Mosquitoes are killing us here!!!

[Osmosis Mom]

So share, which are the best and most effective ways to deter mosquitoes from not only your yard and house, but from eating you up alive? Also, which products do you prefer for soothing bites? I am interested in chemical as well as more natural suggestions; main thing is that it'll help a bit....

[Melissa in Australia]

eating food high in vitamin b helps, things like vegemite. Wear long sleeved clothes

the best thing I have found for putting on the bite is spit.

[Baseball mom]

My 8yr old is allergic to mosquitoes, as in almost every bite welps up and gets really hot. 1 bite has been known to welp up to cover almost from his wrist to his elbow and be extremely hot. He has to go to the dr. and get an antibotic.

 

So I spray him down with Off or Cutter before he goes out. I don't really like it but I also don't like having to give him Benadryl for days after.

 

Also Benadryl has a spray that works good after you get bit. Helps stop the itching. Bandaid brand has a clear gel that comes in a tube and it is good for itch relief too.

 

My mom just read something that said vinegar is good to put on after a bite to stop the itching. She just told me that today.

 

I think I will try to up our vit. b and see if that helps.

[Green Vixen]

Hi Nadia,

 

I live in Alaska and we have major mosquito problems, we even consider the mosquito our state bird lol! For our home we have a Mosquito Magnet that we start up in April to get the first hatch of eggs. When they get in the house we use a mosquito racket, it looks like a tennis racket and zaps them. We slather ourselves in Off Deep Woods when we leave the house and wear long sleeves and pants if we are going in the woods. There are also head nets if you are going deep into mosquito territory, you look kind of like a bee keeper but with mosquito netting instead.

 

Good luck!

 

Marisa

[Rosie_0801]

The best insect repellent I've encountered was a jar of "baby balm," lavender essential oil in an ointment that was supposed to make my baby sleep. It did a much better job at repelling mozzies.

 

Rosie

[Osmosis Mom]

Gosh, we are finding pesky moquitoes all over the WTM-globe! Interesting, but certainly no fun....!

[Mergath]

Make sure you don't have any standing water in your yard. Mosquitos breed in water.

[Osmosis Mom]

Make sure you don't have any standing water in your yard. Mosquitos breed in water.

 

They sure do. We have two swamps in our backyard, courtesy of the few trees left when they cut down the forest to make our subdivision!!

[JFSinIL]

They sure do. We have two swamps in our backyard, courtesy of the few trees left when they cut down the forest to make our subdivision!!

 

Could you pour some oil (baby oil? veggie oil? ) on the water to cut off the critters from laying eggs/hatching???

[Nestof3]

Vitamin B doesn't help me at all, and wearing long sleeves is extremely uncomfortable in temps in the 90s. They'll still bite my hands, my face and anything else they can get to. I am a mosquito magnet.

 

I just avoid going out in the mosquito areas as much as I can, but it makes it hard to keep up with the garden picking.

 

My husband has sprayed stuff from Home Depot and also a garlic spray that helps when we have company.

 

eating food high in vitamin b helps, things like vegemite. Wear long sleeved clothes

the best thing I have found for putting on the bite is spit.

[Nestof3]

Make sure you don't have any standing water in your yard. Mosquitos breed in water.

 

Yes, but since they can travel a few hundred yard and up to 1-2 miles, it makes it difficult when neighbors do not take the same care to their lawns. Unfortunately, we live in a relatively lower-income subdivision, and many of the properties are not maintained. Junk just piles up in the yards. People do not take the time to dispose of fallen limbs, trash and such. They surely aren't going to take the time to clean out gutters or empty containers with standing water. :tongue_smilie:

 

Here's an informative article on mosquitoes:

 

http://agr.georgia.gov/AGR/Files/West%20Nile%20Virus%20Q&A.pdf

 

Nathan and I are bitten like crazy by mosquitoes. John, Aaron and my mom are not bothered by them. I cannot recall Ben's experience with them, but I'll soon find out as they are emerging. Perhaps Nathan and I are more attractive to them because we sweat a lot?

 

 

 

Finally, everyone's body is different, and some people produce natural body odors that are more enticing for mosquitoes.

 

 

 

Edited May 6, 2010 by nestof3

[Osmosis Mom]

I think mosquito attraction has something to do with smelling sweet. So, they'd like perfumes, sweet sweat and breastfeeding mothers. I should be flattered, but I am not.

 

JFS, our swamps are not that small so I'd need a ton of oil. We get sprayed by the town once a season, but that's not a big help!!

[Heather in Neverland]

This may sound strange but it really works! Listerine. The regular, yellowish-colored kind. Put it in a spray bottle mixed with some water and spray it on. The mosquitos are ATROCIOUS here and this is the only thing that has worked for us.

[Starr]

This may sound strange but it really works! Listerine. The regular, yellowish-colored kind. Put it in a spray bottle mixed with some water and spray it on. The mosquitos are ATROCIOUS here and this is the only thing that has worked for us.

 

How did you discover this? :001_huh: :lol:

[stripe]

This may sound strange but it really works! Listerine. The regular, yellowish-colored kind. Put it in a spray bottle mixed with some water and spray it on. The mosquitos are ATROCIOUS here and this is the only thing that has worked for us.

Spray it on your body? Wow, I'd never have thought of this. I hate mosquitoes. They always bite my kids on the face, though, and I just can't imagine putting Listerine on their faces!

 

I have a creek like thing (it barely moves) right by my house, so alas there are plenty of the critters afoot. I hate them.

[MomLovesClassics]

Go out when it is windy, then you will not have to contend with mosquitos. Just make sure it is not so windy that you can't enjoy the outdoors. They prefer damp shady areas, so avoid those areas. If they are coming to you from other places, try to have some plants in your area that they hate like holy basil, marigolds, and mints. I prefer B&T SssstingStop or lavender essential oil for bites. They do make a powder that can be sprinkled on the ground to deter them, but it is expensive. Someone else already mentioned standing water. Hope this helps some.

[Nestof3]

In Tidewater, VA, and in our neighborhood specifically, they don't care how sunny it is. It's also rarely windy here in the summer. It's hot and humid.

 

I have mint planted at my back door, but they still come in my house. I used to have other mosquito-deterrent plants on our deck. It didn't help at all. I get bitten in my house. I actually get bitten just walking to my van!

 

I think it really varies by location.

 

Go out when it is windy, then you will not have to contend with mosquitos. Just make sure it is not so windy that you can't enjoy the outdoors. They prefer damp shady areas, so avoid those areas. If they are coming to you from other places, try to have some plants in your area that they hate like holy basil, marigolds, and mints. I prefer B&T SssstingStop or lavender essential oil for bites. They do make a powder that can be sprinkled on the ground to deter them, but it is expensive. Someone else already mentioned standing water. Hope this helps some.

[cjbeach]

It's been humid here and buggy. My poor dd had 4 bites on her face alone last week. UGH. With those bites being so apparent TWO people suggested lemongrass oil. Never knew of its' use until last week.

http://www.ehow.com/how_2164040_use-lemongrass-oil-as-insect.html

[Heather in Neverland]

How did you discover this? :001_huh: :lol:

 

 

I read it somewhere.

[Heather in Neverland]

Spray it on your body? Wow, I'd never have thought of this. I hate mosquitoes. They always bite my kids on the face, though, and I just can't imagine putting Listerine on their faces!

 

I have a creek like thing (it barely moves) right by my house, so alas there are plenty of the critters afoot. I hate them.

 

I spray some in my hand and rub it on their faces. It is watered down and works like a charm!!!

[plansrme]

We have lived in our current house for 10 years, and the first 5 or 6, our mosquitoes were so horrendous that we could not use our yard for 8-9 months of the year. Then we started noticing an increase in our bat population. The mosquito problem slowly got better, and now, even with the record rainfall this winter and spring, our mosquitoes are much, much better. This is a suburb of Atlanta, by the way, nowhere near a bat cave.

 

One of my daughters is a mosquito magnet and has severe, scarring reactions to them unless we immediately treat bites with Benadryl cream. I carry Benadryl cream with me everywhere. It does seem to have to be used immediately, but it works beautifully for her without putting her to sleep.

 

I have a friend whose neighborhood put in bat houses in Maine, where their new neighborhood was apparently built over a swamp. She said it helped there as well. We did put in a bat house, but I don't know that we ever got any residents or if it was just a naturally-occurring population increase. Whichever, I welcome the bats and appreciate their giving me my yard back.

 

Terri

[Nan in Mass]

Hi

We have fierce ones too, at the moment. They will be better later, I hope. They usually are. I have found that if I avoid caffine it helps, especially if I am in a group with caffine drinkers GRIN. They prefer somebody else. I put the children's hats and shoes on the ground and put deep woods off on them. That helps but keeps the chemicals off the children's skin. We stay in the breeze and sun. I carry a tube of benedryl cream in my pocket and put a dab on any mosquito bites immediately. If I put it on immediately, the bites never turn into itchy spots. The best thing is to either be moving fairly briskly and not stop, or to take a big window fan outside with an extension cord and sit in front of it. A second story deck is nice, too. They tend not to go up there. We sit on our roof sometimes to avoid them.

 

HTH

-Nan

[ZooRho]

Bats is what I was going to say too. We had 1,000 of bats that lived in our neighbor's house when we lived in Uganda, we didn't have many mosquitos.

 

I also seemed to eat a lot of garlic there that seemed to help me too. I never got bit there.