Great for quickly killing off mosquito larvae before they have a chance to become an adult.
Great for long term mosquito larvae population control.
Great for stopping mosquitoes from laying eggs in your rain barrels.
The best thing to prevent mosquitoes from breeding around your house is to remove all stagnant water.
Unfortunately, it’s not always possible to remove stagnant water from your property. Whether by design (birdbaths, rain barrels, garden decor, etc) or by accident; stagnant water will appear.
So the next best thing is to kill a mosquito when it is still a larva and the two best products that will help you kill these mosquito larvae are Mosquito Bits and Mosquito Dunks.
They both contain the same active ingredient: Bacillus thuringiensis subspecies israelensis or Bti. According to the EPA, Bti is a bacterium that produces toxins that is deadly to the larvae of mosquitoes, black flies, and fungus gnats but not to other insects or humans.
The EPA does not specifically state that Bti is not harmful to wildlife, they focus more on honeybees, however, the CDC released a pdf specifically stating that “Bti will not harm people, pets, and other animals, aquatic life, or other insects, including honeybees.”
The Bits are for the “quick kill” in order to eliminate mosquito larvae quickly due to the fast release of the bacteria while the Mosquito Dunks slowly dissolves releasing the bacterium over time.
You can, of course, use Mosquito Dunks and Bits for your pond, however you can also buy some goldfish which will feed on the larvae. Goldfish are a great addition to any pond and you can actually use Mosquito Dunks / Bits in addition to goldfish to really ensure there are no mosquito larvae surviving.
A great way to prevent mosquitoes and other insects from using your rain barrel is to cover it with a fine mesh net.
Mosquitoes are best killed as a larvae not as an adult and nothing kills larvae quicker than mosquito bits. Sprinkle the bits on swampy areas in order to eliminate mosquito larvae populations quickly.
Mosquitoes dunks can be used in any standing water, if you have water that is less than 100 square feet, you can then break the dunk apart and use smaller chunks. Using a dunk after an initial treatment of mosquito bits works wonders in keeping your property mosquito free. After all you cannot have mosquitoes if you keep kill the larvae before the grow up.
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Although mosquito bits and dunks are completely safe for human consumption, another option for those of you with rain barrels is to use a fine mesh net that prevents insects from entering in the first place to lay their eggs. As a side benefit it will also prevent debris from entering your rain barrels.