I have an in-ground pool infested with Boatmen, no matter how many hundreds I scoop out every day, there are a hundred more the next day. -Including a HUGE QUEEN, Or KING, over an inch wide.
Under the clear ice, one winter, I followed a GIGANTIC Boatman over 2 INCHES long, but I never saw it in summer. I am convinced they lay eggs which hatch in days or maybe even hours. Yes, they are trying to find organic matter on the sides of the pool, but rest assured, THEY DO BITE HARD, like a bee sting or a DEER FLY. It makes you scream and try to jump out of the pool as if you were chased by Piranhas !!!
If you watch them for a while, you will see them surface every few minutes to grab a bubble of air with their back legs and carry it under water with them to breathe while foraging for food on the walls and bottom. They rely on the surface tension of water for this to work. I knew regular dish soap like Sunlight breaks surface tension in water, so I tried this and it works !! I put a couple of teaspoons of liquid dish soap in a spray bottle filled with water, and sprayed all over the pool surface, especially where the Boatmen were gathered near the whites steps.
When they came up for air on the soap-covered surface, they could not grab an air bubble, and the soap seems to kill them within a few minutes. They splash around turning upside down very quickly and die. The small amount of dish soap is not as toxic to humans as other bug sprays, like RAID, which works too !
Please comment on how effective this is for you !!!
Graham Rolph
Bookmarks