Rocky View County’s (RVC) ‘fight the bite’ program, which aims to monitor and control mosquito populations in the county, has been kept busy during its freshmen summer with June’s flooding and ongoing wet weather.
The program was launched in May and will continue through the summer months, with pilot projects in Bearspaw and Langdon, areas where there is a large amount of standing water.
Jeff Fleischer, agricultural services team lead for the County, said the number of mosquitoes in Bearspaw have fluctuated week to week due to varying weather conditions, but provided little detail beyond that.
RVC employs a method called larviciding, which controls mosquitoes by targeting them while they are in the larvae state on the surface of the water.
There are three stages to ‘fight the bite’: identify ‘hot spots’ where significant larvae populations exist; apply larvicide; and monitor and reapply larvicide when necessary. Several active ingredients have been used in larvicide; some of the more common agents include bacterial insecticide Bacillus, insect growth inhibitor Methoprene and organophosphate insecticide Temephos.
Oils and films in the larvicide spread across the surface of the water causing the mosquito larvae to drown. Tablets, pallets, granular and briquettes can also be used. County council has approved $45,000 to be used to initiate ‘fight the bite’ for a second year and $50,000 to conduct the program in Bearspaw.
Fleischer said he was not sure if the County would continue the program during the summer of 2014.
“We can’t say yet,” he said. “The program is still going until September, after which, staff will review the results.”
Other methods of mosquito control Fleischer encourages residents to attempt include putting a bat box in your yard. Bats eat between 600 and 1,200 mosquitoes each hour. Residents can build their own bat box or purchase one for $30 from RVC.
The use of CO2 traps can also control mosquito levels, as well as wearing long sleeve shirts, using bug spray that contains DEET and covering infant carriages and strollers with a protective mesh. Eliminating standing water is also essential to controlling mosquito populations.
