Homemade Mosquito Traps
Summertime means bug-time. With the ever-increasing precipitation and rain that we are experiencing, the mosquitos are in heaven, so if you want to reduce those numbers of biters and itch-producers then make yourself some mosquito traps. These traps baited with sugar and fermented fruit juice can reduce your local mosquito populations by 90 percent.
Materials you need to make these traps:
- Quart-sized container with a lid (big glass mason jars—if you don’t mind mutilating a lid or some large yogurt or cottage cheese container that isn’t being recycled)
- 3 teaspoons sugar
- ½ teaspoon boric acid
- ¾-1 cup mashed, fermented fruit with the fruit juice
- And a couple drops of Jasmine essential oil if you have some on hand (optional)
Steps for making your mosquito trap:
Put your smashed fruit in the sun for a couple of days before putting your trap together. This speeds up the fermentation. Then...
- Drill or puncture your container top with small holes (WARNING: Please make these small holes, approximately 1/16 inches in size. If you make them too large, they will attract pollinators, like our incredible bees. None of us want more dead bees, right?)
- Mix the fermented smashed fruit with the juice, boric acid, sugar (and jasmine as an optional ingredient) in the container.
- Place the ventilated lid on the container and put the trap outside in a sheltered area so that rain won’t get to it.
Mosquitos will feast on the banquet you have provided. The boric acid that is in this mosquito-loving ambrosia will kill them.
While this method may not get rid of all the mosquitoes in your backyard, it will indeed make a difference. Anything we can do to reduce these populations naturally will be helpful as we attempt to keep bug bites and disease at bay for ourselves and our families.
--
For additional protection (and we all need it!)...
Don’t forget to leave the house for outdoor activities with Camp Love Lotion on your exposed skin! This adds one more layer of repellent protection for you, your kids and your loved ones. Find the Camp Love Lotion Bar here.
Leave a comment
Comments will be approved before showing up.
Also in The Do-Gooder Blog

Introducing and Discontinuing--What??

Plastic-Free July 2020

Lee Ann Hopkins
Author
Chief soapologist and lover of all-things-Do-Good, especially those souls who cherish the earth and do their best to protect it.