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My assumption before reading: barrels and barrels of pesticides. Article: barrels of pesticides, yes, but also well-designed landscape architecture. I'm curio

My assumption before reading: barrels and barrels of pesticides. Article: barrels of pesticides, yes, but also well-designed landscape architecture. I'm curious what's the bigger factor. Also, does layering the approaches have a bigger effect than you'd expect if you summed the effects individually, or a smaller one?

dom96 4y ago
It may be barrels of pesticides, but at least it seems they opt for natural pesticide (liquid garlic/peppermint) instead of any toxic (to humans) substances.
- whizzter 4y ago
  Might've been less nice pesticies in the past, but I guess awareness of possible lawsuits from employees has forced their hand.
  - mathgeek 4y ago
    Do you have a source for that conjecture? Was there a specific new outlet that raised the issue previously?
- scarmig 4y ago
  That made me look a bit more into it. As far as I can tell, garlic (in non-detectable to human concentrations) is used, but there are also references to non-specific pesticides and growth regulators, which they'd naturally emphasize over scary sounding chemicals. It seems to be a genuinely impressive and comprehensive (and, from experience, effective) program, but it still likely uses some "toxic" pesticides. I figure if mosquitoes could be controlled by water mixed with garlic, we could be making incredible and scalable progress against e.g. malaria in Africa using that approach. Other methods Disney uses include releasing predators of mosquitoes regularly and sampling mosquito population genetics using CO2 traps to proactively anticipate new problems.
- KennyBlanken 4y ago
  Look at the wording closely: it says "rumored to be." That's corporate-speak for "we're lying." Guarantee if Disney were using natural pesticides, they'd be shouting their lungs out about it, especially in what appears to be a corporate-paid-for blogspam article.
chrisco255 4y ago
As a central Florida native I have little doubt that the landscape architecture plays a big role. Mosquitoes breed and multiply incredibly quick in this climate. Every city sprays regularly to keep populations lower, but they are still around.
- silisili 4y ago
  I lived and traveled all around central florida, and don't remember ever really seeing a mosquito much less getting bit by one. The spray and chemicals they put in the gray water work wonders. In the Midwest, those suckers eat you alive. No body of water or pool in sight, but summer nights you wouldn't go out without bathing in Off.
  - Bubble_Pop_22 4y ago
    I went boating in the Everglades in August last year for 3 days and I haven't seen a mosquito. Not even one.
    - fuzzfactor 4y ago
      >My assumption before reading: barrels and barrels of pesticides. >I went boating in the Everglades in August last year for 3 days and I haven't seen a mosquito. Not even one. The unspoiled Everglades had tons of mosquitos. Before they built Disney World that was a hell of a place to get a flat tire on the turnpike. Day or night it was just as bad as the Everglades, and if you didn't have loads of repellent more mosquitos would be circling for a landing spot than there was room for on any bare skin. Most likely almost all of the tonnage that was applied by all parties, of the most effective pesticides available, were dispersed in the area in the decades since. With the much larger human population today still using ordinary toxic stuff widely on their homes and lawns, maybe this helps make it easier to use non-toxic pest control within the tourist attractions.
- CSMastermind 4y ago
  I live in central Florida near Disney, and I can't remember seeing a mosquito. They were ubiquitous in the North during the summer when I was growing up but around here they seem to have been all but eliminated, at least in the populated areas. Now other bugs are everywhere around here. It took a big adjustment to get used to just how many insects there were everywhere and how quickly they'll take hold without proper precautions. In my experience ticks are a much bigger pest, especially if you like hiking.
specialp 4y ago
Eliminating mosquito breeding grounds is the most effective approach of mosquito control. They do not travel very far, have a massive reproductive ability, and have a relatively short lifespan. Larvacides in standing water do stop larvae but not adults. If you do have standing water that is a necessity then there are larvacides that can treat the water with bacteria for a safe effective treatment. It must be done often though. Insecticides do kill adult mosquitos and repel them but still if there is an area nearby they can breed in, they will be replaced very fast.
- ip26 4y ago
  Turbidity is another good strategy with necessary water.
elihu 4y ago
I was going to guess that they used something like industrial-scale mosquito dunks. You put them in water and they release a live bacteria (bacillus thuringiensis subspecies israeliensis) that specifically attacks mosquito larvae and is harmless to everything else as far as we know. https://summitchemical.com/products/mosquito-dunks/ https://summitchemical.com/products/mosquito-dunks/ Mosquito fish are also effective, and the article says they use those. Dragonflies are another very efficient predator of mosquitoes. I could imagine Disney World maintaining dragonfly ponds around their properties. Though I guess if you're good enough at controlling mosquito larvae then the dragonflies might migrate elsewhere where they have more to eat. (It'd be an interesting strategy for Disney to grow species of mosquitoes that don't attack humans and releasing them around their park, just to attract more mosquito-eating predators.)

dom96 4y ago

It may be barrels of pesticides, but at least it seems they opt for natural pesticide (liquid garlic/peppermint) instead of any toxic (to humans) substances.

whizzter 4y ago
Might've been less nice pesticies in the past, but I guess awareness of possible lawsuits from employees has forced their hand.
- mathgeek 4y ago
  Do you have a source for that conjecture? Was there a specific new outlet that raised the issue previously?
scarmig 4y ago
That made me look a bit more into it. As far as I can tell, garlic (in non-detectable to human concentrations) is used, but there are also references to non-specific pesticides and growth regulators, which they'd naturally emphasize over scary sounding chemicals. It seems to be a genuinely impressive and comprehensive (and, from experience, effective) program, but it still likely uses some "toxic" pesticides. I figure if mosquitoes could be controlled by water mixed with garlic, we could be making incredible and scalable progress against e.g. malaria in Africa using that approach. Other methods Disney uses include releasing predators of mosquitoes regularly and sampling mosquito population genetics using CO2 traps to proactively anticipate new problems.
KennyBlanken 4y ago
Look at the wording closely: it says "rumored to be." That's corporate-speak for "we're lying." Guarantee if Disney were using natural pesticides, they'd be shouting their lungs out about it, especially in what appears to be a corporate-paid-for blogspam article.

chrisco255 4y ago

As a central Florida native I have little doubt that the landscape architecture plays a big role. Mosquitoes breed and multiply incredibly quick in this climate. Every city sprays regularly to keep populations lower, but they are still around.

silisili 4y ago
I lived and traveled all around central florida, and don't remember ever really seeing a mosquito much less getting bit by one. The spray and chemicals they put in the gray water work wonders. In the Midwest, those suckers eat you alive. No body of water or pool in sight, but summer nights you wouldn't go out without bathing in Off.
- Bubble_Pop_22 4y ago
  I went boating in the Everglades in August last year for 3 days and I haven't seen a mosquito. Not even one.
  - fuzzfactor 4y ago
    >My assumption before reading: barrels and barrels of pesticides. >I went boating in the Everglades in August last year for 3 days and I haven't seen a mosquito. Not even one. The unspoiled Everglades had tons of mosquitos. Before they built Disney World that was a hell of a place to get a flat tire on the turnpike. Day or night it was just as bad as the Everglades, and if you didn't have loads of repellent more mosquitos would be circling for a landing spot than there was room for on any bare skin. Most likely almost all of the tonnage that was applied by all parties, of the most effective pesticides available, were dispersed in the area in the decades since. With the much larger human population today still using ordinary toxic stuff widely on their homes and lawns, maybe this helps make it easier to use non-toxic pest control within the tourist attractions.
CSMastermind 4y ago
I live in central Florida near Disney, and I can't remember seeing a mosquito. They were ubiquitous in the North during the summer when I was growing up but around here they seem to have been all but eliminated, at least in the populated areas. Now other bugs are everywhere around here. It took a big adjustment to get used to just how many insects there were everywhere and how quickly they'll take hold without proper precautions. In my experience ticks are a much bigger pest, especially if you like hiking.

specialp 4y ago

Eliminating mosquito breeding grounds is the most effective approach of mosquito control. They do not travel very far, have a massive reproductive ability, and have a relatively short lifespan. Larvacides in standing water do stop larvae but not adults. If you do have standing water that is a necessity then there are larvacides that can treat the water with bacteria for a safe effective treatment. It must be done often though. Insecticides do kill adult mosquitos and repel them but still if there is an area nearby they can breed in, they will be replaced very fast.

ip26 4y ago
Turbidity is another good strategy with necessary water.

elihu 4y ago

I was going to guess that they used something like industrial-scale mosquito dunks. You put them in water and they release a live bacteria (bacillus thuringiensis subspecies israeliensis) that specifically attacks mosquito larvae and is harmless to everything else as far as we know. https://summitchemical.com/products/mosquito-dunks/ https://summitchemical.com/products/mosquito-dunks/ Mosquito fish are also effective, and the article says they use those. Dragonflies are another very efficient predator of mosquitoes. I could imagine Disney World maintaining dragonfly ponds around their properties. Though I guess if you're good enough at controlling mosquito larvae then the dragonflies might migrate elsewhere where they have more to eat. (It'd be an interesting strategy for Disney to grow species of mosquitoes that don't attack humans and releasing them around their park, just to attract more mosquito-eating predators.)