Mosquito Dunks

One of the easiest ways to reduce mosquitoes in your yard and garden is to use mosquito dunks.

Mosquitos act as disease vectors, which means they carry the disease with them and share it with you when they feed on your blood. Zika virus, Dengue fever, malaria, yellow fever, West Nile virus, encephalitis and canine heartworm can all be introduced from a single mosquito bite. They can also wreck a family picnic in short order. [As a child, I spent an entire Easter vacation in bed because my mother thought I had chicken pox, when it was actually just a ton of mosquito bites.]

​Dragonflies love to eat mosquitos, but they only fly during daylight hours and they do nothing against mosquito larva. You may also be able to contact your local Vector Control office for free mosquitofish. Of course, eliminating standing water around the home and garden is important. Mosquitoes can lay eggs in as little as a tablespoon of water, tucked away in an old tarp, flower pot, or clogged window sill drain or rain gutter. If you have standing water that you want to keep, mosquito dunks can solve the problem.

How do mosquito dunks work?

Mosquito dunks are made out of a dried bacterium that mosquito larva love to eat. The bacteria kills the mosquito larva, but it is safe for people, pets, livestock, wildlife and plants. This bacteria, Bacillus thuringiensis ssp. israelensis, also called Bti, is also toxic to some moths, flies and beetles. Mosquito dunks can be added to rain barrels, ponds, and other water elements.

Mosquito dunks are approved for organic use. A single mosquito dunk lasts for 30 days and can treat 100 square feet of water. Each donut-shaped dunk can be broken into smaller pieces, depending on the area being treated.