Managing Mosquitoes

And you can now buy clothing--shirts in particular--in which the fabric has been impregnated with a chemical mosquito repellent. The repellent remains effective even after several washings.

Prevention
As important as protection is, prevention is arguably more important. After all, if you take steps to control mosquitoes, and prevent them from taking over your property in the first place, you'll minimize the need for protection.

"And that's the short list," James says. "If you were to walk around your property, especially after it rains, I'm sure you'd find plenty of other places where water collects."

A granular form of Bt can be sprinkled into the water (figure B).

A new version of the same thing is now available in these convenient disposable pouches which last for 30 days and treat up to 300 gallons of water (figure C).

"By the way, here's a little trick I learned by accident several years ago. If you place an unlit citronella candle or a container filled with citronella oil in an area--such as your garden shed--where bugs or spiders are a real problem, guess what? No more bugs and spiders!"

There are also some very impressive and rather expensive mosquito-control devices, nearly all of which burn propane to produce carbon dioxide. "And if you have several hundred dollars to spend, by all means get one. However, these less expensive approaches work well and you don't have to deal with refilling all those empty propane tanks."