I usually focus on the building science of homes, HVAC, and indoor environmental quality. Today, though, I’m going to cover a topic of outdoor environmental quality. I’ve had mosquitoes in my backyard since we bought the house in 2019. This year, however, the yard is practically uninhabitable all the time because the constant rainfall has kept the yard wet and overpopulated with mosquitoes. That’s about to change because last week, I heard about the perfect solution: the Mosquito Bucket of Death.†
So, for the past few days I’ve been setting them up and putting them out in my yard. I’ve got four out there now and may add more. I wish I had started them in April because it takes a while for them to do their thing. And their thing is using an otherwise harmless bacterium to kill the mosquito larvae after the female mosquitoes lay their eggs in the bucket. Here’s a video showing a bit about how they work and how to set them up.
There’s a lot of info online about the Mosquito Bucket of Death, and I’ve looked at a bunch of it. Here’s what I’ve distilled from those sites to help you make your make your own.
Prepare the Bucket of Death
Most of the websites say to use a 5 gallon bucket.* Some say 3 to 5 gallons. But the concept works even in small containers. The main difference is that the small containers probably need more upkeep to maintain the water level and more buckets to reduce the mosquito population. The process is the same, though, no matter what size bucket you use.
To begin, you fill the bucket about half full of water. Then you add a handful or two of decaying leaves, soil, compost, or old grass clippings.
Next, put a couple of sticks in there. Those are for two things. First, good bugs that fall in will have an escape path. Second, I’ve read that mosquitoes like something to land on near the surface of the water before they lay their eggs.
If you want to keep squirrels, chipmunks, and other small critters from getting trapped in the bucket, you also could put a piece of hardware cloth or chicken wire over the top of the bucket. To keep it in place, you can use zip ties.
Once you’ve got that set up, let it sit outdoors for a couple of days. Most of the sites I found say that’s for fermentation, although I doubt it’s true fermentation that happens. But I’m a big fan of fermentation, so I’ll go with the flow here.
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