Updated 06/21/2023- Right around the corner are campfires, cocktails on the deck, and grilling hot dogs and burgers while enjoying those warm Summer days. The Summer enjoyment often brings out the mosquitoes too.
The Mosquito
Mosquitos, or as they are known scientifically, the Culicidae, live two weeks to 6 months and require standing water to reproduce. Any water sitting around in a bucket, a tree, a tire, a bee waterer, or similar poses a perfect breeding ground for more of those pesky mosquitos.
Anopheles mosquitoes are the only species known to carry malaria. They also transmit filariasis (also called elephantiasis) and encephalitis. Culex mosquitoes carry encephalitis, filariasis, and the West Nile virus. And Aedes mosquitoes, of which the voracious Asian tiger is a member, carry yellow fever, dengue, and encephalitis.- National Geographic
Best Bee Safe Mosquito Management Links-
Mosquito Magician Natural Mosquito Killer and Insect Repellent Concentrate - Makes 32 Gallons of Spray for Your Yard and Patio - 1 Gallon
DynaTrap DT2000XLP-TUNSR Large Mosquito & Flying Insect Trap – Kills Mosquitoes, Flies, Wasps, Gnats, & Other Flying Insects – Protects up to 1 Acre
Traditional Mosquito Control
Growing up, we lived in the middle of an area encompassing around 75% of the land, being a peat moss swamp with swamps and lakes speckled around a 20-mile X 20 Mile area. When you went outside in July in the evening, the mosquitos would almost pick you up and fly you away to their layer. Well, maybe not literally, but I do remember the only way we could enjoy ourselves outdoors after 7 PM was to either bathe in bug spray or our Dad would be out with the fogger blasting the edges of grass and woods with what made our yard look like the trailer to Michael Jackson's Thriller.
The fogger was effective; however, the vaporized pesticide, I'm sure, left very few other creatures alive as well, including any bees. Pesticides are a major concern for any bee colony or beekeeper. The most commonly used pesticide/ insecticide in home gardens, farms, schoolyards, parks, and urban landscapes – is a class of chemicals called neonicotinoids.
As the Xerces Society explains, these chemicals are used to kill sap-sucking and leaf-chewing insects; they are systemic, meaning they are absorbed by the plant tissues and expressed in all parts, including nectar and pollen. Bees, butterflies, and other flower-hopping insects are harmed by the residues; even at low doses, honey bees’ ability to navigate, fly and forage is affected. What is most worrisome is the “prolific inclusion of these insecticides in home garden products,” notes the Xerces Society. “Home garden products containing neonicotinoids can legally be applied in far greater concentrations in gardens than they can be on farms – sometimes at concentrations as much as 120 times as great which increases the risk to pollinators.”
Avoiding neonicotinoids altogether and adopting a more organic or proactive approach to controlling pests and insects will better help keep an intact ecosystem while also protecting insects that are not doing any damage and likely helping your crops, yards, or similar.
As with all pest management control, ALWAYS refer to the manufacturers' doses and application requirements. In many cases, failure to adhere to the labels' doses and application instructions violates Federal and State laws. If you have any questions, always contact the manufacturer for instructions.
Preventing Mosquitos From Breeding
The best thing you can do is to eliminate areas where mosquitos breed, like standing water. It doesn't take much water for an excellent breeding ground for hundreds, if not thousands of mosquito larvae. It only takes 8 days for an egg to emerge into an adult mosquito from water to flight. So ensuring there is no standing water for 5-8 days will play an important role in reducing the local mosquito population. Common places that mosquitos hatch from around the house:
Pools or Ponds around the house- Note that treated pools are not an environment mosquitos can survive
Dirty or improperly sloped gutters
Rainwater collection barrels
Bird Baths
Buckets, tires, pots, or similar around the yard or farm
One way to keep those ponds and rain barrels without contributing to the mosquito population is to use these Mosquito Dunks. The active ingredient in mosquito dunks as (quoting an entomologist with the New Mexico State U extension) "Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis kills aquatic flies (mosquitos) larvae but not other insects" (or anything else, apparently). Placing the dunks in ponds, rain barrels, or similar (using the manufacturer's suggested dose and applications of course) will prevent mosquito larvae from surviving.
Pesticide Knowledge
As we are looking to manage pests, we need to always keep in mind their overall effect on the local ecosystem. I like to use Beyond Pesticides as a good resource when I have any questions or need help with solutions to pests in my garden. We often have our hosts for our host a hives product call and ask us if they have any questions, and we are often referring them to beyond pesticides as a good resource or to use the products above for controlling mosquitos or similar.
If you can add to our post, please post any questions or comments below. Thanks for reading, and don't forget to subscribe! #savethebees #saferinsecticides #mosquitocontrol