Who is in favour spraying to keep the Mosquitoes down

[maggie]

I was reading the South are spraying to get rid of the Mosquitoes. The lake near Larnaca Airport is being plagued
by them. They reckon the spray they are using is not detrimental to health.
Maybe the North should start re spraying after all the illnesses they have caused recently in other countries.

[sophie]

To be perfectly honest I don't actually trust the North to use legal sprays. Well at least, not all of the time.

[wanderer]

I don't trust the mossies not to contract ZIKA and pass it on
SO SPRAY

[waddo]

Spray and be damned!

[mikelapta]

They are a big menace,get rid....SPRAY

[waddo]

More on Spraying!!! Had this sent to me by a friend and just wondered if anyone else has tried it yet?

Big bottle Blue, cheap, mouthwash, 3 cups of Epsom salt, 3 stale 12 oz cheap beer..... mix those three ingredients together until salt is dissolved... Spray anywhere you sit outside, around pools, will not harm plants or flowers... Mosquitoes gone from that area for approx 80 days! I spray my deck all around my sitting areas twice a summer.. Go out and sit in underwear all the time at night and never get bit... They leave that area you spray and will not come back... Been using this mixture last 15 years... It works.

That is what was sent to me and I will give it a go, apparently the stronger you mix the longer it will last, mosquitoes and bugs hate it and it has a nice mint smell as well - guess that depends on the taste of the cheap mouthwash - lol. Only downside to the whole thing is finding 3 stale 12 ounce beers!!

Before you start - that is all the info I have, I don't know if it works on sandflys or noseeums or rats or keeps pigeons off the roof, it probably will stop dogs barking at night but only if you hit them with the empty beer cans, it may stop cats screeching around the house, it will probably stain (or not) your pool tiles, it doe's not effect those with a nut allergy and it might be safe to drink provided you don't swallow it. Please direct all other questions to the Kibtek website if you can manage to log in - because I can't!!!!!

[Deniz1]

Our local council spray many times in the summer (Catalkoy)

[terry2366]

We get sprayed ever week around central kyrenia starting inapril.

[rocking]

I am in favour of spraying.

[Wookie]

Thanks for that Waddo anything is work a try as the mozzie love me............just a quick one can you use it inside as well without it staining tiles, fabrics etc.,?

[sophie]

Spraying doesn't affect this part of Alsancak in any case, the machine only comes about once every 3 months and by the time they get up to us the machine is empty. Mozzies have not bothered us much for the last couple of years, perhaps the higher up you go the less trouble with them?

[Groucho]

Cyprus was once a malarial part of the world... nobody wants that situation to occur once more I'm sure. Problems can be caused by poor water management and unattended swimming pools must be a factor that did not exist until very recent times in historical terms...

In the early 1900's Cyprus' Marshes were still the breeding grounds for Anophelines (malarial mosquitoes) but nowadays other sources of stagnant water could be a problem. They were eradicated by a small number of men (4) dedicated to the issue then - but if it returns who will act?

We are not far from Egypt and Ismailia, on the Suez Canal was a known breeding ground not far from Cyprus...and Cyprus hot spots in the past were Famagusta, Lefkosa (Nicosia), and Limassol.

They must spray to keep the problem at bay.

[kerry 6138]

Next door pool unattended last 3 years reported to beli many times full of pond life in the summer nothing ever happens?

[waddo]

A tablespoon of diesel/paraffin will cover the top surface are of a normal sized EWS (Emergency Water Supply), that is the sort of thing the military built all over the world - just a big concrete square about 5 feet deep and 10 feet each side. In the far east they were a breeding ground for mossy's and the tablespoon of diesel or paraffin used to be applied on a monthly basis. The mossy larva hang just on the water surface and live and breathe there, if you block of the water surface layer - that very thin layer you normally see water boatmen walking across - then the larva can not breathe and they just die off - no mossy's! As the water from the EWS was pumped from the bottom of the tank there was no danger of drinking it - normally. It was also used on standing water - puddles - as a way to reduce mossy population. I well remember seeing the little local guy out with his paraffin spray tank on his back wandering around the sites keeping the mossy's down.

[Groucho]

Paraffin is a naturally occurring oil found in shale rock and is very safe and is even used in internal medicines so a tablespoon on the surface of any water breeding mosquitoes is a very safe solution....

Kerry - a pharmacy should be able to sell you some, or use oil-lamp oil it will work just the same....

[SpongeDiver]

Presumably most English people know that Paraffin is known as Kerosene in most other English-speaking countries?

[Becker]

Will cooking oil not do the same thing?

[Keithcaley]

Will cooking oil not do the same thing?

Well, it's a lot 'thicker' (higher viscosity), so you would need a lot more of it, because it would create a much thicker layer on the surface, and all you really need is a very thin layer to cut of the air supply...

...and it's a lot more expensive!

You could probably cadge a tablespoonful of diesel for nothing!

[Ragged Robin]

The problem was they used to spray ındıscrımınately A truck fitted with a spray drove up and down the village street spraying everything on the street. If you were walking there was no way you could avoid breathing it in, and if you hands were engaged with shopping , dogs or children, no way you could guard your face ori protect your charges. A lot of the stuff also went in through the windows facing the street to add to the already lethal cocktail of petrol and diesel fumes etc already invading our homes, Spray by all means but have some warning (bell, whistle, siren) say half an hour in advance so those who might have special allegies or otherwise want to avoid direct contact can take cover,close windows, etc.

[Ragged Robin]

I have a nasty feeling I am missing something obvious here, but is not paraffin flammable? What happens if someone drops a match or a lighted cigarette in a tank treated with a film of paraffin.? Partucularly if the water level is high and not much air in the tank. Or is the film so thin the water will put out any spark?

[jofra]

To all intents and purposes, it is safe - consider an oil (paraffin) lamp or heater - a wick soaks up the paraffin, and the fumes from the wick are then ignited for heat and/or light. If you put a lighter to liquid paraffin it will struggle to stay lit. It only really catches light if it's soaked in a wick/cloth or if there's a high heat source (such as an existing fire). Even petrol needs to be in vapour form and mixed with oxygen (air) to be effectively flammable - this was demonstrated to me at a fire training course some time ago by a Fire brigade training officer (notably outdoors) when he dropped a lit match into a pan of petrol - the match was extinguished! Outdoor ventilation removed all the vapour as soon as it rose from the liquid! (He did say "Don't try this at home!)

[Groucho]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2002954/

For anyone interested to read up on Malaria in Cyprus' past...

[meldy]

I think they should spray

[Ragged Robin]

Thank Joffra I knew I was missing something!

So when you see films with people starting fires by sloshing petrol or paraffin around presumably the furniture acts as a wick and/or it is indoors with poor ventilation?

Incidentally I used to buy paraffin for lamps from nearest petrol station (remember to ask for Kerosine) but you had to take you own bottle to fill. Not sure if you still can.

Would not cooking oil, vegetable or animal, being edible fat attract other insects, vermin and even stray dogs and cats?

[Mimosanow]

I have been in Bogaz for three days. Rubbed antiseptic onto 71 bites this morning. Spray away, please!

[kerry 6138]

Some garages stock kerosene (gazi yagi)