Is it spring yet?
It’s not at all while I’m writing this – but hopefully by the time you’re reading it, there will be no doubt about it. So, let’s talk about spring, shall we?
I’m sure you’ve heard that the longer you leave your leaf litter and other yard debris, the better it is for the many small insects and critters that have over-wintered in them. Even if you just can’t help yourself, you can still help by raking into an area where you can tolerate a bit of a natural mess.
Things like that help – but the biggest difference we can make for pollinators, aquatic life, and fireflies is to not use broad-spectrum pesticides in our yards to control mosquitoes and ticks. Some people will tell you these products are safe – they’re based on chrysanthemum dust, they don’t spray when the bees are there, and so on.
And they are – relatively – safe for people and pets. Once these products dry, there are no concerns about being in the yard. Unless you happen to be an insect, aquatic life, or a critter that eats insects or aquatic life.
I won’t bore you with the actual labels – if you’re interested, you can easily find them online. The two products most commonly used are Dragnet and Prelude. Both offer residual “protection” for four to six weeks after application, which is why they will still kill the bees even if the bees weren’t around when it was sprayed. Spraying every four weeks throughout the summer means that every insect that lands in or crawls through your yard will be exposed. And yes, even though you’ve had it sprayed, you’ll still see bees, dragonflies, and other insects.
Care to hazard a guess why? Larger insects need a bit more – so they’ll flit around doing what they do, and each time they land, they’ll pick up just a bit more until eventually they get enough of the pesticide to die. It’s kind of like the difference between treating spongy moths proactively versus waiting until they’re full-grown and up in the leaves – it takes a tiny bit when they’re tiny, but a lot more later.
What frustrates me about mosquito and tick control is that there is a better way – one that doesn’t kill a blessed thing, not even the mosquitoes and ticks! It uses garlic, which they hate the smell of, to repel them. They can smell it for much longer than we can; we only smell it for a couple of hours when first applied, but mosquitoes can smell it for three to four weeks.
When combined with tick tubes and good water management – treating or removing standing water – it works effectively enough that even my least pest-tolerant customer loves it. He had been using one of the Dragnet companies for years and resisted even trying my approach. But it works, he says, even better than the other products did.
So why doesn’t everyone use it? My guess is that it’s less predictable for applicators than conventional pesticides. Rain can dilute it, so sometimes extra treatment is needed, which can be inconvenient and cut into profits. Perhaps there’s also concern that admitting the truth about pesticide impacts might make people resist their use in the environment. Not sure that would be a bad thing, actually.
Don’t get me wrong – I use those products too, but they are rarely my first choice.
In any case, if you are inclined to sign up for mosquito and tick control this year, I hope you’ll consider saving the bees. And if you have the opportunity, please let others know they can have effective mosquito control without harming the environment. Because caring for our environment matters.
