The easiest way is to put a screen across the top of the barrel. That will also catch any debris that gets washed off the roof.
What we do, however, is have a whole in the lid for the barrel that the downspout just barely fits into, leaving very little clearance.
Either way, the idea is to keep the mosquitoes out of the barrel so that they can't lay eggs in the water.
Something that I had a number of years ago, but haven't verified: I was told that mosquito larvae can't survive in agitated water, so perhaps stirring the barrel vigorously every day would help. But like I said, I haven't verified that...
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Date: 2007-05-27 12:59 pm (UTC)What we do, however, is have a whole in the lid for the barrel that the downspout just barely fits into, leaving very little clearance.
Either way, the idea is to keep the mosquitoes out of the barrel so that they can't lay eggs in the water.
Something that I had a number of years ago, but haven't verified: I was told that mosquito larvae can't survive in agitated water, so perhaps stirring the barrel vigorously every day would help. But like I said, I haven't verified that...