When should mosquito treatments start each year?
As soon as overnight temperatures stay above about 50°F and the first standing water appears, which for Lakewood usually means spring. Starting early keeps the first generation small. Most Lakewood providers open seasonal schedules in spring and run them through the first frost.
What does a mosquito inspection involve?
A walk of the full Lakewood property looking for water: gutters, drains, containers, low spots, tree holes, and anything under a tarp. The inspector also notes resting cover like ivy and dense shrubs. You should get a list of sites to fix and a plan for the ones a Lakewood provider will treat.
Will mosquito treatment kill bees and butterflies?
Barrier products are toxic to bees on contact. Good practice in Lakewood is to spray shaded shrubs and undersides of leaves, not blooms, and to work in early morning or evening when bees are inactive. Larvicides like Bti do not affect bees, so that part of a Lakewood program is not a concern.
What if the mosquitoes are coming from my neighbor's property?
You cannot treat their yard, but you can reduce what arrives. A barrier treatment on your side of the fence catches adults that fly over from a neighboring Lakewood lot. Larvicide on your own water, plus a call to Lakewood code enforcement about abandoned pools, covers the rest.
What are In2Care stations and do they work?
They work on the container-breeding species that bite in daylight, and they suit Lakewood yards where owners prefer not to spray. They are not instant. Numbers drop over several weeks as the larvicide spreads, so a Lakewood provider may combine them with one barrier treatment early on.
Do store-bought mosquito products actually work?
Homeowners are skeptical. The national picture, which Lakewood has no reason to escape: before stocking up again, homeowners should note that only 15% of the 1,163 U.S. homeowners in NaturaLawn of America's March 2024 SurveyMonkey poll of 1,163 U.S. homeowners felt store-bought products had worked, though that is respondent opinion from a provider-sponsored survey, not a product trial. Lakewood homeowners comparing quotes should ask each provider which of these patterns they see locally and why.
Did Zika news change how people protect themselves from mosquitoes?
It shifted intentions more than spending. For Lakewood, New Jersey the relevant figure is this: when TNS Global polled U.S. homeowners for Mosquito Squad in 2016, at the height of Zika coverage, 34% said the news had prompted plans to use repellent; the provider-sponsored survey recorded intentions rather than behavior and never published its sample size. Providers serving Lakewood should be able to explain how their recommendation fits what they actually found on your property.