How to keep your food away from your food

You have perfected the bark on your pork shoulder, you have made sure that there are vegetarian alternatives that people will really want to eat, iced in hard and soft silts, arranged with the tablecloth and fantasy “clogging” utensils and welded children with promises of ice cream. Only one thing could ruin your ideal garden barbecue this summer: the arrival of the most unwanted guests of all.

We are talking about mosquitoes, of course.

These airborne blood suckers can even drive the most robust guests inside and ruin an alliance outdoor event in less time than you need to itch. Preventing mosquitoes is of paramount importance for any barbecue, but sometimes the remedy may seem worse than the disease, and spraying and other remedies do not work or are worse than bites.

But let’s not underestimate the danger of mosquitoes, which have killed more humans through history than any other animal, including other human beings. As a carrier of diseases, mosquitoes are responsible for 700,000 deaths each year, according to the World Health Organization, while humans are victims of the insatiable blood of mosquito women, a critical ingredient in the production of their eggs.

We asked Dr. Eva Buckner, assistant professor and a medical entomologist for popularization at the University of Florida, and an expert in mosquitoes control, on the most effective and safest means to keep your back and halt without skeeter without your guests tasting chemicals instead of Umami.

What you should not use to keep mosquitoes away

Natural repellents

There are many repellents of popular mosquitoes which are labeled “natural”, such as lemongrass and neem oil, but their efficiency and safety are questionable.

“” I always like to remind people that “natural” does not always mean “sure”, explains Buckner. “I only recommend repellents that contain an active ingredient recommended by the CDC and have been recorded by the EPA for use as repulsive applied to the skin.”

Consumer Reports Natural repellents have found that natural repellents were struck or missed in efficiency and warned that plants had high concentrations of allergens, quickly exhausted and potentially left you vulnerable to tick and mosquito disease. Wirecutter, on the other hand, called “terrible” essential oils as insect repellents and sounded a warning on the non-reglemente of the industry.

Foggers and Sprays

The same warning applies to chemical insecticides such as sprays and those intended to coat the vegetation. They work definitively to kill mosquitoes, but also tend to kill everything else, including the useful insects and insects that we like to have.

“Insecticides or diffusion sprayers … generally contain pesticides called pyrethroids or organophosphates, which will kill almost all the insects with which they come into contact, including pollinators such as butterflies and bees,” explains Buckner.

Mosquito reels

Mosquito reels work, but they also stink, which makes them less than ideal for a food event. What is worse is that research has shown that smoke from mosquitoes can increase your chances of obtaining lung cancer.

“The coils containing the allethrin, the metofluthrine and the transfluthrine have proven to be effective in repelling mosquitoes,” explains Buckner. “However, concerns have been raised regarding the potential negative impacts of smoke breathing to burn coils.”

Light -based mosquito traps

You’ve probably seen “bug zappers” at some point, these cylindrical or pagoda -shaped gadgets that use ultraviolet lights to attract flying insects, then electrocute them. But they do not remove enough mosquitoes to make a difference, and they involve a lot of collateral damage.

“Light -based mosquito traps will attract and trap the mosquitoes, but it is unlikely that they attract and trap enough mosquitoes to cause a significant decrease in the number of mosquitoes,” said Buckner. “Many insects in addition to mosquitoes such as butterflies and beetles are attracted to light sources used in light mosquitoes. As a result, many insects other than mosquitoes are killed by light mosquito traps. ”

What works to keep mosquitoes away

Source reduction

You can say that the most effective thing you can do to avoid mosquitoes also takes the most time and maintenance. If you have programmed your barbecue far enough in advance, you will have enough time to queue your backyard and remove and treat the places where mosquitoes like to lay their eggs: standing water bodies, no matter the size.

“Mosquito eggs need water to hatch and immature mosquitoes are aquatic,” says Buckner. “It is much easier to kill mosquitoes when they are immature rather than when they are adults.”

The best line of driving is to throw the water into containers such as pets, toys, buckets, flower pots, etc., and continue to do it at least every week. For objects that retain the water that you cannot really drain, like bird baths and plants such as bromeliads that trap water, you can use widely available pastilles containing bacteria killing larvae that do not make water dangerous for animals.

Fans

Mosquitoes are weak leaflets and they find human targets by following the carbon dioxide trails that we express. When the fans are fixed at a sufficiently high speed, but not only do they make mosquitoes more difficult to fly to you, but they also disperse carbon dioxide that pests use as a roadmap for your blood circulation.

Topical repellents containing deet or other ingredients approved by the CDC

Naturally, topical repellents only work for the people who use them, and you do not want to arrive at the point where you rub insects on people before putting a bowl of potato salad. But the topical repellents containing active ingredients approved by the CDC such as deet, picaridine, IR3535, lemon eucalyptus oil, para-menthan-diol and 2-foncéone are effective. Studies have also shown that mosquitoes seem to be more attracted to darker and brighter colors, so you can also cover the untreated parts of the body with loose clothes and covered with light (mosquitoes can bite through clothes tight by the skin).

Spatial repulsive devices using metofluthrine or transfluthrine

In recent years, mosquito enemies have been delighted with the introduction of thermacell products which send a hemispherical protective dome up to 20 feet in diameter. These devices spray an invisible, odorless and unusual mist of mosquito chemicals that are sure for humans. Even better? They should not affect the taste of your chow.

“Spatial repulsive devices containing the allethrin, metofluthrine or transfluthrine, such as thermacell products, are effective in pushing mosquitoes in a certain area surrounding the device during calm weather conditions,” explains Buckner, but the disadvantage is that the wind can blow the protection zone. Spatial repellents are the most effective in situations when you don’t move much and there is little wind.

Conclusion: So what is the best repellent of mosquitoes for barbecues?

In the end, the best repellant of mosquitoes depends on the specific circumstances you are preparing, you will therefore have to assess, then reassess what you need according to what is happening, as if the wind blows stronger or dies between the fruit salad and the hot dogs and the dessert.

“There is no device or repulsive product in a single mosquito that will work in all situations,” explains Buckner. “There is no magic solution to control or repel mosquitoes.”

That said, barbecues are stationary affairs, unless you count the burger as a serious movement, so in general The best mosquito repellent to grill is quite clear.

“I recommend using space repellents containing metofluthrine or transfluthrine if you stay in the same place like grills or eating outside on a porch,” explains Buckner. “They will not contaminate or change the flavor of your food.”

And that’s what science says is currently the best ways to prevent mosquitoes from ruining your backyard barbecue. Now, all we have to do is understand how to solve the problem of your racist uncles.

May 2024