How do you keep mosquitoes from breeding in a garden bird bath?
March 30, 2010 by
Filed under Bird Baths
I have three cement bird baths around my house. The birds make substantial use of them. When rain doesn’t supply the water for them, I do. But someone told me mosquitoes are breeding in these things and I shouldn’t use them. Is this true?
Change the water daily.
I’M Not Really Sure, They Like Water
Water that is moving will discourage,try small pump and tablespoon of bleach weekly
Change the water everyday, or add a pump to circulate the water. Mosquitos breed in stagnate water.
Any standing water can attract mosquitos and they will lay their eggs there. I don’t know of a product you could use, because the birds may get sick.
If you really like the bird baths, clean them out every other day-this way the mosquito larvae won’t hatch.
Pour some kind of oil on the baths, harmful oil like olive oil that you can use!
Incase it is true i would make sure to clean them out on a weekly basis. There really isn’t much you can put in the water that would be safe for the birds too. Even though it might be time consuming to clean them weekly it sounds as though you like watching the birds in them so it might be worth it.
The local gardening center has chemical that you can add to the water they just take a few drop every week to kill mosquitoes egg.
Mosquito Dunkers, not “donuts.” Mosquito Dunkers are a round donut-shaped product made to be dropped into small pools of water. Dunkers release a larvicide which kills mosquito larvae before they can become those flying adults, which always seem to be buzzing an inch away from my ear.
Mosquitoes need calm water in order to lay their eggs. So instead of adding ingredients to the water, all you need to do is stir the water up a bit and they can’t breed. That is why many manmade ponds and water gardens have waterfalls and fountains. It’s not only about the aesthetics or showing off. The motion created by the falls stirs up the water surface and prevents the mosquitoes from breeding. With that in mind several companies have developed devices that we can place into our bird baths that will stir up the water. One is called a “Water Wiggler” and just like the name suggests, it vibrates the water surface to discourage mosquitoes.
Now I’m going to let you in on a little secret. None of the above things that we’ve just discussed are at all necessary. Neither the oil, the donut, or the wiggler are needed to prevent mosquitoes. And why is that you ask? Because it takes at least a week, and probably longer, for a mosquito to go from an egg to adult. That means all you have to do is change the water in your bird bath once a week and you’ll never, ever have to worry about mosquitos in your bath.
Potted plants can be a much greater source of breeding mosquitoes than any bird bath. Those little saucers that we place under flowerpots, to catch extra water, are a great breeding grounds for mosquitoes. Keep an eye on those. That’s my little gardening tip of the week.
To keep mosquitoes from ever forming in your bird bath all you have to do is change the water once a week. But you had better attend to your bird bath much more than that. I say clean it out every day or two. If you don’t, then your bath will be unhealthy for both you and the birds. The only thing a gross bird bath will attract is Skeeter
Let a frog live in it.
mosquitoes breed whevever water remains stagnant. best way to avoid them is to change the water in the bird baths atleast once in two days.if possible, scrub the inside of the bird baths once in a week or two with the help of some mild soap. but be careful not to mix bleach , chlorine or other chemicals or oils in the water in an attempt to prevent mosquito breeding as tht harms the birds. if u can spare a little time in cleaning the bird-baths regularly, both u and the birds can be happy.
Clean them out with your garden hose. Most household water has some residual chlorine in it. That will kill mosquito larva.
Cement birdbaths are fine to use. You need to change the water daily and scrub the birdbaths weekly, as much to keep algae from forming as to keep the mosquitos from breeding.
Do not use bleach or oils in the water, as that can harm the birds. You can use bleach to scrub the birdbaths, but you must make sure you rinse them thoroughly.
Commercial products are sold in some garden centers to kill the mosquito eggs and larva, but you must read the directions very carefully to determine if you can use it in birdbaths. You don’t want to poison the birds.
mosquitoes breed in dirty water that has been sitting for a while. If you clean out the bird bath daily or every other day, you won’t have any problems.
What are you thinking putting bleach in the water??? Animals are drinking it! Just change it daily to severl times a week
I would change the water daily or every other day. Mosquitoes like standing water that has gone stagnet. this doesn’t need to be in a bird bath. Just spray your water hose on a hard spray to push the old water out and the fresh water in. Also standing water will create alge so the bottom would be green. That needs to be cleaned as well.
If the water is left unattended it will attract mosquitos.
Another thing is , if it is a shallow bird bath then the water will evaporate.