Mosquitoes -> very poor sleep (!)

Taiwan Living in Taiwan
#1

This December was unusually cold in Korea, but I will gladly trade inescapable mosquitoes for cold. When I got back to Taiwan, the weather was cool, and I definitely noticed fewer mosquitoes. In the last two nights, that has changed. Meaning, it has returned to how it was before. My apartment has a lot of windows, with screens. I have worked to seal them from outside bugs, yet almost every night, at least one mosquito gets through.

The bed in my room is hard enough that I could reasonably erect my tent on top of it and just sleep behind screen at night. That seems a little extreme, but I’m absolutely to wit’s end waking up from a mosquito buzzing in the ear, or waking up later in the night with multiple bites on my hands and face. I would simply seek and kill them upon getting up, but they hide and don’t return until I’ve nestled into bed and am just about to pass.

Good sleep is essential to life, and this is significantly reducing the quality of life here. If there are no better options, tomorrow night I’ll be sleeping in my tent … in my apartment. Any alternatives???

#2

There is a electric device that looks like a tennis racket with high voltage when fully charged. Kill them with that. It makes quite a dramatic buzz sound on impact. Just don’t touch the wire with your bare hand.

There is a also mosquito incense you can burn slowly in your bed room. I guess the smell/smoke deters them.
There are other devices that would kill them.

Go to a store and ask the clerk.

#3

continue further measures to seal off any potential points of entry. seek and destroy without mercy with electric zapping paddle. this is war and causalities will occur on both sides. do not relent and destroy all enemies that prey upon the innocent once darkness falls

#4

Sympathise. I long ago gave up trying to seal the window gaps that exist in my in-laws place.

But no need for the tent (yet).
Get yourself a decent, roomy, mosquito net.

Tuck it in, keep it neat, and sleep like a king.
Sometimes you’ll wake in the morn to see a forlorn mosquito perched on the outside of the netting. You may laugh at it as you stride past to get your breakfast.

#5

[quote=“fh2000”]There is a electric device that looks like a tennis racket with high voltage when fully charged. Kill them with that. It makes quite a dramatic buzz sound on impact. Just don’t touch the wire with your bare hand.

There is a also mosquito incense you can burn slowly in your bed room. I guess the smell/smoke deters them.
There are other devices that would kill them.

Go to a store and ask the clerk.[/quote]
Right, but you didn’t read the part about how they disappear once I wake up / realize they’re near and stir. At the moment, I’ve been awake for about 45 minutes since a mosquito last buzzed in my ear just as I was falling asleep … after having bitten both my hands. I have seen it only very briefly since.

I have a citronella candle, but it doesn’t diffuse the scent very widely. Plus, I would never sleep next to a lit candle. They’re trapped in a small space, and there’s only one breathing animal in that space. It’s not like they can easily dash off to somewhere more pleasant.

I suppose I could alternatively burn a fair amount of this incense you mention through the night with the windows wide open. It’s an idea, but I’d like to know better what it is, how it smells, and how it affects my indoor air quality …

I don’t mean for my reply to be too abrasive, but these suggested solutions don’t seem particularly useful.

#6

What’s the problem? Moskeets in yer ear. Solution: Cover your ears.

You could try a hoodie (plus one ear down, pillow on the other…works well if you can sleep like that), or ear plugs, or maybe a lightweight set of headphones (wireless usb?) - that way you could both block out the skeets and relax to some tunes. I’ve never tried ear plugs but I’d figure if you can get a really good pair they’d work. Headphones would definitely work assuming they’re not uncomfortable as you shift in sleep (I have a pair but they’re too big for sleeping).

Personally I don’t care if I get bit, it’s that noise in your ear that is torturous.

Whatever you do, don’t buy those things you plug in which heat up those little blue chip thingers. They actually work in that they get the mosquitoes stoned (or more like brain-damaged)…only problem is I think they do the same to you. I’d wake up feeling rather woozy when I used them in an extreme previous circumstance.

If there are so many that bites bother you, do another sweep of your place. They’re coming in somewhere you’re missing. Seal everything, then make sure all doors and windows are closed by sundown. Are there any doors with spaces under them? Put tape on the bottoms so the tape barely scrapes the floor. Also check for wires coming through holes from outside that are too big and tape those off. and of course check all AC units for spaces.

#7

[quote=“gentletree”][quote=“fh2000”]There is a electric device that looks like a tennis racket with high voltage when fully charged. Kill them with that. It makes quite a dramatic buzz sound on impact. Just don’t touch the wire with your bare hand.

There is a also mosquito incense you can burn slowly in your bed room. I guess the smell/smoke deters them.
There are other devices that would kill them.

Go to a store and ask the clerk.[/quote]
Right, but you didn’t read the part about how they disappear once I wake up / realize they’re near and stir. At the moment, I’ve been awake for about 45 minutes since a mosquito last buzzed in my ear just as I was falling asleep … after having bitten both my hands. I have seen it only very briefly since.

I have a citronella candle, but it doesn’t diffuse the scent very widely. Plus, I would never sleep next to a lit candle. They’re trapped in a small space, and there’s only one breathing animal in that space. It’s not like they can easily dash off to somewhere more pleasant.

I suppose I could alternatively burn a fair amount of this incense you mention through the night with the windows wide open. It’s an idea, but I’d like to know better what it is, how it smells, and how it affects my indoor air quality …

I don’t mean for my reply to be too abrasive, but these suggested solutions don’t seem particularly useful.[/quote]

hmm. Looks like a mosquito net might save your soul. I can’t sleep with slight noise but I do not mind mosquito bites, so I use ear plugs ($45 NTD for 2 pairs). You might need both. Good luck.

#8

Many years ago my girlfriend lived in an apartment that was infested with the damn things. It drove me nuts. The only thing that will save you is a mosquito net/tent over your bed and a plug in mozi bulb thing.

#9

Mosquitoes LOVE my husband. Luckily for me :smiley: (except he works nights, so I got bitten in the hours before he came home)

Those raid plug-ins worked wonders. (They look like little plug-in airfresheners) Stick on beside your bed and hit the button before you go to bed, it turns itself off automatically.

#10

Mosquitoes can get into your apartment by attaching onto you as you enter your building, especially if you wear a dark colored jacket. They can also be lying in wait in the stairway and enter with you as you get in. So before you open that front door, look around the foyer and maybe do a few jumping jacks to dust off anything that might be trying to get a free ride into your place.

#11

Yes, get plug in mozzie-killer diffuser. Like an air freshener but kills mosquitoes. Make sure you press the switch on the side so that the light turns on. It turns itself off. They work very well.

I’m pretty sure mozzies come up drains and sinkholes too, so sealing your windows might not work.

#12

The plug-in liquid works well, don’t ever use the blue mats they gave me nightmares. Also I’d be wary of using any chemicals too much in a poorly ventilated room, it’s tough to balance I know. We even get mozzies on the 15th floor and we have good window seals etc, luckily we don’t get too many.

#13

[quote=“Petrichor”]
I’m pretty sure mozzies come up drains and sinkholes too, so sealing your windows might not work.[/quote]

Every once in a while I’ll poor a cup or 2 of bleach down the drains in hopes of knocking off a mosquito or maybe even a roach. It doesn’t hurt and seems to help break up some of the sludge too

#14

Look, the solution is very simple.

spectrum.ieee.org/consumer-elect … tar-wars/0
livescience.com/3403-star-wa … itoes.html

#15

I have also noticed an increase in the number of mozzies recentley.

Are they a bigger problem in the winter?

#16

[quote=“Milkybar_Kid”]
Are they a bigger problem in the winter?[/quote]

Yes–but the main reason is that in summer you probably have an AC or fan going, which throws them off your scent.

One must be relentless–get a zapper, and if awaken ALWAYS make a full search until you’ve killed it, or at least tired it. Ideally all surfaces in your room will be unobstructed and white.

#17

Gheckos. Not sure if my spelling is correct, but they love to eat mosquitoes. Every time I find one,into the bedroom he goes. I am not shitting you.

#18

Myself, call me a stickler, but I have the stationary zappers on every floor, and with me and the kids roving bands of patrols on standby.
They still get through, but damn not until I have rested easy. 20 minutes work on a large house will allow a full night’s rest. Except for me, who will get up and hunt any and all predators down.
But surely it is much easier now?
Wind and cold and kitty kill off more than half of the blood-sucking bahsturds!

#19

We have a Mosquito Net therefore, no worries.
Either go to B&Q and buy the King size square type, or get one from Ikea.
Another thing is to put some Mosquito spray next to the entrance and spray outside your apartment ever time you enter the house.

#20

tsukinodeynatsu wrote:

Fully agree. I’ve been using the little plug-in liquid mosquito repellant bottles for years. Plug 'em in when you get home (one by the head of your bed) and by the time you hit the hay all mosquitoes will have dispersed. You’ll find their little carcasses around later. Never had a mosquito problem after starting to use those.