I personally steer away from the chemicals, the trick is to find where they live/breed and eliminate it. No standing water means no mosquitos. If the standing water isn't something you can get rid of for whatever reason, then use those donut things in the body of water, this prevents them from breeding.

We also have lots of torches that we use citronella in, candles, etc, and I have a plant that supposedly repels them. No idea if it actually works though! We have a pond and keep fish in it at all times.

Honestly your best bet is prevention, be aggressive about finding and eliminating ALL bodies of stagnant water.

What state do you live in? Here in Florida it's normal to have to screen your pool in. We back up to a nature preserve and we'll definitely have to install a screen room just so we can enjoy the pool w/o having to worry about getting attacked by mosquitos. Is that an option for you? I know they aren't attractive but in Florida it's a necessity. Our next door neighbors didn't screen their pool in and I rarely here them using the pool in the early evening hours. I think they tried chemical options too but haven't had any luck.

Hi, the mosquito magnets do work, but take time. You need to have them up and running by April, so that they eliminate the females before the population has a chance to increase. You also have to set them up wind....female mosquitos (look for blood vs males...nectar) fly up wind while they are hungry looking for the source of water vapor and C02, once they are full they loft along with the wind back to their source. At this point I would use a chemical method at least once to get the population down, then keep my magnet running to eliminate the new population as it starts to grow. Citronella, etc are also marginally helpful.

good luck

Thanks for all of your suggestions. We live in NH. Our next door neighbors have a vernal pond that doesn't usually dry up until about July. Luckily, we do seem to get a lot of wind through our neigborhood. It's dusk that's the worst.

Has anyone used that pyrethum or lemon eucalytus oil and what are its applications?

Can you sneak some fish and/or those donut things into your neighbor's pond?

No, it is vernal pond which is a natural pond created by snow melt and rainfall. It will dry up by the middle of the summer.

Ok, maybe not fish then, but you could definitely put some mosquito donuts in there, they contain bt which keeps the larva from reaching maturity. Easy and inexpensive way to cut down on the population if you know the source.

It certainly is a "do no harm" option, and will more than likely cut down significantly on the population in your yard.
http://www.composters.com/rain-barrels/mosquito-donuts_172_10.php

My wife gets eaten alive...
We are going to try Garlic concentrate spray. It is an organic blends of juices, mainly garlic. It smells for about 4 hours, but is supposed to last up to over one month.
I do know that we used this stuff when I worked at a large commercial nursery. we sprayed plants with white fly infestations, and could do it right up until shipment. There is no re entry interval for the stuff.
We will let you know if it works or not.

We live in Houston and had the same problem until we had a mosquito system installed. It is basically a 50 gallon drum with chemicals in it with a timed gadget that has it spray 3 times a day. The chemicals flow into tubing that is all around the perimeter of my yard (on the fence). It had little spray jets that allow a fine mist to spray out. It actually works! We had the magnet thing (bought at Sam's one year), spent $250 on it to kill 3 mosquitoes. A BIG waste of money! It does not kill flies or no-see-ums though.

linday12, where did you find such a device?

We actually won a backyard makeover from Richard's Total Backyard Solutions and they sent the company out. I looked in the phone book just now though and there are several companies under "mosquito misting systems". There is no maintenance other than having the tank refilled when it gets empty. Ours lasted the whole season. It came with a remote control so you can give the yard an additional spray when needed, such as before a party. I think you will agree that it's money well spent. Just remember that it only gets rid of mosquitoes. It took about a week to notice that it was working too.

Linday,
what chemicals are you spraying on yourselves 3 times per day?

We don't spray anything on our skin. The misting system sprays the air 3 times a day.

Hi all, I have looked into these also, they sound interesting. There is a company here in MA which is making a killing putting these inn. Quite expensive from what I have heard, but if they work....worth it. The chemicals they use are botanical pesticides....essentially Pyrethrins from the Chrythanthemum flowers.

Regarding the mosquito magnet.....I have used it for a few years and it does help significantly, depending on your location, wetlands, etc....you may or may not trap many mosquitos. I know that when I first set it up...I was catching large jars full of mosquitos about every 3 weeks, my friends couldn't believe how many I had. Never had to buy fish food again...lol

Linday12...how much did you system run may I ask? and do you really think it works well ? thanks
David

I have a mosquito misting system that seems to work very well. We live in south Louisiana and my back yard borders on wetlands. We have not had any problems with mosquitoes so far - doesn't work so well on deer flies though. There are newer generation systems that use the same chemical - some form of pyrethrins - but it uses a concentrate that gets mixed on demand so you don't need a 50 gal drum and don't have to worry about the chemicals settling to the bottom of the drum. We a small box that is maybe 18 x 18 inches that is installed next to a hose bib. Paid 2500 for the system, we have not had to replace the chemicals yet but it costs around 150 for the refills which are supposed to last around 3 months. The company we used is MosquitoMax but there are other tankless systems as well.

David, yes, I am very pleased with how it works! We were out of the chemical at the beginning of the season and I was getting eaten up. My husband went to a company that sells the chemical and bought it for $92 and put it in himself. It took about 4 or 5 days until I noticed a reduction in mosquitoes. I was outside in or near the pool most of today and didn't get bitten once. I'm trying to locate the business card to give you a name. I can't remember since I didn't arrange it, someone else did.I believe the value listed for taxes (we won a pool, kitchen and the mosquito system)was about $2000. The newer system chandlers is talking about sounds good. Our tank sits next to the pool equipment and when it mixes it's louder than the pump. Not a big deal though. I'll try to locate the name of the company although I think it was a small one just here in Houston.

I spray "Backyard Fogger" around the yard and patio before any pool party/event. It does a very good job keeping mosquitos away for about 4 hours. I think its by Cutter or something, but you can get it at Target or a hardware store for around $6. I have unwanted bats too, I don't know if they help with the bugs - but I would definitely NOT try to attract them unless you are interested in being dive-bombed by bats starting at around 5pm every evening. Nothing kills a pool party like bats dive bombing a pool full of kids - thats based on personal experience! I'd get rid of them if I could, so I would not recommend going the bat route! The chemicals seem to work great for me.

One bat can eat up to 10,000 mosquitos in one night! The bats will not bother you, even though they appear to be dive bombing you. Chances are, they are diving towards you to catch that pesky mosquito that is homing in on you and your guests.

My one gallon of concentrated garlic juice just arrived. I will post back after we use it a while.
One gallon is $85, and lasts for 5 months for a yard my size. One gallon can cover 5 acres. Supposed to repel for 1 month. Also works for deer, rabbits, ticks, fleas...

Sounds great! Yes, please keep us posted on how the garlic juice works! We just had our pool finished and are looking forward to spending lots of time around it. But with our surrounding woodlands and over 1 acre of grass we get eaten alive!

The way to handle mosquitoes in the pool area is buy using Mosquito Magician. You set up the machine to spray, let say during the night, the next morning you can enjoy the morning by the pool without getting bitten by mosquitoes and it lasts up to two weeks. It's an all natural product.