The local newspaper reports that there are 2000 cases of Dengue Fever in our area. It is a disease spread by mosquitos. Since there are no screens on the windows and our apartment building is not tight, there are mosquitos in my room. I could try to spray, but I have opted for organic pest control.
On the reality show “Billy the Exterminator” Billy advocates for organic pest control. I have seen him use Eungenil oils mixed with fatty acids, Silica Gel powder (it sucks the moisture out of bugs) and Pyrethra Fog (the oil from the Chyrsanthumum plant). These products work in some situations, but I think that if you are dealing with something major, like termites, you need to get out the big guns.
Each year, the chairman of the board and I have to decide what to use for pest control in our garden. Someone told her that diatomaceous earth dust would stop the harlequin beetles from eating the broccoli. It has not worked for us. Our solution in Northeast TN is to plant broccoli in March and in late August. The first crop is harvested before the beetles get started and the second crop grows after they give up for the year.
When I came to South Asia in August, I passed through the capital city. In the hotel dining room where I had breakfast, they used organic pest control techniques. A man walked through the dining room with one of those bug zappers that looks like a tennis racket. Have you ever used one? They are a lot of fun. There is nothing more satisfying than hear the zzzz when you get a mosquito. When we lived in West Africa, I noticed that mosquitos like to hide amongst the dirty clothes during the day. In the morning you shake the laundry basket and get them as they fly away.
In my present situation, since the chairman of the board is not here, the laundry is in a pile in on the floor rather than in a basket. Unfortunately, I do not have one of those tennis racket bug zappers. I have opted for another organic pest control technique. There is a hole in the bathroom wall where an exhaust fan should be. It is a mosquito highway into my bedroom. I have hired the spiders you see in the picture above to make their web across the hole and catch any mosquitos that try to come in.
Adventures in Suburbia 