Pyrethrin thermal fog & sprayer OT

I have often wondered what they eat when I'm not around. (O:

They drive me nuts in the evening when I want to swim. Have been considering placing a tee in the return line from my filter and setting up a spray to produce a continuous spray over the center of my pool. I tend to think that it would lower the water temp and some water loss to evaporation.

Anyone ever try something like this?

What country are you in? There are about six dozen entries in

manufacturers of Pyrethrin mosquito repellent coils, mosquito repellent gel, mats, multi purpose sprays, "All kinds Of Mosquito Repellants Like Mats, Coils, Liquid Evaporator, Liquid Spray And Aerosol, Electrical Device For Mats", etc.) Pyrethrin coils and vaporizers are in common use there, and seem to work. Although pyrethrin is not allergenic (per ) it can be contaminated with pyrethrum, which is. Also the coils (like ) aren't healthy indoors: .

-jiw

If you put a valve on the sprayer so that you could turn it off when you were not using the pool, it would keep evaporation and cooling to a minimum. Whether you'd have enough pressure in the filter return to get a decent spray is another question.

Or you could build a belfry, cast some nice bells for it (metal content...) and invite a bevy (flock?? herd???) of bats to take up residence in it.

A friend of mine was once the curator of a museum that sat alongside a river at the edge of a forest. We spent many a pleasant hour sitting on the museum porch on a warm summer evening, talking and watching the bats soar overhead. But then some high ranking idiot in the employ of the state (which owned the museum) ordered the bats exterminated. In short order, the swarms of mosquitos soon became so thick that it looked like a bit of fog rolling in. Needless to say, there was no more sitting out on the porch...

Home Depot, etc. At least here in SE Florida. Search for "fogger" at

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It is just a mineral oil fog generated by a small propane burner. There's a small amount of pyrethrins in the oil, but as far as I know it's just the oil that is annoying the critters. No different that what's been around for the last 100 years. Inside my screened enclosure it is good for purging any insects that have "leaked in", but in the actual open outdoors, the slightest air movement dissipates the fog and brings in a fresh wave of insects.

You guys make me grateful I live in Western Washington! We have mosquitoes here too, of course. I think I saw one a week or two ago.

GWE

A world with no skeeters...I can't imagine! I have looked into building bat houses, only to do some research and find that some group had built them with absolutely no takers. I see bats from time to time in other parts of town, but they must not like the menu offered in my yard as I haven't seen them here. Has anyone tried the device called mosquito deleto? Those mosquito magnet type devices are SO expensive and the reviews show at best a mixed result. That's why I thought the fog might be worth a try! Maybe I should ask what HAVE y'all done that worked?

I think the mosquito is the state bird in these parts..... I utilize insect WMD's in a propane hot fogger that my dad got for fishing camp up in canada years ago. The fog mixture is Vapona and diesel. Chlorinated organo-phospate ---kick ass stuff that leaves em twitchin on contact . Hard to find the concetrate these days, a gallon will last several lifetimes. The residue last for a while too. We'd fog the camp site and it would be bug free for several hours, not recomended breathing the stuff.....Choose between a little bug spray or a west nile vacation hmm

DE

I have one of these (mine is MUCH older)

It has a propane heated tubing coil that heats a .5% pyrethin/99.5% mineral spirits mix. Squeeze the trigger, it shoots out an oil vapor that hangs in the air and clings to shrubbery. Smell is noticeable, goes away fairly quickly. Knocks down mosquitos in the air, penetrates into shrubbery where they hide, has some residual effect.

This unit is too small to provide much in the way of long term control. Seems to help if you plan an early evening yard party. Fog everything for 200' heavily just before guests arrive, you can expect a noticeable reduction in the critters. Not complete control but maybe half to 3/4 are gone. It does work.

Pyreth> I know I don't have to inform most that it's mosquito season once

I bought a Burgess fogger and thermal fog from W.W. Grainger. The fogger is a cheap vibrator type sprayer that sprays thru a electrically heated tube. The thermal fog liquid can also be used feeding it into a lawnmower engine exhaust.

If you have a W.W. Grainger catalog, it may not be listed. It is an item they only carry in the summer. Or that used to be the case. I have not looked lately.

Dan

jok18 wrote:

No need for a belfry. Build a bat house.

content: nails Karl

In 1987 we did some remodeling that temporarily left small openings to the attic. Bats moved in and when we finished the remodeling and evicted them, I built a bat house so they would stay around. Well, of course they didn't use the bat house! For 11 years it was empty and then they moved in. They moved into the attic in a matter of weeks, but it took them 11 years for the bat house!

Our small-town weekly newspaper is called "The Mosquito" in recognition of the town's most prominent resident. A lot of people buy mosquito magnets and a lot of them wind up at the dump! Something as expensive as a M-M at the dump can only mean one thing: it didn't work. However, some people do have success with them.

Bob

I discovered the hard way Im VERY allergic to them. I sprayed my RV down in the LA area for ants, left for 5 hours. and returned to go to sleep. It was a very bad night.

Gunner

"Considering the events of recent years, the world has a long way to go to regain its credibility and reputation with the US." unknown

My wife came home one day with a box - a small bug zapper - and an indoor type. Both are at the shop. Both do their job.

The indoor is great - it is a down draft fan and a light. The basket taking in the bugs keeps them there until they starve. I just emptied it and the basket (1 1/2" deep and 4 or 5 inches in diameter) was full of flying beetles and the nasty types that sting. It sweeps the shop clean at night - being the only light. I pour it out on cardboard for the birds after a week or so. Funny - they like the free lunch.

Martin

In North Texas, Fort Worth: I bought a used Mosquito Magnet Pro last year. It has run since early Spring this year. I believe it reduces the local population by about half, and we still have to deal with the remained. Is it worth it? I think so. I can use one of those screw-the-bottle-on the-hose skeeter sprays and have a couple of evenings on the deck. Without the MM, it was only good for one evening at best after spraying.

I live in Austin, the home of Bat Conservation Intl and the largest urban bat colony in the world. What I have been told is that the key to successfully getting bats to move into your bat house is to hang more than one of them, facing different directions, at different heights, in different locations. The issue is that bats are very choosy about the temperature of their homes, so you have to experiment until you find the location with the best temperature. Once they have picked one, you can move the other houses nearby. It is not only the actual temperature, but also the way the temperature changes over the day and evening that matters to them...

This may seem fussy, but the benefit of having bats is huge - they eat a ton of bugs...

More info on the bathouse page under the projects tab at

America needs more bats!

They also need a "Clear field of fire" - and open area with something 30 feet of drop, so they can swoop down and out. Once I read that (somewhere) I realized my house probably wouldn't work. Too many trees.

- - Rex Burkheimer Fort Worth TX

Emmo wrote: