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We would like consumers to know what we are all about while they are shopping for mosquito control products.    What distinguishes Bite-Lite® from the rest? 

Insect control products are regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA).   Bite-Lite® Natural Mosquito Repellent Candles fall under EPA’s special category of insect control products that are exempt from federal registration under section 25(b) of FIFRA.   In order to qualify as a 25(b) product, the active and inert ingredients must all be listed on the EPA’s website link at https://www.epa.gov/minimum-risk-pesticidesegtools/25b_list.htm.   In addition, EPA requires special labeling on these 25(b) products.   When comparing repellent candles, whether natural or synthetic, make sure they either have an EPA registration number or state, “This product has not been registered by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. We [company name] represent that this product qualifies for exemption from registration under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act.”

All products, whether they have a federal registration or an exemption under 25(b), are required by law to be registered in the states in which they are sold (most states require state registrations).    Bite Lite® has taken the necessary extra steps of state registering its natural mosquito repellent candles, and can be legally sold in registered states as a 25(b) product.

The emergence and spread of West Nile Virus may be the first in a series of exotic diseases imported due to the worldwide increase in eco-tourism and international air travel.    Malaria, Rift Valley Fever, Chikungunya Virus, and Dengue Fever are but a plane flight away, and public health officials at all levels are becoming increasingly concerned.    As our world continues to shrink, mosquito control in the United States will assume a more critical public health function – well beyond its quality of life role. 

  To meet these coming threats, the operational mosquito control profession in the United States, comprising over 350 local and state agencies, continues to mobilize its resources and perfect its prevention and control techniques – the safest, most comprehensive and effective of their kind in the world.   The integrated mosquito management methods currently employed by organized control districts and endorsed by the CDC and EPA are comprehensive and specifically tailored to safely counter each stage of the mosquito life cycle.   Larval control through water management and source reduction, where compatible with other land management uses, is a prudent pest management alternative – as is use of the environmentally friendly EPA-registered larvicides currently available. When source elimination or larval control measures are clearly inadequate, or in the case of imminent disease, the EPA and CDC have emphasized in a published joint statement the need for considered application of adulticides by certified applicators trained in the specialized handling characteristics of these products.   

Despite intense pressures to eliminate the use of public health insecticides, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, World Health Organization and other public health agencies agree that it is essential that these products remain available for disease prevention.   Indeed, they emphasize that proper use of mosquitocides by established mosquito control agencies does not put the general public or the environment at unreasonable risk from runoff, leaching, or drift when used according to label specifications. 

  We already have the mosquitoes. We are continually importing the diseases they carry.   We must be prepared to prevent their becoming part of our public health landscape.   That requires safe, effective, sustained mosquito control.   However, continued public support is crucial for the success of each of these efforts.   We will all pay the price for complacency. 

Disease prevention through preparedness remains the mosquito control profession’s primary focus, and is fully consistent with the very finest traditions of public health.   Yet, the continued increase in worldwide tourism and trade virtually guarantees further challenges from exotic diseases requiring ready control expertise to prevent their establishment and spread.    Should these emerging mosquito-borne diseases of man and animals settle into the American public health landscape, particularly as an unintended consequence of environmental policy initiatives, we will have only ourselves to blame, for we have the means to control these diseases within our grasp.   We must remain prepared to accept and meet these challenges—our citizens and our nation’s wildlife deserve no less.

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.

We have spent lifetimes defining the elusive chemistry between people.  Artists have painted pictures, and poets have dedicated sonnets.

Scientists have now committed time, money, and technology, trying to determine what attracts mosquitoes.   Over 400 different compounds were examined.   The scientists identified certain elements of our body chemistry, that, when found in excess on the skin’s surface, make mosquitoes swarm closer.

Mosquitoes’ Personal Checklist of Preferences

• Carbon Dioxide is a far reaching scent, especially strong in pregnant women and heavy set people.
• Mosquitoes also target people who produce excess amounts of certain acids, such as uric acid.
• Lactic acid from your sweat glands.
• These substances can trigger mosquitoes’ sense of smell, luring them to land on unsuspecting victims.
• Mosquitoes have been around for 170 million years — and more than 175 known species in the U.S., these shrewd summertime pests clearly aren’t going to disappear any time soon.
• The very best way to combat mosquitoes, based on this new scientific research, is to disable mosquitoes sensors.   Bite-lite® Natural Mosquito Repellent Candles do just that.   Key essential oils, when found in combination, effectively disable the mosquito’s sensors.   These natural repellents represent that solution.   Bite-lite® candles  are exceptionally effective, smell wonderful,  and look elegant.    These candles are three times more effective than standard Citronella candles.

You can purchase our natural repellent candles at your local Retailer or on our  Products page.

Inspired By Nature, Designed By Scientists

Mosquitoes Are Hibernating.

With 200 species of mosquitoes in North America and over 2500 species worldwide, we should have guessed they would evolve and conquer the cold weather.

Mosquitoes, like all insects, are cold-blooded creatures.   As a result, their body temperatures are the same as their surroundings.   In temperate climates, adult mosquitoes become inactive with the onset of cool weather and enter hibernation to live through the winter.   In spring, the females emerge from hibernation, find a blood meal, and lay their eggs.

Some Mosquitoes can lay eggs which can survive extreme weather, such as cold, ice and draught.   Rains produced by Spring rains, melting snow, and ice will cause eggs to hatch.   These mosquitoes can be hardier than most species.

In warmer climates of the Southeast and Gulf, mosquitoes can thrive year round.

Since mosquitoes are vigilant year round, we need to stay on our game.   Stay protected with Bite-Lite® Natural Mosquito Repellent Candles, available from your local Retailer or on our Product page.

Make The Day Count~

The summer is over and the days are getting cooler. Is it time to pack away  Bite-Lite’s Natural Mosquito Repellent Candles for the season?   Annapolis, MD, Department of Health officials are saying it’s unusual for the mosquito population to be so heavy at this time of year.   The cooler temperatures and fewer daylight hours usually kill off insects.   However, the soggy days of late summer and early fall have spawned a thirsty, swarming mosquito population.    “We have several large broods of mosquitoes developing this time of year, when we’d normally expect [the mosquitoes] to be in decline.”

This means that despite the cooler temperatures, you need to protect yourself from mosquito bites.   This news was also true this week in Massachusetts when the MA Department of Health announced week that mosquitoes with the West Nile virus had been identified in and around the Marblehead area.

When you go outside, take caution.   Light up Bite-Lite Mosquito Repellent Candles, available at local Retailers and on our Products page.

Make The Day Count!