I have found the yard spray to work the best, without one of the systems. However, like all things, timing is probably half the reason for success (post rain). You have to spray everything, not just the grass (Ivy, flower beds, under bushes, porch, little on the house walls and fences). For sure, wherever there is shade for them to hide during the day (mine hide in the ground cover).

If we are having an outdoor party, I will usually spray 1-2 weeks before and then 2 days before (scent dissipates)

Sounds like the best way to keep mosquitos out of your backyard is to make your daughter stay in the front yard.

Bifen XTS. Ortho Dial-A-Spray hose end sprayer.

Mow yard. Spray yard, house, eaves, bushes, up the tree trunks.

Keep the grass short, use bug spray.

If you're worried about bug spray and chemicals and sensitive skin, my wife made some kind of stuff with lemongrass oil and something else as a carrier, maybe isopropyl alcohol. We'd soak their kids down with that and it worked pretty well. Check out the internet for recipes.

That's about all that will keep her from getting bit or reduce the number. You're not going to make a hill of beans worth of difference unless you get all your neighbors within a half mile to soak their yards down.

We just accept the bites.

I buy bug spray by the case. Some times TSC has some nasty crap on clearance and you can get 12 cans for like 7 bucks!

Not at all. It does not wash away. It will last on to three months. Totally harmless after it dries. Good stuff.

However be aware.... Bifen XTS repels alllllllll bugs. So your spiders are gone, frogs, lizards, birds....everything leaves cuz the food is gone. So good bugs and bad bugs all stay clear.

Our home has a mosquito system that goes around the house and sprays 3 times every 24 hours. We haven't had a mosquito bite in 13 years of living here.

Install a bat cave in your front yard … they love mosquitoes…. Also import some lizards … they like them too

Caution on using Bifen XTS. That is the very concentrated form of like 25% or more of the product called Bifenthrin.
The regular Bifen is around 8%. As Grem says it kills all insects dead.
It is an oil based product that will stay in the soil for three moths or longer.
It is highly toxic to honey bees, fish and other aquatic species.
Follow the application instructions closely…and wear the appropriate PPE.

Appreciate someone pointing this out.

As a bug guy, Bifenthrin is good at one thing and it's killing most all arthropods.

However, first course of action is get rid of larvae sources (standing water), Passive controls (yeast+water hangers - Spartan and others) also tend to improve things but set them away from where you hang out as it's a trap and not a "kill" if you're in a neighborhood with close neighbors you'll never fully get rid of them due to lack of compliance from people around you.

The dynatraps (propane powered CO2 generators) do work, do they make a true difference in mosquito populations? probably and sometimes - but dependent on the situation.

But you've gotta remember again every neighbor that does minimal control and/or provides rearing habitat is hundreds or thousands of new mosquitoes that you'll never be rid of.

Under a cover porch, two of the smaller "table top" termacells work great when put out about 15 mins before we plan to go out and keeps them away while we are out, as it gets less concentrated (I.e. by the pool) it is much less effective.

Truth is, hard to get rid of them all. The mister systems certainly work, but they hammer all the other non-target bugs as well. And to be honest mass use of pesticides like that is how we will end up with toxin resistant skeeters.

The method above will change your life. All in, it will only run you a little over $100 with the sprayer system and a jug of Bifen large enough to last years (as long as you already own a leaf blower, I just use my standard Ego electric blower).

Try to avoid spraying while plants are flowering and pollenators are out to reduce collateral damage to the good bugs. Choose a day with little wind and preferably while the skeeters are out (dusk/dawn). Direct contact is not necessary to kill them, just works a little faster. I also try to pick a day that my kids will be out of the house/yard for a few hours and keep my dogs inside to give it plenty of time to dry. Hit every vertical surface (house, tree trunks, etc) and spray good up on the underside of the leaves and any other skeeter hideout you can think of.

Also, if you're on the lake you probably need to choose a day where wind is blowing away from the water and give a wide berth.

https://www.mist-pro.com/

Bifen I/T This is what i use but have heard good things about the Bifen XTS too so youll have to research the difference on that.

EFR said:

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HTownAg98 said:

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I have not had much luck with spraying. It works for about a week, and then they are back. However, I built 4 Mosquito Traps of Doom using the Bt dunks this year, and those seem to be working great.

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Tell me about these traps...

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Get a five gallon bucket, and throw in a couple handfuls of organic matter (leaves, grass clippings, etc.). Fill the bucket about half full of water. Add a quarter of a circle of these mosquito dunks. You don't need more than a quarter of one of those circles, and more is just wasting it. Add a wooden stick that sticks out the top of the bucket (this is to allow critters to escape that may fall in, and also allows mosquitos that like to lay their eggs on wood above the water a place to lay them). Place the bucket somewhere shaded where mosquitos like to congregate, hopefully not where you like to congregate. Top off water as needed, and add another quarter of the dunk every 30 days.

The premise here is the rotting organic matter offgasses CO2 that draws in the mosquitos. They lay their eggs, and the Bti bacteria in the dunks are ingested by the mosquito larvae when they hatch, killing them. And the water is non-toxic to pets and other animals. I do cover mine with chicken wire to keep the golden retriever with one brain cell from drinking the water or tipping the buckets over. Set out as many of these as you need. I made one with a nicer plastic planter to put in a flower bed so it looks a little better than a blue plastic bucket.

Bifen IT is a 8% concentration, water based and non staining.
Bifen XTS is a 25% concentration, oil based and will stain.

The obvious answer is never NOT lasers

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Absolute said:

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I think I will try the buckets of Doom traps idea. Makes sense. I have been putting out the Spartan traps for years since discovering them. Not really convinced they do much.

My wife swears by some lotion she gets, not a specific repellent lotion. I have to admit it does seem to help. I will find the name.

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Avon Skin So Soft.