I like how you include music videos in your posts, without needing to comment on them. Ambient. It's like you just happen to have a radio on in the background. An unexpected bonus.
Is there an alternative to using straw? Trying to think of what I’ve already got surpluses of on the ground...leaves, branches, acorns...would any of that ferment in the bucket?
Good video. I did this last summer, although without the straw, and I think it did reduce the number of mosquitos quite a bit. I had a plastic bucket, and punched drain holes in the sides about 8 inches below the top, so that rain wouldn't fill the bucket and cause it to overflow. Also, put mesh screen on top of the bucket after a mouse had fallen into the bucket and drowned. After flyers sent by a pesticide spraying company arrived in my neighborhood, I put out a message to our 800 member listserve to alert them to both the futility and danger to beneficial insects of that type of "control".
Thanks for your message, Kira. I'm glad to hear you've had success with this approach. Do you have any sense of whether or how your neighbors have responded?
Not sure how many if any have actually done something, but I keep getting the word out there, and maybe will change some behavior eventually. Have to start somewhere, right.
I think it's fine to move them. That said, since the point is for them to attract females, I try not to place them right on the patio where we'll be sitting, for example, but rather a few yards off.
I like how you include music videos in your posts, without needing to comment on them. Ambient. It's like you just happen to have a radio on in the background. An unexpected bonus.
Is there an alternative to using straw? Trying to think of what I’ve already got surpluses of on the ground...leaves, branches, acorns...would any of that ferment in the bucket?
Dead leaves or dried grass might work, but that's just a guess. I think the point is that you want something that will break down quickly and ferment.
Good video. I did this last summer, although without the straw, and I think it did reduce the number of mosquitos quite a bit. I had a plastic bucket, and punched drain holes in the sides about 8 inches below the top, so that rain wouldn't fill the bucket and cause it to overflow. Also, put mesh screen on top of the bucket after a mouse had fallen into the bucket and drowned. After flyers sent by a pesticide spraying company arrived in my neighborhood, I put out a message to our 800 member listserve to alert them to both the futility and danger to beneficial insects of that type of "control".
Thanks for your message, Kira. I'm glad to hear you've had success with this approach. Do you have any sense of whether or how your neighbors have responded?
Not sure how many if any have actually done something, but I keep getting the word out there, and maybe will change some behavior eventually. Have to start somewhere, right.
Sounds worth a try! Do you ever move buckets around so more at a gathering of people or should they remain still?
I think it's fine to move them. That said, since the point is for them to attract females, I try not to place them right on the patio where we'll be sitting, for example, but rather a few yards off.