Mosquitoes

You all know it… the nights were you cannot sleep because you got a mosquito around you and just, just as you fall asleep it gets you again. These days it is not just the bite that borders us, it is the danger they can bring. Dengue fever, Malaria and other insect transmitted diseases are a part of our life in the tropics. I was never really afraid to get a Malaria or Dengue, as I feel my immune system is strong enough to deal with it. 10 years tropical life without any is a quite good proof that I do somehow the right thing. But still it borders me to get an itchy bite.

If you have children, you really want to make sure that they don’t get too many bits. But how? Kids tend to pull off their bedcovers. Legs, backs, tummies, arms are exposed… After many years now finally some people woke up and telling us not to use the usual mosquito sprays as they can cause cancer. Well, holistic people know it for more than 30 years! I never liked this smelly mosquito coils they put you under the table.

Once I lived for a while with a family where they sprayed all the rooms every evening. They closed all windows and than the kids in there for sleeping. I wonder what these kids might develop in coming years… Mosquito nets, might help, but sometimes not. And if you don’t wash them regular they can cause allergies and asthma from dust and mould. A mosquito incense might burn 2 hours and work well, but the rest of the night? I use them if I am out of the house. There are some wonderful natural brands around in the health stores in Bali and I have always some in my bag. Sprays? Tried so many and found only one ever which worked. I got it in the USA and it was 100% natural made from Lemon and Lemon grass. But one day the bottle was finished.

And the massive fumigation some areas had to go though? They did it twice around my area and it made me scarred. What are they spraying? No warnings! The mossies got even nastier after the fumigation. The butterflies and dragonflies which are eating them disappeared!!! We still have very little around. But still lots of mossies!

When I was a child we always spent our holidays in Italy or Spain. Lots of mossies there in summer! But from these times I always remembered the UV Light Mosquito Killers. Big boxes high up in the restaurant and each time one mossy was killed from the electric it made a loud “SSSSPPT”. For a long time I always had them in mind and looked around if I can find them here in Bali, but somehow I could not find them. Well, and than about 8 months ago I was in a supermarket just cruising around. And there they had them. Small ones. Just perfect for a bedroom. Cost 40.000R – 4U$.

What should I tell you? We got now 5 around the house. They on 24 hours a day and we have no mossies anymore. And no flies. They all get into “The Killer” and get roasted before they can get our blood. We need to clean them every 5 days or so, as the wires are full of mosquitoes. I guess we are killing around 300 mosquitoes a week. Most of them just baby mosquitoes. The white ones you don’t see or hear, but feel when they got you. If we adding this now for a year, we killing around 22000 mosquitoes. Mosquitoes which also cannot bread anymore. Adding this, we might cut down around 100000 mosquitoes around our house a year!

I put two lights out in the garden. They make a nice light out there and keep the garden free of mosquitoes. One is in my daughters room – which also keeps the bathroom free, as we have the door always open. One is in our bedroom and the other in the living area. Our house if full protected with just 220.000R. Two weeks ago we had no electric in the night… And they were back! Full attack for 1 hour, but than the electric came back and they were gone again. Cleaning takes just a few minutes every few days. Nothing eels you have to do.

Info: The little lights are attracting insects via UV light. The mosquito or fly is flying in and gets roasted on an electric wire. Make sure if you have them your kids cannot reach them! They use very little electric and have no pollution of the envoirment. They don’t kill butterflies as they to big to enter. Keep them on 24 hours, as they still attract the insect at daylight. I found them in Alfa and Hardy’s Supermarkets in Bali. (Perhaps they can put them again on promotion – one of my lamps I got for 20.000R during a promo. Should have bought all the stock!) Update: Someone saw some big ones in Mata Hari - Cost 100.000R

My neighbors saw them in my place and I told them how they work. Guess what? The whole Gang I live in got them now. And it makes me very happy, as in each house are lots of kids! No more sprays and coils!

Let me know if you see them somewhere eels! Buy some for your Balinese friends or staff. Let everybody know how easy it is to protect your self from mosquitoes. They in long term such an inexpensive and save solution that they pay of their costs within 2-3 months. My hope is to sit soon in a local Warung and hear the “SSSSPPT” again....

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