Mosquitos

Biting flies and mosquitoes are coming out. Mosquitoes can breed in moisture as small as a soda or water bottle cap, so vigilantly inspect your yard for breeding sources, swings, kiddie pools, tires and toys that collect water. For mosquitoes an integrated pest management program is critical. Focus on reducing breeding habitat (water) by eliminating standing water, keeping gutters clean and using repellents if outside at dusk and screens on windows. Mosquito dunks, or larvacides, such as the small donut shaped bacillus thuringiensis dunks are available at hardware stores and are widely used around homes in standing water, like rain barrels. They have no effect on other organisms, except they kill all stages of pupating mosquitoes, not just the final pupation like growth regulators do.
-Lauren Greenhow, General Manager, GreenHow, Inc.
www.GreenHow.com. Effective Organic & Low Impact Solutions, Lawn Care, Pest Control & Termite Control in Newton and Metro Boston

Gutters and Biting Flies (Mosquitoes)

Mosquitoes and biting flies such as the small, but painful biter called the no-see-um, will soon be here, usually arriving in late June as we begin to enjoy the warm dusk outside. Reduce wet vegetative matter is critical to mosquito and biting fly control, that means treating with dunks catch basins on your property and eliminating potential breeding sites. Look for water collecting in tires, planters, cans, trash cans, children's toys, even forgotten cups or pet bowls hiding under tables or play area equipment. A critical and often overlooked area is the gutter. We install the Leaf Defier to keep debris out of the gutter and to keep mosquitoes and biting flies from using the gutter as a site to lay eggs. Even if you don't want to install a solid product like the Leaf Defier, keep your gutters clean and catch basins clean and dunked (with Bacillus thuringiensis isrealensis) to reduce the biting fly population around your home.
-Lauren Greenhow, General Manager, GreenHow, Inc.
www.GreenHow.com. Effective Organic & Low Impact Solutions, Lawn Care, Pest Control & Termite Control in Newton and Metro Boston.