Possible mosquito repellant

[MamaSheepdog]

This is from FaceBook (I- um- kind of edited some of the text. Couldn't help myself.) I thought it might be worth a try for those of you that have skeeter problems. :mosquitos:

MOSQUITO YARD SPRAY

Big bottle Blue cheap mouthwash
3 cups of Epsom salt
3 stale 12 oz cheap beer
Mix those three ingredients together until salt is dissolved.

Spray anywhere you sit outside , around pools , will not harm plants or flowers.

Mosquitoes gone from that area for apprx. 80 days.. I spray my deck all around my sitting areas twice a summer.

They leave that area you spray and will not come back. Been using this mixture last 15 years. It works. Heard about this on a Paul Harvey segment years ago. Bugs hate it. Nice mint smell.

 

[MaggieJ]

Interesting . . . maybe we should try it. The skeeters aren't usually bad here during the day, but you can't comfortably sit out in the evening because the breeze drops.

We've been using crushed catnip here--it's a rampant weed here. I grab a handful and smush it up and then drop it on the ground near my feet. I also use it directly on my skin and (old) clothes. Good thing I rather like the smell.

 

[jeannie]

Will do this this weekend.. let you know
We have horrible mosquitos right now ... :evil:

 

[TF3]

inkbunny:
I think one should just drink the cheap beer and the bugs will matter less?

I live in Northern Ontario, in the woods.
These sorts of tips are great for the suburbs, maybe?
But here, no way.
We simply cannot go outside for several months and this year has been the worst.
Deet is often useless against the horrible monsters, here.

 

[MaggieJ]

I live in Northern Ontario, in the woods.
These sorts of tips are great for the suburbs, maybe?
But here, no way.
We simply cannot go outside for several months and this year has been the worst.

I know what the mosquitoes are like in the "near north", Lori. And you're right... unless you have a screened gazebo or a lake breeze, they are horrible. Spent summers in Muskoka as a kid and ten summers in the woods north-east of Bancroft as an adult.
:mosquitos: :mosquitos: :mosquitos:

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Will do this this weekend.. let you know

Great! Looking forward to the feedback.

We have horrible mosquitos right now ... :evil:

We don't- they are probably nearing extinction here in California, at least where I live, lol. Hoping for an El Nino year and the return of the skeeters here.

inkbunny:
I think one should just drink the cheap beer and the bugs will matter less?

Excellent plan!!!

And who has "stale beer" anyway?!?

I live in Northern Ontario, in the woods.
These sorts of tips are great for the suburbs, maybe?
But here, no way.

Well, other than the waste (alcohol abuse!!!) of a few cans of "cheap" beer, it seems like a pretty economical experiment. If nothing else, maybe you could spray yourselves?

Anyone know who Paul Harvey is? I have never heard of him. opcorn:

 

[TF3]

Paul Harvey used to do a radio show... "The Rest of the Story" and I think was a well known broadcaster?

Ya, Maggie, you know how it is!
It has been insane this year.
Our 1 acre is rimmed with trees, but if you stand in the center of the cleared are at noon on a 30 degree day, you'll be just fine!
Otherwise... you are inhaling them.
Thankfully we had almost no black flies this year, but the mosquitoes were so bad we were stuck in anyway... and I have learned that 'no seeums' BITE too!

MSD, you have many beer related ideas. hmmmm. :lol:

 

[BlueHaven]

Also from face book. IF you just attach a screen over the intake of a large fan(with magnates), you can catch thousands of them. Before you turn the fan off, just spray with watered down alcohol. Its far better than any other mosquito trap.

 

[a7736100]

How about bats or purple martins?

 

[Miss M]

Will do this this weekend.. let you know
We have horrible mosquitos right now ... :evil:

I await your results.

Anyone know who Paul Harvey is? I have never heard of him. opcorn:

:fainting:

How about bats or purple martins?

We have plenty of bats, and after two years we finally realized there were far too many mosquitoes for them to handle. :?

We've been using crushed catnip here--it's a rampant weed here. I grab a handful and smush it up and then drop it on the ground near my feet. I also use it directly on my skin and (old) clothes. Good thing I rather like the smell.

Our neighbor gave us some mint clippings (no idea which kind... I think perhaps spearmint). One day, out of desperation, I wished we had some catnip... and then realized catnip was in the mint family. Hoping perhaps all the mints had this magical power, I broke off a sprig and rubbed it all up and down my arms and all over my face and neck.

Since then, I've done this a number of times, and Galadriel started doing it, too. I think I've been bitten once after applying mint.

Still, with the sheer number of mosquitoes that started appearing, we finally got our Flowtron 1 1/2 acre (80 watt) bug zapper up and running. Now I can go outside and not even worry about mosquitoes. Haven't even needed any of the little pheromone things.

It has to be at least a 1 1/2 acre zapper to get mosquitoes. Lesser ones will not do it. Also, the Flowtron has way better reviews than the Stinger. We used to use two of them in Delaware, and had the same result.

 

[TF3]

I just heard a science piece on CBC about bats and mosquitoes and that the bat impact is actually very minimal

 

[MaggieJ]

Wow, Miss M! That is great news that mint works as well as catnip. I personally rather like the smell of catnip but I know that many people find it a bit much. Mint is so much more acceptable to most noses. :lol:

 

[Miss M]

I just heard a science piece on CBC about bats and mosquitoes and that the bat impact is actually very minimal

Huh, that's a pity. You hear about how many hundreds and hundreds of mosquitoes they eat in a night, and it sure seems like it would make a difference. I knew it didn't seem to for us, but I figured it was just us for some reason.

Wow, Miss M! That is great news that mint works as well as catnip. I personally rather like the smell of catnip but I know that many people find it a bit much. Mint is so much more acceptable to most noses. :lol:

I don't think I've actually ever smelled catnip, so I have no idea. I can't really smell the mint on myself, either... but others might be able to. I also have a very diminished sense of smell for a lot of things because of my allergies, so it may be that.

 

[jeannie]

Well, a mosquito bit me while spraying the potion... maybe it takes a few days to see a difference, but I'm not holding my breath :lol:

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

MSD, you have many beer related ideas. hmmmm. :lol:

I was noticing that, too!

Our mosquitos were really really bad here after all the crazy rain we got here in Texas, and my neighbor told me of something that works well for her - I tried it, and it does actually work. It's Johnson's Baby Cream, believe it or not. No bad smell, not greasy. I was sitting out with my chickens one evening and tried it - I went from being completely swarmed (I'm a mosquito magnet) to very little. One landed on me and seemed to be thinking about it, and then just flew away.

Relatively cheap, and not chemical-y, so worth a shot. (And you don't have to waste any beer!!! I never have stale beer... :lol: )

I'm totally going to try putting a screen on a box fan intake sometime...

Edit: It's the Cream, not Lotion. Here's a photo:



- Ant Farm