Operation Bloodhawk Down

[strantor]

They're back. This morning at the front door they were waiting to greet me. I watched them for a minute to see if the treated surfaces had any affect. They landing all over the door which I applied a liberal dose of Bifen to just 40 hours ago. No worse for wear.

In my research a few days ago there was some mention of a "surfactant" chemical which can be added to the Bifen to make it "stick around" better/longer. I suppose I'll need to read more, buy more, apply more.

 

[Doofy]

Where I grew up (west FL coast) the skeeters and noseeums were bad at times...many folks that had rotary powered lawn mowers also used them as foggers...
Some type of tank/reservoir was strapped to the upper handle...a small diameter copper etc. tube with a needle valve ran from the tank into a small hole drilled in the muffler...different oils were used to produce a dense smoke that would drive mosquitoes out from under and around open porches etc. but IMO mineral spirits with castor oil made the most effective repellant (and I liked the smell)...

I use a couple tablespoons of fogger liquid in the gas tank of the walk-behind lawn mower. It must help as skeeters haven't been a problem in a long time. Make sure the fogger liquid has a petroleum distillate base.

 

[strantor]

Since I now realize that this is something that I'm going to be doing on a fairly regular basis from now on, I decided to make my spraying setup a little bit less of a hack job. I reoriented the barrel up right and tapped into the very bottom of the barrel with a new bung hole. Previously I was not able to pump out but maybe 40gal because I wasn't pulling from the very bottom. I installed a little sight glass with a floating red marker, which I can see quite nicely from the tractor seat, so that I don't run the pump dry. It's all mounted rigid onto a pallet now, no ratchet straps. The pressure washer can be taken off by removing a single lag bolt.

 

[ustmd]

strantor,

Keep fighting the good fight, but not sure if you will win. From what I understand (and the internets confirms), mosquitos have a range of 1-3 miles:

FAQ - American Mosquito Control Association

Given that you said you are surrounded by rice fields, I think you are only temporarily thinning the herd.

 

[Doofy]

I used 3 Mosquito Magnets for a period of several years and they made life bearable in the yard for several years. They slowly thinned the horde. Then the mechanical problems with the machines start and they become a nightmare trying to keep them operational.

This year I bought Permethrin to spray around but the bugs were not much of a problem this year.

 

[strantor]

strantor,

Keep fighting the good fight, but not sure if you will win. From what I understand (and the internets confirms), mosquitos have a range of 1-3 miles:

FAQ - American Mosquito Control Association

Given that you said you are surrounded by rice fields, I think you are only temporarily thinning the herd.

After the encounter I described in post #11 they disappeared again. I spent all that time Yesterday building up my spraying skid and at the end of the day didn't feel like spraying. I planned to get up this morning and spray just as soon as there was enough light to do so. Stepped outside, no mosquitoes. Huh. Weird. Go back inside, have some coffee, come back out at dawn to inspect. Front porch is covered in a layer of dead bodies (see attachment). Apparently the stuff DOES have residual effect, it just doesn't kill immediately on contact.

The part that confuses me is why just that one wave after doomsday? Why was there not another wave this morning? I suspect yesterday morning's guests were larvae when I sprayed, incubating in some hidden spot of water near the door. They somehow missed being dosed and were allowed to morph, only to die hungry a few hours later.

Or maybe it has to do with their range and the rice farms as you suggest. Maybe the answer to "why only yesterday morning" lies in the wind. I'm not challenging the claim of 1-3 miles (I feel sorry for the intern who collected that empirical data) but they fly slow and I imagine wind currents have more impact on their destination than free will.

I didn't spray today. I got called out of state for work and anyway I want to see what happens next.

P.S. that porch and door sill DID get swept after the initial spraying. Those are all new deaths from the residual (not sure if you can make it out but all those little black dots are dead skeeters).

 

[strantor]

I guess this is what I will wake up to most days now. It's been like this yesterday morning and this morning. But I would rather sweep the porch daily than be eaten alive by these filthy scoundrels.

 

[rd_macgregor]

Here, various commercial formulations of Bti (Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis) have been used for years to control (especially) blackflies and mosquitoes. The big attraction of Bti is that it has pretty high specificity to dipteran flies, with almost non-existent toxicity to mammals, birds, fish, and non-dipteran arthropods (eg, bees and butterflies). Bti can be very effective, when used properly (as a larvacide), but I don't know how cost-effective it is compared to the synthetic chemical pesticides.

 

[rd_macgregor]

Here, various commercial formulations of Bti (Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis) have been used for years to control (especially) blackflies and mosquitoes. The big attraction of Bti is that it has pretty high specificity to dipteran flies, with almost non-existent toxicity to mammals, birds, fish, and non-dipteran arthropods (eg, bees and butterflies). Bti can be very effective, when used properly (as a larvacide), but I don't know how cost-effective it is compared to the synthetic chemical pesticides.

Besides being a nuisance, many mosquito species carry/transmit really dreadful diseases. Too bad the powers that be won't unleash Oxitec (Google it, if you are interested) to damp down populations of these bloodsuckers when they reach nuisance levels.

 

[m1garand762]

Look on Amazon. I buy 25% Bifen concentrate for 28 bucks a quart