Q
Dear Auntie Pearl, please tell me you have some help for me for mozzies.
No person can sleep with all these mosquitoes about.
Every night it’s a bleddie battle as they zoom and zoom around my room.
Please help!
From Gatvol.
A
Shamepies child, muskiete are a terrible nuisance, aren’t they?
If they don’t bite you, they zoom around your head making it impossible to sleep.
Sjoe, let this Auntie tell you −she’s also had her fair share of battles with the lastige goggas that invade our homes at night!
As the weather heats up and turns to summer, so the insects come out to play, but don’t get caught in the crossfire.
By the way, gesiggie, did you know only female mosquitoes bite? And they need to drink your blood to develop and lay eggs.
Let’s raak wys and keep those pesky insects away and fight any itch with these kwaai remedies:
Mozzies lay their eggs in stagnant pools of water that do not move or flow, are shallow and high in organic matter.
So get rid of any dirty water in the house or garden, and you’ll be getting rid of the mosquito eggs.
Check any open water containers, tanks and buckets, especially now that we are all saving water.
Hang bird feeders, build a bat house, give a frog a home, or gooi some fish in your fish pond.
No, Auntie didn’t go taatie!
All of these amazing animals help control the insect and specifically the mosquito population − so the more birds you have, the fewer mozzies you’ll have!
Lots of herbs and even some flowers can help repel mosquitoes.
So get some of their least favourite plants in your house or garden, which include citronella (so even look for lemongrass and lemon flavoured sprays or lip balm or body cream, and sommer buy a few citronella candles to burn while you are at it), eucalyptus, rosemary, basil, mint, lavender and cloves.
Make your own anti-mozzie spray: use a clean, empty, glass jar with a lid.
Get rubbing alcohol, vodka and add some herbs: mint, eucalyptus, lemongrass, rosemary, lavender and catnip.
Coarsely chop herbs and put the herbs in your glass jar (fill as much as you can).
Cover with alcohol and leave about half the space at the top. Seal tight.
Put the jar in a sunny spot and leave it there for two weeks.
Shake it every other day.
Now you strain the herbs and use the liquid as a spray against the mosquito army!
Get some of the best things money can buy like Pharmacist Choice Witch Hazel & Rose Water from Dis-Chem to spray those goggas.
And get Buchulife First Aid Gel for some heavenly relief from itching.
Simply Aloe Bitter Gel is also amazing for the itch.