4 Easy Ways To Get Rid Of Mosquitoes

If you live in a humid area mosquitoes are definitely a big problem. The cool thing is that there are number of things that you can do to get rid of these annoying bugs. Here are some of the things that you can do:

Use skin repellents

Skin repellents prevent mosquitoes from getting on your skin. Most of the repellents in the market have two main active ingredients: N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide (DEET) and picaridin.

Repellents containing 30%-50% of DEET are ideal for both adults and children over the age of 2 months.

There are others that have lower concentrations of the active ingredient. While they are cheaper they remain effective for only a few hours thus you have to apply them often.

Repellents containing picaridin are available in the US and are often odourless and have a pleasant feeling. They don’t plasticize like DEET and you can apply them on children that are as young as 2 months.

You should avoid applying the skin repellents on children under 2 months. The best way of protecting the young ones is using a carrier draped with mosquito netting.

Herbs

Rosemary, citronella and lavender are some of the herbs that mosquitoes can’t stand. You should plant the herbs in your backyard and you will definitely keep the bugs off. If you don’t have a yard or want immediate solution you should consider buying the herbs in your local stores.

The herbs come in different foams for example you can buy citronella oil and put it into a plate. You can also buy a citronella torch and the smoke produced will keep the mosquitoes away.

Get rid of breeding ground

One of the main reasons why mosquitoes come to your house isn’t because it’s very attractive-it’s because there is a breeding ground in the neighbourhood.

Mosquitoes breed in stagnant water found in: old tires, clogged gutters, driveway puddles, empty flowerpots, unfiltered fish ponds and any other places that hold water for more than a few days.

To get rid of mosquitoes you should get rid of the stagnant water. You should use a broom to distribute the water stagnant water in small puddles. If you have large puddles you should use a siphon pump. You should also drain any water in tires and other areas.

If you can’t get rid of all the water you should use Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis (BTI). This is a species of bacteria that kills mosquito larvae. The cool thing is that the bacteria are non-toxic to both children and pets.

Screens

Screens have been shown to be very effective in keeping the mosquitoes away. There are many brands of screens in the market and all you need to do is to buy the highest quality. As rule of thumb you should place the screens on the doors and windows.