Don't Let Mosquitoes Take Over Your Bay Area Property: A Comprehensive Guide For Homeowners

Mosquitoes in the Bay Area are irritating pests. One way they're irritating has nothing to do with their bites and everything to do with the frustration of selecting control methods that just don't work. What have you tried? Have you used torches, candles, plants mosquitoes hate, or some other form of repellent? If so, you may have noticed that they don't work well. Why? It has to do with how motivated mosquitoes are to bite you. A common misconception is that mosquitoes feed on blood to survive. But this isn't true. Mosquitoes eat nectar and plant sap. The reason they bite may likely surprise you. Only female mosquitoes bite. They do this for one reason: Reproduction. Since reproduction is a strong motivator, you're going to have a hard time deterring those females. So, rather than trying to figure out how to keep mosquitoes away, we say, "Let them come!" What? Are we serious? You bet we are! When mosquitoes enter your yard, they'll find resting places. In these zones, your local pest control service provider can easily eliminate them. Doing this routinely through mosquito season can help make your yard feel like it is mosquito-free. But there is a bit more to mosquito control than this. Join us as we give you a quick guide to help you deal with mosquitoes and prevent mosquito bites. If you'd like to speak with someone directly, remember that your Bay Pest team is here to help. Call or write to us for information about service options and mosquito pest control in the Bay Area. We'll get you going in the right direction.

Why Mosquitoes Never Seem To Go Away Around The Bay Area

Mosquitoes pop up over and over again in swarms. Some years, it feels like they never go away. Why does it feel this way? There are a few facts to consider. Let's quickly break them down.

Diapause: Insects don't hibernate; they enter a state called diapause, which looks a lot like hibernation. The primary difference is that a hibernating animal wakes up according to a biological clock. An animal in diapause will wake up when environmental conditions are favorable. For mosquitoes, warm temperatures are often the trigger. The temperature at which mosquitoes start to slow down and enter diapause is around 60 degrees. When it gets down to 60 degrees, you may not see mosquitoes in your yard, but you're also not likely to be out in your yard when it is 60 degrees out. So, while mosquitoes are dormant, you may also be dormant. When temperatures rise, and you go back outside, you can immediately find mosquitoes buzzing around because they wake right up when temperatures are favorable again.

Swarms: When you go out into your yard, it doesn't take long to start seeing a swarm of mosquitoes, even after a cold spell. When a female mosquito lays eggs, she doesn't just lay one or two. She lays a hundred at a time. When those eggs hatch, larvae emerge. The larvae of mosquitoes don't fly around in the air. They are wiggly worm-like critters that live in water. Entomologists call them wigglers. The wigglers grow into tumblers (mosquito pupae) and eventually form into adult mosquitoes with wings that take to the air. The process of going from egg to flying adult takes about a week and a half. So, at any time of the year, a swarm of mosquitoes can appear in your yard in a very short time.

Persistence: Mosquitoes are a constant part of the landscape when there is no pest control. If you see them all year long, one big reason is that you aren't taking steps to prevent mosquito reproduction on your property. What can you do to minimize mosquito activity? We're glad you asked. 

What You Can Do To Minimize Mosquito Activity On Your Property

While many Bay Area residents look for ways to repel mosquitoes, the real secret to keeping mosquitoes away is to reduce the number of mosquitoes on the property. How does it keep mosquitoes away? It doesn't. But it feels like you're keeping them away. Here's why:

• Mosquitoes don't fly from yard to yard looking for their next meal. The mosquitoes that bite you when you go outdoors are mosquitoes that live on your property. When you reduce mosquitoes, you have fewer mosquitoes trying to bite you, and it feels like you're keeping them away.
• Mosquitoes don't fly around in your yard waiting for you to come out. They rest in your landscaping. When you alter conditions that invite them, you can reduce the number. That will make it feel like you're keeping them away. 
• Mosquitoes can't see you when you come out of your home. They have poor eyesight. So the mosquitoes on your neighbor's property aren't going to fly into your yard when you go outside. The mosquitoes you address in your yard are the mosquitoes that plague you in your yard. It is just that simple.

How can you minimize mosquito activity? There are a few factors involved. We touched on them, but let's dig a little deeper.

• Mosquitoes come into your yard for reasons that may surprise you. The most important is available food. If you have weeds in your lawn with little flowers on them, mosquitoes will drink the nectar and draw the sap out of the stems. Addressing those weeds can reduce a food source that will cause mosquitoes to encroach upon your property.
• When mosquitoes enter your yard, they'll look for a place to rest. They prefer to hide underneath the leaves of landscape plants and have a preference for humid vegetation. You can reduce these areas by cleaning your gutters, plucking weeds, trimming bushes, and removing leaf litter.
• Female mosquitoes that enter your yard are going to look for a place to lay eggs. They lay their eggs in stagnant water. If you locate and remove breeding sites, you can prevent females from laying eggs and creating hundreds of mosquitoes on your property.

All of these steps help to make it feel like you're keeping mosquitoes away. When you add personal mosquito bite prevention on top of these natural steps, you can get the level of protection you need. Let's take a look at personal prevention. 

How To Avoid Getting Mosquito Bites This Summer

When you step outside, you are a target for mosquitoes in the Bay Area. But there are a few ways you can outsmart mosquitoes and prevent mosquito bites. Here are a few effective mosquito bite prevention tips.

• Mosquitoes are attracted to sweat, high skin temperature, and carbon dioxide. If you run around or do hard work in your yard, you'll likely catch the attention of mosquitoes because you'll increase all of these factors, so it's important to protect yourself during exertion. 
• Mosquitoes are looking for skin to land on. If you wear a shirt with sleeves and pants instead of shorts, you'll reduce the amount of skin mosquitoes can easily land on.
• Mosquitoes are deterred by a strong wind, even one that is created artificially. When you're relaxing on your back deck or near the pool, a fan can help keep mosquitoes away.  
• Avoid going out at dawn or dusk. Many mosquitoes are most active at the beginning and end of the day. It is best to just stay inside during times of high activity. Mosquitoes come out at dawn and dusk for two reasons. These are the times of day when the sun is low in the sky, and mosquitoes can use the bright skyline to locate your dark silhouette and land on you. These times are also when mosquitoes aren't going to dehydrate from direct exposure to the sun.
• If you must go out during high mosquito activity, netting is the solution to keep you safe from their bites. You can purchase a net that goes over your whole body.

While there are illnesses spread by mosquitoes, most of the time, bites only lead to itchy wounds in the United States. If you know what helps mosquito bites go away, you can get relief faster. Our recommendations are to apply a cold pack to reduce the swelling and irritation, use an antihistamine cream, and apply aloe vera.   

How To Take Back Your Bay Area Yard From Mosquitoes

As you consider what to do about mosquitoes, remember that you're not alone. Bay Pest offers effective mosquito control in the Bay Area. We can apply a treatment to get rid of mosquitoes before an important outdoor event or apply routine treatments through mosquito season to give you relief all year long. We want to help you find the right control solution for you. Jump to our contact page and tell us about your mosquito concerns. Let us know the level of protection you need and what your expectations are. We have the experience to help you get the results you want. You don't have to live with mosquitoes plaguing you in your yard. Contact the mosquito experts and take your yard back.