By VICKI BROWN
Colleton County Animal Services will start the county’s mosquito abatement program on April 4, 2022, but Colleton residents can already start requesting spraying services on their property.
“The county provides this service as a means to reduce the mosquito population in our county due to the public health concerns presented by mosquitoes,” said Laura Clark, director of Colleton County Animal Services.
To request mosquito spraying to kill adult mosquitoes, call 843-893-2651 and press 1. Colleton residents can also go online and complete the form offered on the county Web site at https://www.colletoncounty.org/report-concern.
The following restrictions apply to the program:
• The mosquito control truck can come on your driveway and follow your driveway. Drivers are not permitted to leave the resident’s driveway.
• Spraying is done after dark from 7:30 pm to 12:30 pm when temperatures are above 60 degrees, it is not raining and/or winds are below 10 mph.
• Spraying cannot be done surrounding a pond or on unoccupied property.
• Spray requests can be repeated after 4 weeks.
• Spray requests for special occasions should be made at least 1 week prior to the event.
• Residents must provide a street address, city, zip code and phone number with the request. Incomplete requests will not be honored. House numbers must be visible from the road in order for drivers to locate your address.
• Colleton County Animal Services does not spray for insects other than mosquitos, such as love bugs, white flies and deer flies.
Residents need to get rid of any standing water on their property to keep mosquitoes from laying eggs and remove any containers that can hold rain water.
In addition to being annoying and uncomfortable, mosquito bites have the potential to spread disease and therefore can be a public health issue if not controlled.
The most common diseases that could potentially be carried by mosquitoes in South Carolina include: West Nile, Eastern Equine Encephalitis, La Crosse encephalitis, Saint Louis encephalitis virus, and dog/cat heartworm.
Residents of Edisto Beach are serviced by the Town of Edisto and should contact the Town of Edisto Beach for mosquito-spraying information.
Concerns about bees
"A problem with mosquito abatement is that many residents of Colleton County enjoy keeping bees, but the chemical used to destroy mosquitoes is harmful to bees," said Clark.
Residents who keep bees are strongly encouraged to determine the best plan to protect their hives from the pesticides used to control mosquitoes.
“We have a policy change regarding the beekeepers,” said Clark. “In the past, we would not spray within a quarter-mile of the registered hives, but due to the increase of bee hives in the county, we are experiencing numerous conflicts between residents who would like to have their property sprayed and residents who keep bees. Since there are steps the bee keepers can take to protect the hives, our policy now is to contact the beekeepers 48 hours in advance of spraying to allow time to take those steps before we spray.”
Many beekeeper associations and Web sites offer advice as to how to protect hives from the mosquito pesticide.
One reliable resource on this topic is https://leasehoney.com/2019/12/18/how-to-protect-beehives-from-mosquito-control-for-beekeepers/.
“We are currently calling residents from our beekeeper list to confirm they still have bees. Residents who are new beekeepers can register with us by calling 843-893-2651 or sending an email to lpowers@colletoncounty.org with the name, address and phone number,” Clark added.
