Saturday, March 12, 2011

Swallows for mosquito control in the summer

Trying to think ahead here, since spring will soon be here and we all know that means that the mosquitos will start returning with a vengeance. What to do? I’ve tried out every device out there with very little success. The only measure that seems to have made a difference are the anti-larvae tablets you can buy and stick into all the drain pipes.

This year I’m going to try a more natural solution. I bought a couple house martin nests (called “avión común” in Spanish, they are the kind of swallow that likes living near buildings and is apparently common in this area) from Jardinitis. We used to have a lot of barn swallows around the house where I grew up, and they make a big dent on the insect population. Hopefully the tiger mosquito will be included on the menu.

We’ll see how it goes. Supposedly they will arrive in the next month or so from their annual migration to Africa and hopefully some of them will find the nests that I’ve put up.

If anyone has had any experience in this area, please share!

2 comments:

Alan Brooks said...

Did your Purple Martin idea work? We have heard the PM's don't really eat that many mosquitoes.

santcugat said...

I guess I didn't get the placement right this year and didn't get any swallows. So the results are inconclusive.