Mosquito time!

[+ Tarte Gogo]

 

I'd guess that's a great way to keep the mosquitoes from going near your floor.....

 

when I use the strongest DEET while out backpacking in heavy mosquito country, they hover a few inches from my skin, but that's fine with me.....

I see. Well, then I hope the ultrasound thingy works, or I am in the same situation as with my current deterrent spray: all over me, and needing a shower before bed. Maybe I will switch to evening showers rather than morning ones. Or both.

[+ azdr0710]

Ok, a lot of interest and proposed solutions, which is great, thanks everyone.

 

Since I have access to power right where I sit, I am going to start with this product: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0773527P7/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 and see if it works. I’ll report back.

 

In case it doesn’t work, can you spray DEET around you, like on the floor in a circle around your chair, instead of on you?

 

it's not painfully expensive if it doesn't work, but I'm not convinced.....it says it's for indoor use (not on a porch?)......no reviews are in yet.....and it's made "in the Europe" (!)......

 

do you have a big box fan you can set up out there?.......or would the drone of it be too much??!!......

[mike carey]

Does lavender grow in NY suburbs? It needs a Mediterranean climate, doesn’t it?

It grows perfectly well here in Canberra, where we have frequent frosts, but extremely rare snow. We're on a run of -4 and -5 mornings right now. Daytime temperatures are always above freezing so they freeze and thaw on frost days, and that is often more of a problem for plants than consistent below zero © temperatures.

[instudiocity]

Does lavender grow in NY suburbs? It needs a Mediterranean climate, doesn’t it?

Check it out: http://upstategardenersjournal.com/natural-selections-growing-lavender-in-upstate-new-york/

[+ Tarte Gogo]

Check it out: http://upstategardenersjournal.com/natural-selections-growing-lavender-in-upstate-new-york/

Thanks @instudiocity . Seems like it could work, but a lot of efforts for most likely failure. I already find it hard to keep alive a pot plant indoors. I am gonna stick with technology solutions (either chemical or electronic, or a combination of both)

And @mike carey , I am not surprised, Canberra weather is just like Provence, where lavender thrives (even seen what they sell in “l’occitane” shops? Mostly lavender based products). But here in NY, we often have -20 deg C for several days.

There are a few places in the world that have what is sometimes called “Mediterranean climate”. California, coast of South Africa, south east of Australia, parts of Argentina, and of course, most of the Mediterranean Sea’s coastal land.

[LaffingBear]

Mosquitos hone in on heat.

 

It's an interesting phenomenon to be with a group, and the mosquitoes eat some but not every group member. In families, the mother will feel she's being bitten more.... women have higher core temperatures.

 

Get a friend who is always warm and sweaty.

 

Joking aside.... just wondering... instead of showering off poison afterwards, would a cool shower beforehand have a mitigating effect on mosquito-attraction?

 

Mosquitos are much less of a nuisance here in NorCal, compared to everywhere else I've lived. I have citronella candles on my patio, and often dont bother to light them. There's a variant of geranium called mosquito plant... some here swear by them, others proclaim its nonsense. I've never tried them.

 

I visited a friend in Alaska, we went salmon fishing in a river. Five minutes in, my friend announced "uh oh, I forgot the Deet." Five minutes later, we were leaving, quickly. It really felt like survival, that the mosquitoes would eat us alive. The memory tempers my reaction to the occassional bite.

[+ Pensant]

Here in the Puget Sound area, lavender thrives. I have it all around my place. Never see mosquitoes here in the summer. Although I’m not usually there in the summer, I also live in the city in the upper South, and the spraying must keep them at bay, since I haven’t suffered a bite in years.

[Guest]

Ok, a lot of interest and proposed solutions, which is great, thanks everyone.

 

Since I have access to power right where I sit, I am going to start with this product: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0773527P7/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 and see if it works. I’ll report back.

 

In case it doesn’t work, can you spray DEET around you, like on the floor in a circle around your chair, instead of on you?

No, DEET only works on your skin. Permethrin kills on contact, and I will spray it on my headgear, clothing, netting, etc. Don’t spray permethrin on skin.

[Guest]

A 40% DEET spray will wipe the dual oxidized film off your headlights in 60 seconds. Spray, wait, wipe, shiny like new headlights!

What is dual oxidized film?

[+ José Soplanucas]

Probably the best thing to do would be, instead of choosing ONE, apply a combination of the many suggestions you got in this thread, yummy @Tarte Gogo .

 

A whistleblower Mosquito

[samhexum]

Microsoft founder Bill Gates is pouring $4 million into a project to create killer mosquitoes that destroy each other through sex.

 

It’s a bold bid to curb malaria, a deadly disease typically transmitted through the bite of infected mosquitoes.

 

Gates will use funds from his own charity organization – the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation – to eradicate malaria “within a generation.”

 

The plan is to create genetically-modified male mosquitoes that mate with their female counterparts in the wild.

 

Only female mosquitoes bite (bitches!) so Gates’ army of gene-engineered male mosquitoes would be safe to humans.

 

What’s important is that these male mosquitoes contain a self-limiting gene that gets passed onto female mates.

 

When the females give birth, their offspring will die before adulthood thanks to the gene.

 

Mosquitoes only start biting people once they’re adults, so given enough time, the danger of blood-sucking female mosquitoes could be eradicated.

 

This means it would be possible to stem the spread of malaria through mosquito bites.

 

They’re developed by a UK company called Oxitec, which has dubbed the creations “Friendly Mosquitos” — although their female mates may disagree.

 

Oxitec has already created gene-engineered mosquitoes to deal with the Zika virus.

 

In some areas, the wild populations of Aedes aegypti (the mosquito that carries Zika) have been reduced by 90 percent.

 

But the malaria-carrying Anopheles mosquitoes require a new genetically-modified breed to mate with.

 

Oxitec’s killer sex mosquitoes are expected to be ready for trials by the end of 2020.

 

However, not everyone is happy about the prospect of genetically-modified mosquitoes being used to prematurely terminate their offspring.

 

Oxitec’s work has been heavily criticized by Friends of the Earth, a charity dedicated to protecting the environment.

 

Back in 2012, Friends of the Earth’s Eric Hoffman said: “Trials of its mosquitoes must not move forward in the absence of comprehensive and impartial reviews of the environmental, human health and ethical risks.”

 

In a statement at the time, Friends of the Earth said: “The GM mosquitoes are intended to reduce the wild population by mating with naturally occurring mosquitoes and producing progeny which don’t survive, thus reducing the population and therefore the transmission of the tropical disease dengue fever.”

 

“The company has been widely criticized for putting its commercial interests ahead of public and environmental safety. Its first releases of GM mosquitoes took place controversially in the Cayman Islands, where there is no biosafety law or regulation.”

 

“Oxitec staff have been closely involved in developing risk assessment guidelines for GM insects worldwide, leading to concerns about lack of independent scrutiny and conflict of interest.”

 

But Bill Gates is a long-time supporter of Oxitec’s work.

 

Back in 2010, he gave $4.9 million to Oxitec to help fund early work on killer mosquito projects.

 

He has extensively funded work on eradicating malaria, a disease that kills around 440,000 people every year.

 

Complications that threaten human life including swelling of the blood vessels in the brain, a build-up of fluid in the lungs, organ failure (of the kidneys, liver or spleen, anemia and low blood sugar.)

[Wunder82]

Back in my college days, I found several articles about Thiamine as a good mosquito repellent. The botanical sources stated that mosquitos stay away from plants high in Thiamine. I took 200mg-400mg daily for a month an then visited my hometown on July 4th - height of mosquito season. My friends and I were sitting chatting at dusk, they were swatting skeeters right and left. I on the other hand was off limits to them.... They would fly in to about 8-12 inches of my body and fly away. We laughed about this until it was discovered that I was also reeking of a foul odor because of sweating while out in 100 degree weather. The extra Thiamine was not only coming out in urine, but every sweat gland on my body! Some of the plants high in Thiamine include: onions, broccoli, Brussels sprouts... I was a cute little onion back on that day!!

 

College coursework and presentations over the years: DEET is the number one recommended repellent.

[+ bashful]

NY suburbs

 

Sounds like your suburb doesn't have mosquito abatement. My suburb sprays near water areas (creeks, ponds, etc.), and I pay for it on my tax bill.

[instudiocity]

What is dual oxidized film?

Auto-korreck’s effort to confuse dull with dual