Every summer I worry about the many pests that invade our yard and home. Wasps build nests under the eaves of our house, swinging chair and in the ground. Ants of all sizes invite their relatives to move into our house for the season, and mosquitoes are highly abundant no matter how many bats we try to attract to our bat boxes.This year we have had days upon days of endless rain. Soggy weather is an open invitation for ants to move in to a home, and puddles are perfect breeding grounds for mosquitoes.
I worry about the dangers of West Nile virus, which is spread by infected mosquitoes, and can cause serious, life-altering and even fatal disease. I worry about my children and curious puppy getting stung by wasps, and in past summers, the ant population in our home has been so thick that I would have to vacuum up ant bodies daily. I am also particularly worried about Lyme disease, which both my mom and a friend have contracted over the past few years.
This year, I was invited to test the Mosquito 86TM Pest Eradication System. Mosquito 86 is a professional-grade mosquito elimination system that operates as an attachment to a common hand-held yard or leaf blower to turn it into an extraordinarily effective mosquito killing machine.
Developed and manufactured by Roll, LLC, Mosquito 86 integrates an ordinary leaf blower and a patent-pending spray system, which uses liqui-shear™ technology to disperse a water dilution of a permethrin-based pesticide solution known as Mosquito 86 “Agent E” into a fine mist.I was extremely concerned about the effects spraying this pesticide would have on humans, pets and the environment. After conducting some additional research about our health and environmental concerns on the manufacturer's website and the Dirt Therapy Blog, we decided to give it a try.
Mosquito 86 is most effective on mosquitoes, ants, biting flies, gnats, fleas and ticks. Mosquito 86 Agent E is EPA approved and safe around humans and pets.
After the first application, we noticed an immediate decrease in the amount of mosquitoes as did visitors to our home who knew we were famous for our large mosquito population. One application was not a good enough test in my opinion. Perhaps environmental changes were responsible for the decrease. The amount of rain in our area was higher than normal so we tested for several months, spraying every 1-3 weeks depending on how much rain we had.
I recently purchased four more 8 oz. bottles because I was so impressed with the results.
Our wasp and mosquito population decreased, and this was the first year in 11 years of owning our home that we have not been invaded by ants. Most days we can go outside and enjoy the weather without having to load up on bug spray.
I am not certain how effective the product has been on our tick population. My children attend summer camp where they are exposed to ticks. So far, we have only pulled one tick off the dog and none off the cats. The dog also attends doggy daycare so she could have brought her tick friend home from there.
Mosquito 86 is easy to operate. It is best to use the system right after dusk when mosquitoes begin to appear from the shadows and take flight. It will take about 15 minutes to apply Mosquito 86 to the average home. The manufacturer says that results are immediate, with the majority of local mosquitoes eliminated within 24 hours of the first use. This link to a video demonstration gives more info: www.mosquito86.com/video.php.
With any pesticide product it is best to exercise caution and do your homework especially when using around kids and pets. Children are far more susceptible to chemicals and pollutants than adults and the increased rate of childhood illnesses is cause for alarm. It is a "catch-22" when you compare the dangers of West Nile virus and Lyme disease to the spraying of pesticides. For more information, visit www.cehi.org/pesticides.html.
A full list of products can be found online at http://www.mosquito86.com/ where Mosquito 86 is sold. Mosquito 86 can also be purchased on http://www.amazon.com/, http://www.target.com/, http://www.northlineexpress.com/ as well as at independent retailers.
The Mosquito 86TM Pest Eradication System earns a Top Pick award from The Mom Entrepreneur. I will be a loyal consumer of this product for many summers to come.
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