Program Information
The CSRD currently administers mosquito control programs for the reduction of the nuisance effect of mosquitos in:
- Golden and Electoral Area A
- Revelstoke and Electoral Area B
- Scotch Creek (Program cancelled for 2022)
Morrow BioScience Ltd. provides the program in Golden and Electoral Area A and BWP Consulting Inc. provides the program for Revelstoke/Electoral Area B.
An update on the nusiance mosquito situation in Golden and Electoral Area A for Spring 2022 is available.
If you have questions about the CSRD's program, which uses, a bacterial larvacide to control mosquitos, see the Frequently Asked Questions below:
Program FAQ
Concerned about catching COVID-19 or other diseases from mosquitos? Your questions may be answered in this Frequently Asked Questions specifically focused on mosquito disease transmission.
Disease transmission FAQ
Suspension of Mosquito Control in Scotch Creek - 2022
The CSRD will not be conducting mosquito control in the Scotch Creek area for the 2022 season.
The newly elected Chief and Council of the Little Shuswap Lake Band (LSLB) recently decided to withdraw the mosquito control program from the service agreement between the CSRD and the LSLB and will no longer allow treatment to take place on their lands in the Hilliam Road area of the Scotch Creek Indian Reserve.
The mosquito control program will not be effective in addressing the nuisance mosquito issue if the areas of significant mosquito breeding habitat on the Band lands and Shuswap Lake Provincial Park and campground are removed from the treatment program.
As a result, the CSRD is cancelling the program which would have started in the spring. The mosquito control program in Scotch Creek was previously cancelled in 2020. However, following citizen complaints and discussion with BC Parks and the previous Chief and Council, the program was reinstated in 2021.
Policy and the program
Mosquito control programs administered by the CSRD are developed and delivered to address the control of nuisance and annoyance factors associated with mosquito activity. The Regional District's mosquito program is not directed at controlling or addressing the health impact of mosquitoes, including in relation to the West Nile Virus. The Regional District will not be investigating, responding to or in any way addressing the potential health impact of mosquitoes as part of this program.
Mosquito Facts
- Mosquitoes need standing water to develop.
- Mosquito habitats include ponds, sloughs, river flood plains, and tidal marshes.
- Man-made habitats include ditches, tires, bird baths, unused swimming pools, boats, eaves troughs.
- Only females bite because a blood meal is required for egg production.
- Some female mosquitoes take multiple blood meals and produce several generations during a single season.
- Only one mating is required to fertilize a lifetime of egg production.
- Mosquitoes can live from one to two months and others over winter to live up to a year or more.
- Mosquitoes can travel up to 20 miles.
- In the Canadian Arctic, mosquitoes can bite at the rate of more than 1,000 per minute.
Myths about Mosquito Control
Repellents
- Sound and Electric units are marketed with no test results and these devices have no repellent effects
- Citronella (plants and candles) - there is no data to support claims - pleasant odour does not guarantee results
- Skin Moisturizing Oil - field tests do not support claims
- Mosquitoes are 30 times more sensitive to DEET than to skin moisturizers
Control
- Bug Zappers - mosquitoes comprise less than 50% of the catch and usually kills more beneficial insects than mosquitoes. Bug Zappers actually attract mosquitoes.
- Birds - ornithologists state Purple Martins and other swallow-like birds do not like to eat mosquitoes which make up less than 3% of their diet.
- Bats - bat diets consist mainly of beetles, wasps, ants, flies, stoneflies, mayflies, moths and grasshoppers. Mosquitoes make up less than 10% of their diet.
Tips to Reduce Mosquito Annoyance
Since mosquitoes need water to complete their life cycle, the source of a mosquito problem can be just about anywhere water can collect. You can help reduce mosquito populations around the home by eliminating these sites and by:
- removing discarded containers from around your property;
- replacing water in bird baths and livestock troughs regularly;
- cleaning clogged eavestroughs, drain pipes and ditches; and storing boats, canoes and other objects so they do not collect rain water.
Mosquitoes are attracted to humans because of the heat, the carbon dioxide we exhale and fragrances in items such as soaps, perfumes, lotions, hair treatments and other personal-care products. To reduce the annoyance of mosquitoes:
- install and maintain tight-fitting window and door screens to help keep mosquitoes out of the home;
- wear light-coloured, loose-fitting clothing; and remember that heat and moisture from barbeques attracts mosquitoes;
- after cooking, move away to enjoy your meal.
Break the Cycle
A pro-active control program concentrates efforts on the physical and biological control of larvae before they become a nuisance. The most permanent prevention of adult mosquito annoyance is through the physical reduction of the problem, at the source. Where draining and filling of wetlands and other mosquito habitats is impractical and undesirable, overall reduction of adult mosquitoes is best achieved through larval control.
Biological control using the product VectoBac 200G and Vectobac breaks the cycle by controlling larvae. This material contains a naturally occurring bacterium commonly known as Bti (Bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis). It has no harmful effects on beneficial insects, frogs, fish, birds or mammals.
Contact Us
Golden/Electoral Area A
Morrow BioScience Ltd.
TF: 1.877.986.3363Revelstoke/ Electoral Area B
BWP Consulting
TF: 1.866.679.8473
Contact Us