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Uncle Marvo · 07-09-2007, 10:54 AM posted to uk.rec.gardening

In reply to TheScullster ) who wrote this in
, I, Marvo, say :

Hi all

Is it me or.........

For the past month, we seem to have been plagued by mossies.
Plagued is far too strong a word of course, but the night time ritual
now includes vacuuming upto a dozen of the things from around the
bedroom (they do infiltrate other rooms as well obviously).

Is there a known increase in numbers this year? Possibly due to wet
weather earlier in the year?

Living on a river like wot I do, I get more than most.

The larvae need somewhere wet and stagnant. They "hang" under the surface
tension (excuse all the wrong words) and then hatch, and then bite.

The best way to get rid (of the larvae) is to put a few drops of fairy
liquid on the water, this destroys the s/t and they drown. AFAIK oil doesn't
work so well, they need to breathe air through the s/t and they still can.

The best way to get them is legion.

o encourage spiders. Destroy the webs daily using a feather brush, they will
then build new, more efficient ones in the dusk, ready for the mossies.
o get an electric mossie killer. They really work, you put in a tablet and
plug it in the mains, it releases a gas which kills them (and also many
other smaller flies)
o get an electric swatter. Lots of fun.
o don't bother about mossie repellent. All it does is to mask your smell so
the mossies can't "see" you.
o invite friends round, then the biting will be shared equally amongst you
all. They prefer blokes to women, cos blokes don't wear perfume (not the
ones I know, anyway).
o scented candles seem to help, outside. You need lots of them. I use lemon
ones cos they have proved to do more good than the citronella ones, and they
smell nicer. There is a lady in Devon who makes them, can't remember her
name!

HTH

Unc