Dear All

Thanks for taking the time to reply to this - very helpful...

....of particular interest was Michael Berridge's post. With a sig of
www.british-naturism.org.uk he probably knows more than most about mozzie
bites....

Cheers

JP

(Nick Maclaren) in uk.rec.gardening said

In article ,
"Jez Phillips" writes:
|
| Grateful for advice or to hear from anyone who has experience of similar
| situation.

Yes, I have known people like that. It is they who are the problem.

I would agree.


| I have a pond in my garden. My neighbour is concerned that at dusk the pond
| attracts mosquitoes, which then go off to their house and bite them. I think
| they have suffered allergic reations to the bites.

Unlikely. Suggest that they fumigate their house against fleas
and bedbugs :-) Seriously, do they have a pet? There are also
lots of flying insects that are more likely to cause a reaction
than mosquitoes.

True


| They have suggested spraying DDT to kill the mosquitoes.

That figures.

| It seems to me that there is no action to be taken over mosquitoes breeding
| in the pond because I can't see the larvae in the water. Is that correct?

No. There would be little point in action even if you could see them.

| Is there anything I can do to stop them congregating at dusk. Place a
| mosquito net over the pond?
|
| When the mosquiroes fly close to the surfaceof the pond, are they drinking
| water from the pond?

They are unlikely to be mosquitoes, though they could be. Most
insects that flock above ponds don't bite; most of those that do
aren't mosquitoes.

| Are there any targetted sprays, organic products etc that will deal with
| this. There'll be no point havin a pond if DDT goes in there.

Effectively, no. You can kill mosquito larvae FAIRLY harmlessly
by dropping some edible oil on the water, but it does reduce the
oxygenation of the water.

I was always told to use something like a beaten egg. That way the
fish, or the other pond inhabitants could eat it.

Also if he has mosquito larvae it should be fairly easy to spot.

Sue & Bob Hobden wrote:

Now you presumable want to keep your wildlife pond and would not wish to
introduce one of the larger species of fish so may I suggest Sticklebacks to
take care of any larvae there may be.
Finally, I too suffer badly from some insect bites and therefore wear a good
insect repellent containing DEET, perhaps you could suggest they do to.


Unfortunately sticklebacks can be just as destructive to wildlife as larger
fish. They'll certainly take out newt tadpoles.
Anita

martin wrote in message

You can kill mosquito larvae by pouring a few drops of olive oil onto
the surface of the pond. The oil blocks the larvae's snorkels.


probably the most ecologically sound method if you don't have fish. I
always have some of those allergy tablets like Clarityn or Pirotin, and
take them for a few days after being exposed to insect bites, Certainly
stops them itching and they don't develop into huge swellings.

Mike
www.british-naturism.org.uk

Anita wrote in message
after Bob wrote:

Now you presumable want to keep your wildlife pond and would not wish to
introduce one of the larger species of fish so may I suggest
Sticklebacks to
take care of any larvae there may be.
Finally, I too suffer badly from some insect bites and therefore wear a
good
insect repellent containing DEET, perhaps you could suggest they do to.


Unfortunately sticklebacks can be just as destructive to wildlife as
larger
fish. They'll certainly take out newt tadpoles.


True they will eat tadpoles and other creatures, that's nature which is what
a wildlife pond is all about, but they would only take a few a day unlike,
say, a full grown Koi that would simply hoover them and everything else up,
plants and all.
--
Bob

www.pooleygreengrowers.org.uk/ about an Allotment site in
Runnymede fighting for it's existence.

Dear All

Thanks for taking the time to reply to this - very helpful...

....of particular interest was Michael Berridge's post. With a sig of
www.british-naturism.org.uk he probably knows more than most about mozzie
bites....

Cheers

JP

(Nick Maclaren) in uk.rec.gardening said

In article ,
"Jez Phillips" writes:
|
| Grateful for advice or to hear from anyone who has experience of similar
| situation.

Yes, I have known people like that. It is they who are the problem.

I would agree.


| I have a pond in my garden. My neighbour is concerned that at dusk the pond
| attracts mosquitoes, which then go off to their house and bite them. I think
| they have suffered allergic reations to the bites.

Unlikely. Suggest that they fumigate their house against fleas
and bedbugs :-) Seriously, do they have a pet? There are also
lots of flying insects that are more likely to cause a reaction
than mosquitoes.

True


| They have suggested spraying DDT to kill the mosquitoes.

That figures.

| It seems to me that there is no action to be taken over mosquitoes breeding
| in the pond because I can't see the larvae in the water. Is that correct?

No. There would be little point in action even if you could see them.

| Is there anything I can do to stop them congregating at dusk. Place a
| mosquito net over the pond?
|
| When the mosquiroes fly close to the surfaceof the pond, are they drinking
| water from the pond?

They are unlikely to be mosquitoes, though they could be. Most
insects that flock above ponds don't bite; most of those that do
aren't mosquitoes.

| Are there any targetted sprays, organic products etc that will deal with
| this. There'll be no point havin a pond if DDT goes in there.

Effectively, no. You can kill mosquito larvae FAIRLY harmlessly
by dropping some edible oil on the water, but it does reduce the
oxygenation of the water.

I was always told to use something like a beaten egg. That way the
fish, or the other pond inhabitants could eat it.

Also if he has mosquito larvae it should be fairly easy to spot.

Sue & Bob Hobden wrote:

Anita wrote in message
after Bob wrote:

Now you presumable want to keep your wildlife pond and would not wish to
introduce one of the larger species of fish so may I suggest
Sticklebacks to
take care of any larvae there may be.
Finally, I too suffer badly from some insect bites and therefore wear a
good
insect repellent containing DEET, perhaps you could suggest they do to.


Unfortunately sticklebacks can be just as destructive to wildlife as
larger
fish. They'll certainly take out newt tadpoles.


True they will eat tadpoles and other creatures, that's nature which is what
a wildlife pond is all about, but they would only take a few a day unlike,
say, a full grown Koi that would simply hoover them and everything else up,
plants and all.
--
Bob


In most garden ponds thats still enough to wipe out the year's production
of newts. In the wild newts are hardly ever found in ponds which have
sticklebacks. That not to say you might not choose to have sticklebacks
rather than newts in your wildlife pond but you are unlikely to be able to
have both.
Anita

In article , A.Malhotra
writes
In most garden ponds thats still enough to wipe out the year's production
of newts. In the wild newts are hardly ever found in ponds which have
sticklebacks. That not to say you might not choose to have sticklebacks
rather than newts in your wildlife pond but you are unlikely to be able to
have both.

But are you sure it's that way around? We started out with lots of
sticklebacks, lots of frogs and two newts. Two years down the line we
have one stickleback, lots of frogs, and 40 newts.

--
Kay Easton

Edward's earthworm page:
http://www.scarboro.demon.co.uk/edward/index.htm