Mosquitos, which can carry many diseases, tend to lay their eggs in standing bodies of water such as ponds.
Mosquitoes are known to carry several serious diseases, including malaria, yellow fever, West Nile virus and eastern equine encephalitis. While most mosquito-borne diseases are found in mainly subtropical or tropical areas, mosquitoes are still aggressive pests. They prefer standing or largely still bodies of water in which to deposit their eggs, which is why a farm pond is an ideal breeding ground for these flying pests. Does this Spark an idea?
Mosquitoes
Mosquitoes are found in almost any climate, even extremely cold regions. Only the female of the species attacks humans and animals, landing on them, inserting a needle-like proboscis and then taking a blood meal. After mating with a male, a female will lay many eggs upon any body of water that tends to remain still. These eggs hatch, and the larvae grow to maturity before becoming pests themselves.
Ponds
Fast-moving bodies of water such as streams or rivers are too active for hatched larvae to be able to survive to adulthood in most cases. A farm pond makes for a good candidate for mosquito egg-laying for several reasons. For one, these ponds tend to be rich in the nutrients that originate in farm fields. For another, their waters are hardly ever greatly disturbed.
Solution
There are reliable solutions to mosquitoes and farm ponds. Their larvae, which stay just below the surface of the water they're in, require oxygen. They gather it through tiny breathing organs that resemble tubes. If you can clog up their breathing organs, you can suffocate them. An application of olive oil or some other nontoxic oil sprayed on the pond's surface will do the trick nicely. Also, livestock drinking from the pond aren't normally disturbed by the oil. However, you should not apply oil to a pond that is stocked with fish.
Methods
Mosquito larvae in a farm pond are easy to spot loitering just below the surface of the water.
Always check farm ponds for the presence of mosquito larvae. They're easy to spot loitering just below the surface of standing water. Any commercial canister sprayer containing plain water mixed with oil can be used to treat the surface of such water. Pump the sprayer and then lay the solution on the water's surface in gently sweeping motions until you can see a slight film or sheen on that surface. Reapply as needed.
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