Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations mosquito problem

this is the third summer for my pond. i have never had a mosquito problem until now. pond is full of fish. do yall think the mosquitos are raising in the pond or in nearby waters.

i havent used bug spray since i was a kid. which is a good one to buy now days? is there any that dont smell really bad and make you feel all sticky?

time for a bat house

or some barn swallow habitat

i see martins around from time to time, i guess that's what they are. they swoop down and get something off the surface of the pond. i am just being eaten alive every evening by the bugs..

I've got barn swallows, tree swallows, bats and other assorted flying, jumping, hopping and crawling critters around here and the mosquitoes are still getting worse. I just look at the different bug sprays, and get the one that has a high percentage of DEET as the active ingredient. I haven't had to go the 100% DEET route yet, but the stuff that works for me is in the 40% range or greater. Once I'm in for the night I hit the shower.

Fish like to eat mosquito larvae and so I would guess they are not coming from your pond but from some nearby stagnant water. Bats will eat more mosquitos than birds will.

I vote for a bat house, you can get some high tech prebuilt for a reasonable price (fancy modified pvc with internal structures) The secret is location, location, location.

Get some imitation vanilla flavored stuff. Mix about 50/50 with water and spray it on. No bugs.

BINGO! There is some standing water somewhere that does not have any fish in it. Scot has a lot of that in his surrounding woods.

Bats may not be an option this year. They're being wiped out by a virus. I've talked to several people that haven't seen any at all. I haven't seen any over my ponds in several years.

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/05/12/group-warns-of-mysterious-bat-plague-sweeping-country/?hpt=C2

As of right now, acres and acres of it, some 12" deep. Farley's is coming to the local feed mill June 9th. If the water is still high, I think some FHM are going in even tho they'll die in a couple of weeks.

I was not aware of the bat disease. We have had many bats in the past and not had a problem with mosquitos. Now to mention it this year I have not seen one.

Isn't there something you can put in the water that is a bacteria that kills the larvae or something? Bacillus or something? I don't know anything about it, just seem to have heard of this somewhere. Not sure it it would even be cost effective.

I've seen what you are talking about, but from what I remember, it'd be pretty pricey for a few acres (say 5 or so) of treatments!

BTi (Bacillus thuringiensis israeli) controls mosquito larvae but your pond is unlikely to be the source if it has fish in it (do you see larvae?). If you like to see birds or bats put up houses but don't expect them to put a dent in the population (no scientific evidence although many have tried to prove it). Elimination of temporary water or insecticide sprays are options for actually reducing mosquitoes, although you can keep busy and spend lots of money on other strategies.

We solved our mosquito problem by attracting all the mosquito eating birds we could, it took two years, but well worth the effort.
It's a pretty cool show at sun set and sun down watching the birds work.

The operative word when using Deet based products is shower!

i have heard that mosquitos are more apt to breed in tall grass than in a pond. i guess it takes very little water for them to do their thing???

Breed in the grass - lay eggs in water - larvae develop and pupate in water. Adults emerge into the air from water surface

DaveD1:
Does the vanilla extract/water mix work on deer flies too?
We use a mix of dawn dish soap(original blue),skin-so-soft, and vinegar for gnats and mosquitos. It works great, but not as inexpensive or easy as the vanilla blend.
I'll have to try it on the horses too.

For the lurkers, use DEET. It works and has been extensively tested for safety.

GSB, I'm not sure about deer flies or heel flies.

Saturday morning, gnats and mosquitos were all around me. I dug out the 5 year old vanilla mix and sprayed my hat, arms and rubbed some on my face. For some reason, no bugs after that with the exception of one highly chapped yellow wasp.

DD1: Come up here and try it. The mosquitos have gotten really bad in the past few days. You can't even go out of the house during the day without them attacking. I had 25% DEET on the other night and it wasn't working. The Thermocell did the trick tho!

Thermocell has been good to me. DEET I am wary of. Dwight and I went out bass fishing on a heavy mosquito night with "Uncle Ben's 100% DEET", on. Although I can't remeber any mosquitos biting, I remember it melted the lens on Dwight's watch, and messed up the first few feet of our mono line. Good or bad, it kept us all night with occasinal visions. Buttoks dragging the ground the next day. I stick to regular non-scneted OFF when I need some protection and not next to a Thermocell.

We went ahead and ordered a Thermacell. I'm hoping it will keep all forms of pests away, mosquitoes, flys, idiot neighbors...