Your First Line of Defense against Marauding Mosquitos
at around evening time of July 30th, 2007
My Dad used to call them Beasties lol. Annoying beastly little buggers that, they are.
Mosquitos are at their most active during early morning and early evening and enjoy gate crashing your barbies, buzzing maddingly around ears, leaving you and your friends slapping themselves silly trying to kill the little suckers.
First of all it would be wise to mention some obvious points:
- Empty all standing water from your garden as these are a hotbed for mosquito larvae
- Regularly change the water in areas such as wading pools, bird baths, etc
- Ensure your gutters are kept clean and drained
If you are having a barbeque, throw some rosemary onto the coals and instead of using traditional bamboo skewers for a kebab, try a woody stick of rosemary, it imparts a delicious flavour to food.
Burn neat [undiluted] Eucalyptus [Eucalyptus globulus] in oil burners where you and your guests will be congregating.
Whilst there are many chemical compounds readily available on the market that you can use, they can be more harmful to you and your family and the environment than the actual pesky pest.
In a New England Journal, a study on Eucalyptus at a concentration of 30% staved off mosquito bites for approximately 120.1 minutes.
To make your own natural and effective insect repellant try this:
20ml Soybean Oil
80ml Neem Oil
30ml Eucalyptus Oil
The Eucalyptus oil must contain the active ingredient cineole at a concentration of at least 70% in order for it to be effective.
Store in a glass amber bottle out of direct sunlight and out of kiddies reach.
Shake well before use and apply with a makeup remover pad to areas on your skin likely to be bitten.
Have you had success giving insects the flick? Share your success story with us.
