I live in Winter Haven Fl on Lake Cannon. I am having problems with Lake Flies. Usually they are around for three or Four days about every Three months but since hurricane Ian in September they have been around my home and have gotten worse.
My neighbor has a company called Misquote Shield that sprays his lawn. He started spraying the first of September. I am not sure if this has anything to do with my problem with the infestation of lake flies but they have gotten worse since the misquote shield company has started treating my neighbors lawn.
Can you recommend anything that would control lake flies? What can we use to keep them away?
LAKE FLY SWARMS AND WHY THEY HAPPEN
Lake flies are in the midge or may fly family. They thrive in water like lakes, ponds and even saline waterways.
Depending on the species and the region of the country where you reside, massive hatches can happen just once or several times a year.
If you live close to the shore, your home can get covered by the hatching adults which don’t live long but will be mating and laying eggs.
BEST LAKE FLY TREATMENT
Lake Fly swarms are usually short lived but if you don’t want them around, you’ll need to protect your home and yard.
STRONGEST SPRAY FOR LAKE FLIES
To keep them off the house, spray all the siding with MAXXTHOR EC. These treatments will both kill any on the home and it will keep them off treated surfaces for a good 2-4 weeks.
To best treat, use our hose end sprayer so you get good coverage.
So add 1 oz of Maxxthor to the sprayer and then fill it with water. Next hook it to your hose, turn the water on and spray about 1-2 gallons per side of the home from the gutters down to the ground.
Our 6 GALLON HOSE END is easy to use and ideal for this task. It works by siphoning out the mixture inside.
Add 1 oz of the Maxxthor and then fill the sprayer with water. Hook it to your hose and turn on the water. When spraying, BE SURE TO KEEP A FINGER OVER THE HOLE ON THE TOP LID. This will create the vacuum needed so the mixture is “sucked” out of the sprayer.
Now if you don’t feel like pumping and pumping a regular pump sprayer or if you need to reach high parts of the home, consider getting one of our NO PUMP SPRAYERS. This unique sprayer is simple yet very good, easy to use and one of our “favs” for applying insecticides to your homes exterior and landscape (its too powerful for use inside).
Ideally suited for reaching heights of 40+ feet, it has no moving parts other than the valve you hold for spraying and the adjustable brass “bullet” nozzle.
This sprayer is essentially a tank that can hold water, chemical and up to 130 psi of air. The top lid has a clamp and rubber gasket that seats on the “inside” of the sprayer so as you fill it with air, the seal will naturally remain in place, nice and tight.
The top has 3 “ports” (pic below). The port to the far left is used to fill the tank with air. Using any electric air pump (the kind you would use the fill tires on your car), you can safely pressurize this sprayer up to 80 psi. The tank is rated for up to 130 lbs but the relief valve will only allow you to fill it to 80-90 psi before it starts to release. This happens as a safety precautionary action.
For normal use around the home, 50-60 psi should be enough for you empty the liquid from the 2.5 gallon tank assuming you only add 1 gallon of mixed product. True, the sprayer can “hold” 2.5 gallons of liquid but you need room for the air. Our tests show that 50-60 psi will pump out an entire gallon of spray allowing you to reach 25-30 feet heights.
For reaching 40+ feet or higher targets, pressurize the sprayer to 80 psi and again, mix up only what you plan on using and no more than 1 gallon of mixed solution at one time so the tank has enough room left to store all the needed “air”. One charge of 80 psi is enough to get the entire mixture to spray out so you don’t have to be concerned about constantly recharging.
The 5 GALLON NO PUMP can hold over 2 gallons of mixed material and can perform equally as well.
Remember, YOU WILL NEED AN AIR COMPRESSOR POWERFUL ENOUGH TO FILL THIS SPRAYER!! WE RECOMMEND ONE THAT CAN DO AT LEAST 100 PSI.
3 GALLON SETUP (remember to only fill it with 1 to 1.5 gallons of mixed solution to leave room for air)
(10% OFF WHEN ORDERING ONLINE)
5 GALLON SETUP (remember to only fill it with 2.5 (3 gallons max) if you want one tankful of air to pump it empty)
(10% OFF WHEN ORDERING ONLINE)
WATCH THIS VIDEO ON THE “NO PUMP” SPRAYER FOR OPERATIONAL DETAILS
BEST LAKE FLY SPRAY FOR THE YARD
Out in the yard, addressing their nest site will help cut back their numbers too. Since lake flies like to lay eggs in and around water, you’ll need something safe enough for use up to the waters edge. For these areas, use BITHOR applied in one of our mist blowers.
Bithor is odorless and one of the rare products that will kill both adults and eggs as it uses two actives. It can be used in place of the Maxxthor for on the home so if you decide to fog, using Bithor on the home and yard will get the job done for sure.
Mix 1 oz per gallon and plan on misting 1 gallon of mixture per 1/2 acre. Treatments will be weekly until you’re not seeing the swarms when applied using one of our MIST BLOWERS. Bithor will work quickly and both kill lake flies immediately and prevent them from reproducing successfully. Expect to treat once a week when they’re active.
For 1/2-1 acre lots, our BUGSPRAY FOGGER will do a good job. It will blow out a mist 30-40 feet and pumps a gallon every 10-12 minutes.
For 1-2 acre lots, our gas powered BACK PACK MIST BLOWER will be better suited. This unit runs off gas, has a 3+ gallon tank and will blow the mist 40-50 feet.
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