Kumanovo carries out its first aerial mosquito spraying of the season tomorrow, July 2. The treatment starts early in the morning, at 5:00 a.m., and roughly 1,270 hectares across the municipality will be covered from the air. After several summer evenings of mosquitoes driving people off their terraces and out of their yards, the local government is finally getting a step ahead of the worst of it.

Aerial spraying is neither a trivial nor a cheap operation - it means the problem is big enough that ground spraying alone won't cut it. The early hour is deliberate: the treatment runs at dawn precisely to limit the impact on people, and especially on bees, which are the most sensitive to these agents.

And here comes the part that usually gets forgotten when an operation like this is announced - the warning to beekeepers and residents. Spraying from the air demands care: windows shut in the early hours, bee colonies sheltered, caution with food and water left outdoors. When a municipality treats an area this large, the responsibility isn't only on the plane overhead, but on every household below to follow the guidance.

Summer mosquitoes are more than a nuisance - they're a health matter too, especially in years when heat and stagnant water create ideal breeding conditions. So the operation is welcome. The question every Kumanovo resident quietly asks is a familiar one: will one treatment be enough, or is this just the first of many the season has in store?