Candles & Coils

“It is the wonderful Mosquito / Pest season again. The heat rises, the moisture in the air gets higher and the Mosquitoes come out the keep us “entertained”. Now comes the old game of who can damage who first. Will the Mosquitoes or the humans be the winners, stay tuned for the answer.” This could be an announcement on a local small radio station from an anker with a sense of twisted humor followed perhaps by a commercial from the local hardware store at the onset of summer.

All joking aside however, mosquitoes and other insects can make us thin skinned humans miserable not to mention ill. It isn’t a flight of fancy of a horror story writer to state that Mosquitoes kill more people then any other animal. For that reason we see some backyards with an entire arsenal of mosquito repellent devices worthy of a military facility. Even if we can not win the warfare on many other things like drugs and terrorism, we are way ahead on the fight against Mosquitoes. Just think we have a guaranteed win on our hands as long as we don’t do it sloppy.

And here is your battle plan, all hands on deck! Mosquito Nets, Mosquito Magnets, Electronic Mosquito Magnets: check. Let us take a closer look at those Mosquito repellents. What makes them work and more importantly do citronella candles really repel mosquitoes? First off you must understand what makes the mosquitoes pack their “bags” and head for safer ground. It is the smoke, be it from a mosquito coil nestled in its mosquito coil holder or a mosquito candle. Even a campfire or a cigarette does the trick. That is the catch even the best meant brands like off mosquito coils and their handy dandy off mosquito coil refills only work as long as you are in the area that the smoke covers. No smoke = mosquitoes!
The other downside is that lets be truthful mosquito candles are having a repellent affect for people How long can you stand to sit beneath a mosquito coil or in any kind of prolonged smoke? If a strong wind happens to blow you can hang it up as well.

So does it work? Yes, it does, but it isn’t the product on the market. However, coupled with natural oils such as lemongrass, citronella and eucalyptus that you can rub on your skin coupled with the mosquito coils or candles you might have a low cost defense system. Mosquito coils can be found easily online in multipacks for anywhere between $5.00 - $12.00.

If you wish to make the combination oils on skin and smoke around you, just make sure you keep yourself oiled up and in the smoked area. You will be just fine.