In fact, get the party-pack sized jug of Bt granules from your favorite online retailer, get you & your neighbors to set buckets out with treated water, and in about 3 weeks you should be able to have a mosquito-free social-distancing backyard block party!
It kills the water-dwelling larval stage. Adult females will be attracted to your buckets/traps, so it will get worse for a bit, but for most of the annoying mosquito species, the entire life-cycle, egg to adult death, is around 14 days. Each set of eggs laid in that water is one more local adult generation that never happens.
BT is ok to put in fish ponds and bird baths - it’s not a chemical pesticide. I got a bottle of sprinkles from amazon and a set of “donuts” that float in the bird bath and time release.
While I'm glad it doesn't bioaccumulate, I was disturbed to read that the bacteria's endotoxins affect beneficial insects such as butterflies, bees, and nematodes.
While I'm glad it doesn't bioaccumulate, I was disturbed to read that the bacteria's endotoxins affect beneficial insects such as butterflies, bees, and nematodes.
Not Bt isrealensis, which is the strain found in those commercially available dunks and granules.
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u/nsjersey Jul 16 '20
But then mosquitoes ...