Mosquitoes are annoying.
But instead of just using the insect repellent, we wanted to try out a different solution. We heard about a homemade mosquito trap on our NewsChannel 3 Facebook page. The ingredients are things you`ll find in your kitchen, so we`re going to try it out for ourselves.
Sarah Watson says mosquitoes can be a bit overwhelming here as the weather warms up.
So Sarah allowed us to put our mosquito trap in her yard to test it out.
We wrapped something black around the bottle to attract mosquitoes.
And then, we waited.
So our mosquito trap was sitting in the yard since Thursday and then we came back a day later to check it out and see if any mosquitoes were really in it.
After unwrapping the bottle, we discovered that no mosquitoes were there.
Our trap did, however, attract a few ants and a gnat.
We talked to Joe Simmons, director of the Chesapeake mosquito control commission.
He says mosquitoes are indeed attracted to sugar and dark colors.
But many homemade traps you find online aren't as effective as insect repellent with Deet.
The City of Chesapeake has also been proactive to control the Mosquito population.
In fact, the city conducted aerial spraying of more than 11,000 acres in early April. They also caught more than 1,000 mosquitoes in just one of their own professional traps near the great dismal swamp.
But while our homemade trap didn't catch mosquitoes, some people online say the trap works.
So try it at home yourself and let us know all about it.
Here are the instructions (click the images to expand them)-
- 1. Here are the ingredients to the homemade mosquito trap we found online: 1 cup of hot water, 1/4 cup of brown sugar, 1 gram of yeast & 1 2-liter bottle
- 6. After the water cools, pour it into the bottom half of the 2-liter bottle (which you have to cut in half by the way)
- 7. Then take 1 gram of yeast. I didn't have a scale to weigh it so I went online to find out how to estimate it with a spoon.
- 9. After that, place the top half of the bottle into the bottom half & tape them together if you want.
- 10. And there you go! Thats the trap. Make sure you wrap something black around it before you place it in your backyard and change the solution every two weeks for continuous control.
Read more from 961JoyFM, HERE.
Looking for information on mosquito control in your city?
Virginia Beach Mosquito Control
Chesapeake Mosquito Control Commission
Virginia Mosquito Control Association
James City County Mosquito Control
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