Mosquitoes After a Storm

Hurricanes are violent, nerve wracking storms to deal with, and just when you think the danger is over and you start the clean up around your house, you have to deal with the second storm. By that I mean the storm of mosquitoes and other biting insects as well as a possible swarm of bees that occur as a result of a Hurricane or heavy rain.

I know you ask yourself, where did these come from? They were not here before the hurricane. The answer is simple. They have been blown from their homes in trees and shrubbery and are usually thirsty, hungry, and to be quite honest, pissed off! You would be too.

Get Mosquito Control
The heavy rainfall we just experienced has made perfect conditions for mosquitoes to breed. Female mosquitoes lay their eggs in standing water and after the rain we just experienced there are plenty of places for them to now breed. We strongly recommend you dump out any water in and around your yard. Look for places such as wheelbarrows, children’s pools, old tires, water cans, garbage cans, and kiddies toys.

Clean your gutters of leaves that may have accumulated. These are all perfect places for water to collect. If there are things or places you cannot empty such as drainage ditches, bird baths, or low areas of the yard where water collects, we recommend you use a product called Mosquito Dunks. This is an all natural Larvicide that contains BT (Bacillus thuringiensis) and it kills the larvae of mosquitoes.

To control adult mosquitoes we recommend a general purpose insecticide to spray on your lawn, trees and shrubs. This will kill and repel them and make your yard an unsuitable resting area. We recommend a hose end applicator containing permethrin or Sevin. We also recommend a granular product called Mosquito Beater from Bonide. You apply this over your lawn or garden and it repels them.

Bees, Hornets and Wasps – What Should You Do?
As far as bees are concerned, we recommend you don’t kill them as they are very important to our ecosystem. Bees are responsible for the pollination of flowers and 1/3 of the United States food crops. Hornets and wasps also serve an important role in our ecosystem as predatory insects and as minor pollinators, but if you are in danger of getting stung, then by all means use a Hornet and Wasp Killer.

By performing these few easy steps you will help minimize the attack of biting insects and after a few short weeks their population will diminish back to normal levels. Hope this helps.