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I am having a terrible time with mosquitoes and need some help. You might need help too so here is the beginning thread about the problem. If there are other posts that seem good on the subject I will add them here.
Put some water in a white dinner plate and add a couple of drops of Lemon Fresh Joy dish detergent. Set the dish on your porch, patio, or other outdoor area. Not sure what attracts them, the lemon smell, the white plate color, or what, but mosquitoes flock to it, and drop dead shortly after drinking the Lemon Fresh Joy/water mixture, and usually within about 10 feet of the plate. May seem trivial, but it may help control mosquitoes around your home, especially in the areas where the West Nile virus is reaching epidemic proportions in mosquitoes, birds, and humans.
Bug Battles / What Works?
There’s still lots of time for outdoor activities...and battling pesky mosquitoes!
There is still lots of time for outdoor activities and battling pesky mosquitoes! So, what’s your best defense? The journal of New England medicine says Off! Deep Woods Formula with 25% DEET prevented bites in mosquito-filled lab boxes for over five hours, and Off! Skintastic with 7% DEET lasted two hours. Also clocking in at two hours was Repel’s Lemon “Oil of Eucalyptus” repellent. Bite Blocker For Kids, with 2% soybean oil, stopped bites for ninety minutes. So what doesn’t work so well? It smells better, but Avon’s Skin-So-Soft bug guard worked for only 20 minutes. High-tech mosquito magnets drew in a lot, but left others to bite at will, and testers wearing repellent wristbands were bitten immediately. Finally, there’s no scientific evidence that those pungent citronella candles do anything to repel mosquitoes and bugs. They are, however, good for driving humans away.
Carol7
Elena, thanks for posting the tip about using a white dinner plate and Joy dish soap. Since I live close to a river and even closer to a creek mosquitoes are always a problem here. I've found that Repel Sportsmen Formula with 29% Deet works the best for me, and I always make a point to empty anything that has standing water in it after a rain - including the rain gauge.
Elena
Isn't it amazing how many little tiny things can hold water? We blow out the birdbaths with the leaf blower on an every other day schedule. We let each one dry out completely as those tiny little tiger mosquito larva can live in the tiniest bit of moisture. I think that a lot of our neighbors aren't aware of the problem as most of them never empty the bird baths. A lot of them have water gardens too and don't keep fish in them. I feel sure they are full of mosquito larva. I can only take care of my yard though. Pity!!!!
