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HomeSafeHome:  Home/Farm safety - mosquito spraying  |
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jmac1711
Farmgirl in Training
49 Posts
Jane
Lost Nation
Iowa
USA
49 Posts |
 Posted - Mar 06 2006 : 12:09:16 PM
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Goodmorning Terre- Actually your bat idea is a great one!!! According to what I have read you need to build bat boxes. They are these larger quite flat boxes that are roughed up inside so each bat can hang on. (that's not a very good decription) Guano is smeared in a small amount inside to attract them and they are mounted on the south side of your exterior attic and or trees. I'm going to give this a try this year. Here are some links to build bat boxes for anyone else interested:
http://www.lincstrust.org.uk/factsheets/batbox/index.php
http://lancaster.unl.edu/enviro/pest/factsheets/265-95.htm
http://lancaster.unl.edu/office/locate.shtm
http://www.batcon.org/bhra/economyhouse.html
http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/tools/ndblinds/smallbat.htm
I'm still a little unsure of the Milky Spore application because it doesn't occur naturally in the required amounts to kill bugs. Example-- The Dept. of Agriculture had this great idea about 8 years ago. We all know the lady bugs reputation for aphid control is excellant but they are delicate creatures that are difficult to winter over in our colder winter climate. To keep them in large agriculture numbers they must be reseeded every 2-3 years. A bit expensive. So the Dept. of Agriculture found "the Japanese Beetle". They touted it as the magic solution to pest control. Japanese beetles are vorocious eaters and are cousins of our English variety. They winter over in cold weather well and come back in greater numbers each year without any attention what so ever. They look just like the English variety but are very agressive, they bite humans in swarms and have no natural check.(no animal eats them due to a pungent smell they give off when their legs are damaged.) They have done the job on aphids. LOL I don't think an aphid can be found in the tri-state area. However, they leave the fields each fall to winter over in our homes, barns and sheds by the 10's of millions! They swarm people and bite the heck out of you. Going from the car to the house during this time is like an Alfred Hitchcock movie. The only effective way of getting rid of them is to put out traps and to vaccumn them up by the pound. The successful little darlings have spread all across the midwest to the blueberry states where they are all but destroying the berry crops. These states are now using "milky Spore" by the truckload to try and kill them. Which is where I think I came in on this novel of a story and how I came to learn about Milky Spore. Call me once bitten by a Japanese Beatle twice shy. The reports have all been favorable that I've read so hopefully it will really be the answer but I think I want to hear more about it. Please keep us updated on your experience with Milky Spore Terre. You are now our field research consultant on Milky Spore. :)
Thank you for your great idea about bats and for sharing your experience with Milky Spore.
Hearts and Hugs,
Jane
Lord, let me be the kind of person my pig thinks I am. |
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OregonGal
True Blue Farmgirl
511 Posts
Chris
No. IL
USA
511 Posts |
Posted - Mar 07 2006 : 8:06:28 PM
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I think moldyspore (or milkyspore) is like a type of bacterium, not really a chemical
that will kill the larvae pupating in the ground - I haven't use it but i"ve read its supposed
to work well enought that it causes moles to go elsewhere because it kills the grubs in
the ground that moles love to eat.
"...a merry heart does good like a medicine, it has the power to cure." |
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Libbie
Farmgirl Connection Cultivator
3579 Posts
Anne E.
Elsinore
Utah
USA
3579 Posts |
Posted - Mar 08 2006 : 07:53:04 AM
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This is such good information - thank you all for the continued input. I'm formulating a bug-control plan for this year, including Bt and bat houses for mosquitos (I still haven't come to a good decision about the irrigation water issue) and perhaps milky spore on my roses - we have aphids on them, but so far I've just let it go - they are wild roses/briar roses that are around 150 years old, and I just figured that maybe by now they've gotten used to the aphids! Chris - as far as giving moles a reason to go elsewhere, did what you read say anything about gophers?
XOXO, Libbie
"Nothing is worth more than this day." - Goethe |
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cowgirlinthesand
Farmgirl in Training
38 Posts
maggie
Williston
Fl
USA
38 Posts |
Posted - Mar 15 2006 : 6:57:40 PM
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| We put the feeder goldfish that you get at the petshops for about .10 each in all our water toughs and in the dogs water buckets. They are good mosquito larve eaters. |
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CityCat
True Blue Farmgirl
198 Posts
Catherine
Toronto
Ontario
Canada
198 Posts |
Posted - Mar 15 2006 : 8:51:32 PM
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Jane: By Japanese beetle you mean the Multicoloured Asian Lady Beetle (Harmonia axyridis)? The ladybug? I kept thinking you were talking about the Japanese beetle (Popillia japonica) which is a plant pest and looks like a shiny, jeweled dung beetle.
Just thought you'd like to know... -Cat |
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Libbie
Farmgirl Connection Cultivator
3579 Posts
Anne E.
Elsinore
Utah
USA
3579 Posts |
Posted - Mar 16 2006 : 11:11:48 AM
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Maggie - I was thinking about putting fish in the outside water sources and after hearing that you do it, I was REALLY considering it, and then I thought about our cats....
I know that there are several places that you can get ladybugs/ladybird beetles - one is Gardens Alive - I had thought about that one, too...
So far, I have decided to "let" the county spray for mosquitos around our property - at least along the roads that border two sides of it. The other two are bordered by farmland with no access road except for tractors. It is still such a question for me, but the mosquitos are so bad, and, as far as I can tell, pyrethrins are almost as good as it gets for large-scale spraying. Any thoughts on this decision before I tell the "county people?" It is so great to be able to read all of your thoughts/actions/opinions. Hopefully we'll all be able to do what's best for ourselves, our farms, our families and our land...
XOXO, Libbie
"Nothing is worth more than this day." - Goethe |
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Rosenwalt
True Blue Farmgirl
77 Posts
Rose Marie
NY
77 Posts |
Posted - Mar 16 2006 : 12:22:34 PM
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A few years ago I thought my county was giving out tablets that one drops in standing water areas to keep the mosquitoes out. I believe they were free?
Also, I'm growing marigolds which is supposed to be a repellent but I wonder just how many I have to grow for it to be effective? I'm thinking lots huh.
Rose Marie,
Central New York
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Horseyrider
True Blue Farmgirl
1045 Posts
Mary Ann
Illinois
1045 Posts |
Posted - Mar 22 2006 : 10:23:38 AM
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We've tried a number of things in the past, with varying results. We've used the big black fly traps that are drawn into water ($500 wasted) and the mosquito thing that uses a propane tank ($500 wasted). This year we're trying mosquito dunks in the stock tanks (the mosquito killer in it is Bt) and fly predators.
My horses look like space aliens in fly masks, fly sheets, and fly wraps on their legs. And I also use an all natural fly spray by Espree. Doc says a horse can get more damaging concussion from stomping flies than from running down a concrete road, so I go to great lengths.
I'm not weird about organic stuff, but if I have an low impact or organic choice, I take it.
"What another would do as well as you, do not do it. What another would have said as well as you, do not say it; written as well, do not write it. Be faithful to that which exists nowhere but in yourself, and there, make yourself indispensable." ---Andre Gide |
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Horseyrider
True Blue Farmgirl
1045 Posts
Mary Ann
Illinois
1045 Posts |
Posted - Mar 22 2006 : 10:24:57 AM
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Oh, and natural pyrethrins come from a small kind of chrysanthemum. But the natural ones are expensive, so you're probably getting a chemical copy, or permethrin, which is similar but NOT the same.
"What another would do as well as you, do not do it. What another would have said as well as you, do not say it; written as well, do not write it. Be faithful to that which exists nowhere but in yourself, and there, make yourself indispensable." ---Andre Gide |
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Libbie
Farmgirl Connection Cultivator
3579 Posts
Anne E.
Elsinore
Utah
USA
3579 Posts |
Posted - Mar 24 2006 : 08:22:03 AM
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Mary Ann - Thanks for pointing out the difference between pyrethrin and permethrin - I didn't know that, and I'm going to be keeping that in mind. Oh dear - this buggy season is just around the corner, I can feel it in the air.
I think I'll be trying everything "natural" I can, from mosquito dunks to marigolds, in addition to the county spraying. We seem to have a great indigenous population of ladybugs, so I'm feeling pretty good abou that!
XOXO, Libbie
"Nothing is worth more than this day." - Goethe |
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Libbie
Farmgirl Connection Cultivator
3579 Posts
Anne E.
Elsinore
Utah
USA
3579 Posts |
Posted - Apr 05 2006 : 07:14:31 AM
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Uggghhh.....they're here!!! I saw the first little "swarm" of these beasties yesterday down by our (mostly) drained canal. I guess it's getting close to the time to put some of these things into action...
XOXO, Libbie
"Nothing is worth more than this day." - Goethe |
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pacilltj
Farmgirl at Heart
3 Posts
Tamara
Ada
Ok
USA
3 Posts |
Posted - Sep 03 2011 : 3:20:26 PM
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| Have you considered getting a little bat house? They eat insects... a LOT of insects... including mosquitos and flies... |
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walkinwalkoutcattle
True Blue Farmgirl
1675 Posts
Megan
Paint Lick
KY
USA
1675 Posts |
Posted - Sep 12 2011 : 5:43:16 PM
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I'm working on getting plans for a bat house to put up on here!
Farmgirl #2879 :)
Starbucks and sushi to green fried tomatoes and corn pudding-I wouldn't change it for the world.
www.cattleandcupcakes.blogspot.com
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Cherime
True Blue Farmgirl
1222 Posts
Cherime
Wasilla
Alaska
USA
1222 Posts |
Posted - Sep 13 2011 : 08:51:04 AM
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The "flying hypodermic needles" as Dad used to call them are a scourge here in Alaska as well. One thing I do in the spring if there is a standing puddle that I cannot get to drain right away, I pour cooking oil into the puddle to keep the larva from growing into buzzing beasts. The cooking oil keeps them down put does not harm the land and motor oil does.
CMF |
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HomeSafeHome: Home/Farm safety - mosquito spraying |
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Home/Farm safety - mosquito spraying
