Mosquitoes in Sedgefield

Living between two lakes and an estuary has its price on a still summer evening. A lot of it can be cut down without going near the water.

You can't do anything about Swartvlei, but you can do a great deal about the mosquitoes biting you on the stoep. Many of the ones that find you at dusk hatched within a short flight of the house, in water you may not know is there: a rainwater tank with a loose lid, a sagging gutter, a pot saucer, a boat cover, a pond with no fish in it. Clear those, then treat the shady plants, the space under the deck and the walls where adult mosquitoes sit out the day, and evenings outside become pleasant again.

We do mosquito control for homes, holiday houses, guest houses and function venues in Sedgefield and around the lakes.

Water you might not have noticed

A mosquito needs only a few centimetres of still water and about a week of warm weather to go from egg to biting adult. Around Sedgefield houses, check:

• Rainwater tanks. Gaps around the lid, an unscreened inlet or an open overflow pipe let mosquitoes in to lay eggs. Fine mesh over every opening stops them
• Gutters and flat roofs that hold water after rain
• Boats, canoes, trailers and covers, where a puddle collects in a fold
• Pot saucers, buckets, wheelbarrows and children's toys left out in the garden
• Ponds and water features without fish to eat the larvae
• Bromeliads, whose leaf cups hold water for weeks
• A pool that's been left without its pump running

Tip out what you can, cover or screen what you can't, and flush the bromeliads with the hose once a week through summer.

The lakes and the estuary

Reed beds and the quiet margins of Swartvlei and Groenvlei breed mosquitoes too, more so in warm, windless weather. We don't treat the lakes or the reeds. Open water and wetlands are left to nature, and they're also home to the fish, frogs, birds and dragonflies that eat mosquitoes. What we do is make your property a poor place for mosquitoes to rest and breed. Houses right on the water get more visitors, and a series of treatments through summer works better there than a single visit.

How we treat

1. A walk around the property We look for every spot where water stands and larvae can breed. Anything that can be tipped, covered or screened, we'll show you.
2. Resting places A residual treatment on dense shrubs and hedges, under decks, on shady walls, in carports, behind water tanks and under the eaves. Mosquitoes landing there during the day pick it up.
3. The house Advice on screens, gaps around doors, and which rooms to keep closed at dusk.
4. Repeat visits Homes by the water can have them through the warm months, or a single one before an event.

Holiday homes and rentals

Arrive in December after months away and the gutters, a green pool and every pot saucer have been breeding mosquitoes for weeks before you unpack. A visit a week or two before you come down, as part of holiday home pest control, deals with that. For rentals, ask the cleaners to tip out standing water at each changeover; it takes two minutes.

Boats, kayaks and the boathouse

Plenty of Sedgefield households keep something that floats. A boat on its trailer under a cover collects rain in every fold, a canoe left the right way up becomes a bath, and the bilge of a boat that hasn't been out for a while can hold enough water to breed in. Store small craft upside down, pull covers tight or prop them so water runs off, and pump out the bilge after rain. A boathouse is a perfect daytime resting place too, cool and dim, so we include it when we treat.

What not to spend money on

Ultrasonic plug-ins that promise to repel mosquitoes, and blue-light zappers on the stoep, do very little to the mosquitoes biting you. The zappers mostly kill moths and beetles, including the ones that feed the bats and birds that eat mosquitoes. Spend the money on screens and a good fan instead.

Inside the house

Mosquitoes are weak fliers. A ceiling fan over the bed or a pedestal fan on the stoep does a surprisingly good job of keeping them off. Close doors and windows at dusk if they aren't screened, keep the lights off near open windows, and in a baby's room a net over the cot beats any spray.

What it costs

Property size, how much thick planting and water surrounds the house, whether boathouses and outbuildings are in, and one visit versus a summer series: those set the price. A town house with a small garden is quick. A large property on the lake edge takes longer and benefits from repeat visits. We'll look first and quote.

Their life cycle is explained in the mosquitoes profile, and the regional mosquito control page covers the Wilderness lakes too. Other Sedgefield services: pest control in Sedgefield. Ring 044 012 5011 or ask us to come out.