BEATRICE – It’s not something many communities offer, but spraying for mosquitoes is one of the jobs for the Beatrice Street Department. This week is the third time this summer a spraying rig is being used in the city, over two evenings.


Street Superintendent Jason Moore says in two nights, one truck with a spray rig can cover the entire city, with about seventeen gallons of what’s called bio-mist.
This summer, the city sprayed for mosquitoes around Homestead Days, the Fourth of July….and this week, just ahead of the Gage County Fair. The need to spray is determined by insect counts from traps set up at four locations. If at least three of the four traps register over 50 insects, it’s time to spray. There are three types of traps….one using dry ice…another using an ultraviolet light….and a third kind, a black light trap.


Moore says the trap counts have declined as the summer has gone on. He expects there will be at least one more round of spraying, around Labor Day. Some experts say late-in-the season mosquitoes present more concern for the threat of West Nile Virus.
For beekeepers or residents with butterfly populations, the city keeps track of those addresses, as it sprays.


The spray truck travels at about ten miles per hour and fogs every other block, accounting for some drift of the spray. On a calm night with the spray remaining in the trees, Moore says you get the best kill of mosquitoes. Property owners can cut mosquito numbers by eliminating areas that hold stagnant water…things like old tires, birdbaths and kids’ pools.


Moore says the city has also done spraying for the towns of Pickrell and Plymouth, and the Tri-County ball field area. A new customer is coming on board….the City of Wymore.