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Talkback: Water butts and hoverflies

Surely if your water butt has a lid on it, mosquitoes can't take up residence and breed? My house has a water meter, so a water butt in the garden is an essential!
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  • greg 4greg 4 Posts: 38

    I have one of those 210 litre green garden water butts. It's linked to automatically top up my mini pond. It has a cover and there are no mosquitos in it. I have another 2 butts just 20 feet away and they're rife with mosquito larvae.

  • DaintinessDaintiness Posts: 988

    Bob Flowerdew keeps  goldfish in his water butts to eat the larvae.

  • artjakartjak Posts: 4,167

    When I worked in Barbados, a local Nursery owner told me they never had saucers under their plant pots as we do here as any standing water would encourage mosquitoes. I can't understand why a lidded water butt would have mossys. Greg, are the other 2 butts with lids?

  • oldchippyoldchippy Posts: 244
    My daughter had mosquitoes in her water butts with lids on ,the man next door had a large pond the fish in it and froglets he said put some froglets on the lid and see if they clear them, and it worked as they could get in the down pipe hole in the lid.
  • greg 4greg 4 Posts: 38

    No, the other 2 are not covered.image

     

  • artjakartjak Posts: 4,167

    I think lids are the way to go gregimage

  • flowering roseflowering rose Posts: 1,632

    imagethey will breed in any standing water,they will get in any tiny opening and water left lying about in pots or buckets will encourage them to breed that s why its important to empty any water lying about in pots and empty the water butt  ever so often.

  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 27,445

    A layer of oil, just a drop, it spreads across the top and they can't get their breathing apparatus through it and suffocate



    In the sticks near Peterborough
  • artjakartjak Posts: 4,167

    I agree, in the US they have a constant battle with the mossy that spreads Dengue fever, luckily it only moves North about 100 yards a week I think. I believe that there and in parts of Africa they use a spray that changes the surface of the water. It stops them from reproducing. image

    Here in the Fens, historically, there was a form of malaria and the Fen people grew Opium Poppies to combat the disease. image

  • flumpy1flumpy1 Posts: 3,117

    I've put an old pair of black tights over the top of my water but, its stopped all creatures and flies dropping in image

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