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FAQ’s on burning candles: Bite-Lite® Natural Mosquito Repellent Candles are meant to be burned outdoors.   But you will find that outdoor temperatures have a profound effect on the way any candles burn outside, as well as how the melted wax pool forms.   As a result, we at Bite-Lite® would like to offer the following tips:

• Always keep the wick trimmed to approximately ¼ – ½ inches long.
• Always burn the candle long enough for the wax pool to extend close to, or to the edges of the container (to avoid forming a small well in which the melting wax can drown the wick).   This is especially important on cool days.
• If the wick becomes covered in wax and extinguishes, allow the wax to cool and dig out the entire surface of the candle re-exposing ½ “ of wick.
• When the wick becomes too short, the resulting flame will give unsatisfactory burning.   You may try extinguishing the flame and carefully pour off the liquid wax (outdoors, or into a trash container).   Re-light the candle; allow it to burn for about one hour.   If the flame is still too small repeat process until the flame is able to continue to burn the wax it has melted with a normal flame size.
• On hot days, watch for the wax pool getting too deep.   If there is a melted pool more than ½ ” deep for the entire width of the candle, put the candle out and allow it to cool.

Safety Tips:

• Always place candle on a heat resistant surface and away from combustible materials.
• Discontinue use when the wax level is ½ “ from the bottom of the candle.
• Be careful handling hot burning candles, and mindful of hot melted wax.
• Glass containers are fragile and heat concentrated in one area could cause the glass to break.
• Votive candles must be burned in a container.

What can I expect when using Bite-Lite® Natural Repellent Candles?
No mosquito control candle will give 100% protection; however, when using an appropriate number of candles (minimum 2-3) for the area, you should achieve a significant reduction in the number of mosquito landings approaching 75-80%.

How do I use Bite‑Lite® Natural Repellent Candles?
For best results, it is important to light the candles 20 minutes before going outside.   It is best to light at least 2-3 candles to protect the area that you’ll be occupying; more for larger groups of people.   Also, all repellent candles are most effective when there is little or no wind to quickly disperse the repellent.   If there is wind, be sure the vapors from the candles are between you and the mosquitoes.   The Spearmint and Lemongrass Oils are released from the candles by evaporation from the hot, melted pool of wax that forms while the candle is burning. (Note: The oils in Bite-Lite natural repellents are not released from the flame.)
Most mosquitoes rest during the day and come out at dusk.   If the repellent candles are burned before you go outdoors or before the mosquitoes become active, they may move away from the space you are trying to protect and not find their way back easily when you go outside.   Mosquitoes find you most easily if they’re already close and can sense your heat signature.

These are just some of the tips from our FAQ page that you should be aware of when using our candles to prolong the effectiveness of your candles, along with basic safety reminders.   Read more information about Bite-Lite natural repellents on FAQ’s.

Do you have questions about mosquitoes?   A great resource is the FAQ’s section you can find on the American Mosquito Control Association website.
You might want to know –
What good do mosquitoes do?
Mosquitoes fill a variety of niches which nature provides.   As such, placing a value on their existence is generally inappropriate.   Although the fossil record is incomplete, they have been known since the Cretaceous Period (about 100 million years ago) in North America.   Their adaptability has made them extraordinarily successful, with upwards of 2,700 species worldwide.   Mosquitoes serve as food sources for a variety of organisms but are not crucial to any predator species.
or–
Can mosquitoes transmit AIDS?
Many studies have been conducted on this issue in the United States and abroad.   To our kowledge, there has never been a successful transfer of the virus from an infected source to another host by bloodfeeding insects under experimental conditions.   The experts have concluded that these insects are not capable of such transmission.    Many biological reasons would lead one to this same conclusion, but the extensive experimental studies are the most powerful evidence for the conclusion.

1. HIV DOES NOT replicate in mosquitoes.   Thus, mosquitoes cannot be a biological vector as they are for malaria, yellow fever, or dengue.   In fact, mosquitoes digest the virus that causes AIDS.
2. There is no possibility of mechanical transmission (i.e., flying contaminated syringes), even though we all know that HIV can be transmitted by dirty needles.    However, the amount of “blood” on a mosquitoes’ mouth parts is tiny compared to what is found on a “dirty” needle.   Thus, the risk is proportionally smaller. Calculations based on the mechanical transmission of anthrax and Rift Valley fever virus, both of which produce very high titers in blood, unlike HIV, showed that it would take about 10,000,000 mosquitoes that first fed on a person with AIDS and then continued feeding on a susceptible person to get one transmission.
3.  The bite wound is usually the normal route for most disease transmissions.   Mosquitoes are not,however, flying hypodermic needles.     Mosquitoes instead regurgitate saliva into the bite wound through a separate tube from that through which it imbibes blood.

These are just a few of the science-based facts you will see on this resourceful website.

Mosquitoes are insects belonging to the order Diptera, the True Flies. Like all True Flies, mosquitoes have two wings, but unlike other flies, mosquitoes have  wings with scales.    The mouthparts of female mosquitoes form a long piercing-sucking proboscis.   Males differ from females by having feathery antennae and mouthparts not suitable for piercing skin.   A mosquito’s principal food is nectar or similar sugar source. 

  There are over 3,000 different species of mosquitoes throughout the world; currently 176 species are recognized in the United States.   A new species, Anopheles grabhamii, was reported from the Florida Keys in 2001 (Darsie et al. 2002).    Each mosquito species has a Latin scientific name, such as Anopheles quadrimaculatus.   Anopheles is the “generic” name of a group of closely related mosquitoes; quadrimaculatus is the “species” name that represents a group of individuals that are similar in structure and physiology and capable of interbreeding.   These names are used in a descriptive manner so that the name tells something about each particular mosquito.  For example, Anopheles means hurtful or prejudicial in Greek;  quadrimaculatus means four spots (4 dark spots on the wings) in Latin.   Some species have what are called “common names” as well as scientific names, such as Ochlerotatus taeniorhynchus, the “black salt marsh mosquito.” 

  Scientific investigators (taxonomists) are constantly looking for new mosquitoes, as well as reviewing previously identified specimens for new information or identifying characteristics.   Better microscopic equipment developed in the last 20 years has improved the taxonomist’s ability to determine differences between species.   Recently such a review by Dr. John Reinert (2000) led to a change in the name of many mosquitoes belonging to the genus Aedes.   Using improved methods and over 30 years’ experience, he elevated a subgenus of Aedes ( Ochlerotatus ) to the status of genus.    This will necessitate the renaming of many mosquitoes previously named Aedes to the genus Ochlerotatus and the rewriting of many taxonomic keys important to public health entomologists working in mosquito control. 

  ”
The Spanish called mosquitoes “musketas,” and the native Hispanic Americans called them “zancudos.”    “Mosquito” is a Spanish or Portuguese word meaning “little fly” while “zancudos,” a Spanish word, means “long-legged.”    The use of the word “mosquito” is apparently of North American origin and dates back to about 1583.   In Europe, mosquitoes were called “gnats” by the English, “Les moucherons” or “Les cousins” by French writers, while the Germans used the name “Stechmucken” or “Schnacke.”    In Scandinavian countries mosquitoes were called by a variety of names including “myg” and “myyga.” and the Greeks called them “konopus.”    In 300 B.C., Aristotle referred to mosquitoes as “empis” in his “Historia Animalium” where he documented their life cycle and metamorphic abilities.    Modern writers used the name Culex, and it is retained today as the name of a mosquito genus. What is the correct plural form of the word mosquito?   In Spanish it would be “mosquitos,” but in English “mosquitoes” (with the “e”) is correct.    

Mosquitoes can be an annoying, serious problem in man’s domain. They interfere with work and spoil hours of leisure time.   Their attacks on farm animals can cause loss of weight and decreased milk production.   Some mosquitoes are capable of transmitting diseases such as malaria, yellow fever, dengue, filariasis, and encephalitis [St. Louis encephalitis (SLE)], Western Equine encephalitis (WEE), LaCrosse encephalitis (LAC), Japanese encephalitis (JE), Eastern Equine encephalitis (EEE), and West Nile virus (WNV)] to humans and animals.

• Mosquitoes are known from as far back as the Triassic Period – 400 million years ago.   In North America, they were detected since the Cretaceous Period – 100 million years ago.
• There are about 2,700 species of mosquito.   There are 176 species in the United States.
• The average mosquito weighs about 2.5 milligrams.
• The average mosquito takes in about 5-millionths of a liter of blood during feeding.
• Mosquitoes find hosts by sight (they observe movement).  This occurs by detecting infra-red radiation emitted by warm bodies,  and chemical signals (mosquitoes are attracted to carbon dioxide and lactic acid, among other chemicals) at distances of 25 to 35 meters.
• Mosquitoes fly an estimated 1 to 1.5 miles per hour.
• Salt marsh mosquitoes can migrate up to 40 miles for a meal.
• Bigger people are often more attractive to mosquitoes because they are larger targets and they produce more mosquito attractants, namely CO2 and lactic acid.
• Active or fidgety people also produce more CO2 and lactic acid.
• Women are usually more attractive to mosquitoes than men because of the difference in hormones produced by the sexes.
• Blondes tend to be more attractive to mosquitoes than brunettes.
• Smelly feet are attractive to mosquitoes – as is Limburger Cheese.
• Dark clothing attracts mosquitoes.
• Movement increased mosquito biting up to 50% in some research tests.
• A full moon increased mosquito activity 500% in one study.