles, would you mean japanese beetles? I'd love to find something that works on these bastards. They've ruined our apple trees for a couple of years now. We'll have to see how the traps do this year. |
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I was just investigating the same question in my backyard during the July 4th weekend.
I found myself reading rave feedback reviews for a FLOWTRON BK-80D Zapper. You can find it on Ebay for about $80. Folks say generic Zappers are not all the same, as I bought a 1/2 acre "Stinger" bug zapper at the Home Depot that did nothing!!! From what others report from actual experience you will need to go with the Flowtron 1 1/2 acre BK-80D model if you really want results. They say the thing pops and crackes non-stop each minute it is on, and it attracts mosquitos, flies, and moths so well that you can't hang it anywhere close to where you will be sitting because it attracts swarms. Supposedly, it will clear the breeeding grounds after a day or two of continous use! |
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I was just investigating the same question in my backyard during the July 4th weekend. I found myself reading rave feedback reviews for a FLOWTRON BK-80D Zapper. You can find it on Ebay for about $80. Folks say generic Zappers are not all the same, as I bought a 1/2 acre "Stinger" bug zapper at the Home Depot that did nothing!!! From what others report from actual experience you will need to go with the Flowtron 1 1/2 acre BK-80D model if you really want results. They say the thing pops and crackes non-stop each minute it is on, and it attracts mosquitos, flies, and moths so well that you can't hang it anywhere close to where you will be sitting because it attracts swarms. Supposedly, it will clear the breeeding grounds after a day or two of continous use! I woudl be interested in hearing first hand experience. IMO, I've heard they kill many more beneficial bugs than mosquitoes. |
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I was just investigating the same question in my backyard during the July 4th weekend. I found myself reading rave feedback reviews for a FLOWTRON BK-80D Zapper. You can find it on Ebay for about $80. Folks say generic Zappers are not all the same, as I bought a 1/2 acre "Stinger" bug zapper at the Home Depot that did nothing!!! From what others report from actual experience you will need to go with the Flowtron 1 1/2 acre BK-80D model if you really want results. They say the thing pops and crackes non-stop each minute it is on, and it attracts mosquitos, flies, and moths so well that you can't hang it anywhere close to where you will be sitting because it attracts swarms. Supposedly, it will clear the breeeding grounds after a day or two of continous use! I woudl be interested in hearing first hand experience. IMO, I've heard they kill many more beneficial bugs than mosquitoes. To find a person or two on these threads that may actually have this exact model FLOWTRON 80D is not likely. So....the next best thing is to be reading a slew of the feedback from actual buyers; http://www.amazon.com/Flowtron-BK-80D-80-Watt-Electronic-Coverage/product-reviews/B00004R9VV I can't address your concern about "good" insects getting zapped and killed along with the bad. However, I'm not too concerned myself that there's a whole lotta "good" flying insects at night that I should prefer would land on me to share my bar-b-que with me instead of it being dispatched into a bug zapper. Just my take on it....YMMV. |
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looks like i'm going to pick up some of the spray on stuff at menards. Got about 2 hours of sleep last night....somehow mosquitos are sneaking in the house, probably through the AC somehow. Huh? how would they get in through the AC? Except for where the cooling lines enter and leave the house. Just curious of what you meant by that. Sorry to hear about you lack of sleep. That sucks with them buggers getting into the house... |
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Quoted: Quoted: looks like i'm going to pick up some of the spray on stuff at menards. Got about 2 hours of sleep last night....somehow mosquitos are sneaking in the house, probably through the AC somehow. Huh? how would they get in through the AC? Except for where the cooling lines enter and leave the house. Just curious of what you meant by that. Sorry to hear about you lack of sleep. That sucks with them buggers getting into the house... Not everybody has that new-fangled fancy pants big city keep all your windows closed highfalutin don't install it yourself every year non-window A/C.   Has anyone else noticed these bastards are larger sized than normal? They are some big and tough mofos. It is like they had an extended incubation period and came out needing to shop the big and tall section. |
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Huh? how would they get in through the AC? Except for where the cooling lines enter and leave the house. Just curious of what you meant by that. Not everybody has that new-fangled fancy pants big city keep all your windows closed highfalutin don't install it yourself every year non-window A/C. Exactly. It's a ~100 year old farm house. Heat is provided via boiler and radiators/baseboards. Window units (or ductless) is about our only option. We've got a 12k BTU for the downstairs, and a small 6.5k for the bedroom. I sealed them pretty good, but still not 100%. Windows are original downstairs, and from the 60s-70s upstairs. So even though it's a tight fit, there still are a few gaps that mosquitoes could get it. Almost picked up the permethrin spray at Menards. I know that shit works good. But with all the critters around, I opted for the Bug-B-Gone, as it clearly states it's pet safe once dried. Mosquitoes and me do not get along. For each bite, I get a quarter sized welt that itches to high heaven. i've tried bite sticks, ammonia, benadryl, calomine, gold bond, hydrocortizone.....nothing really helps it at all. I don't care if it kills me 20 years too early, I'll bathe in deet if it keeps em away from me. 
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Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: looks like i'm going to pick up some of the spray on stuff at menards. Got about 2 hours of sleep last night....somehow mosquitos are sneaking in the house, probably through the AC somehow. Huh? how would they get in through the AC? Except for where the cooling lines enter and leave the house. Just curious of what you meant by that. Sorry to hear about you lack of sleep. That sucks with them buggers getting into the house... Not everybody has that new-fangled fancy pants big city keep all your windows closed highfalutin don't install it yourself every year non-window A/C. Has anyone else noticed these bastards are larger sized than normal? They are some big and tough mofos. It is like they had an extended incubation period and came out needing to shop the big and tall section.   |
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looks like i'm going to pick up some of the spray on stuff at menards. Got about 2 hours of sleep last night....somehow mosquitos are sneaking in the house, probably through the AC somehow. Check your tub drains and such. We were infested about a week ago. I counted one day and killed 37 of those bastards in a 12 hour period. Turns out they were breeding in our master bathroom tub. We have a separate shower stall and a tub. The tube gets used once a month or less, and the shower daily. The wife went to take a bath and turned on the water. A few of them flew out and then some of the larvae bubbled out of the drain. A little bleach and no problem now. Now we keep the plug in to cover it up. |
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http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t33/AJ_Dual/Great-Stuff-insulating-foam-sealant-review1.jpg [/quote] That foam stuff is good for sealing things out of site, and that you never care to remove. However, when exposed to light it turns orange in no time, and is a royal PITA to remove. Remember...this is a temporary install. It comes out come winter. I think I recall some "temporary" goo foam type stuff that's supposed to be easy to remove... I'll have to look into that. |
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Whats the best way to get rid of the little buggers. they are really starting to drive me nuts its hard to go outside after the sun goes down with out coming back in the house with 50 or more bites. im about 800 yards from a river so that prolly doesnt help. what are my best options around here. do any of you guys do anything or just deal with it . i used to not really care i would hang in the house after dark but now with a new puppy thats kinda hard. my thermocell is worthless when only going out for a few min at a time. any one fog the lawn or use them things hooked up to propane tanks? found this on the dnr page maybe i should try a bat house or two. DNR Bat house plans I live right next to a stagnant swamp, so the mosquitoes are very thick. I've found that the Mosquito Magnet works like a charm at getting rid of a lot of them. You may want to check it out. http://www.mosquitomagnet.com/ |