Mosquitoes aren’t just a nuisance; they are a significant health risk. In North America, mosquitoes can carry West Nile Virus, Zika Virus, and several types of Encephalitis. Reducing and controlling the mosquito population around your home has never been more critical.
Sadly, most of the best commercial solutions for trapping and killing mosquitos are prohibitively expensive. They usually require electricity or propane, which can limit placement and require ongoing operating costs. They can also be complicated to set up and noisy, and some use chemicals you may not want near your kids or pets.
What if I told you there’s a solution to reduce the local mosquito population around your home? With no dangerous chemicals, it’s completely non-toxic, safe for kids and pets, long-lasting, eco-friendly, doesn’t require electricity or propane, highly portable, cheaper than any commercially available trap, and maybe the easiest DIY project you’ll ever do. If your answer is, “I would keep reading because that sounds like it’s too good to be true,” – I can assure you, dear reader, that it is not. Let me introduce you to mosquito dunks and bucket traps!
Mosquito bucket traps provide a nice, tempting place for mosquitos to lay their eggs. However, the bacteria in the mosquito dunks kill the mosquito larvae before they have a chance to grow into flying, biting pests. This effectively wipes out the next generation and dramatically reduces the hyper-local mosquito population in and around your property.
What Are Mosquito Dunks?
Mosquito dunks are donut-shaped tablets that contain a particular species of bacteria (Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis) that prey on mosquito larvae. They are designed to be tossed into any standing water in which mosquitos might want to lay eggs. The bacteria inside mosquito dunks are non-toxic to humans, pets, fish, and other wildlife. So they are safe to drop into puddles or even ponds, anywhere that you have standing water, without worrying that you’ll be harming any of the creatures that live there, except the mosquitos. And the dunks last a long time, too, around 30 days.
What Are Mosquito Bucket Traps?
Not everyone has a pond or other bodies of water on their property, so Mosquito bucket traps are a great way to put some standing water around your home for the express purpose of attracting mosquitos to breed in water that contains a mosquito dunk, killing future generations of mosquitos. They are non-toxic, pet—and kid-safe, and last for about a month.
How many mosquito bucket traps do I need?
The general guidance is to put four mosquito bucket traps in your yard for maximum coverage, one at each corner of your property. Of course, that’s just a general guideline, and you may need more or fewer traps depending on how many mosquitos you get and the size of your property.
Mosquito Bucket Trap Materials
You will need:
- 5-gallon buckets or other similar-sized containers
- Mosquito Dunks
- Chicken Wire or other Screen/Mesh Cover (Optional)
- Water
- Organic material, like grass clippings or dry leaves
What Type of Buckets Work Best?
Darker buckets attract the most mosquitos, as they more closely resemble their natural breeding surfaces like ponds or marshes. If you’ve got a Lowe’s near you, their buckets are perfect. If not, you can order these great dark 5-gallon buckets on Amazon.
How Many Mosquito Dunks Do I Need?
One mosquito dunk covers about 100 square feet of water surface. Our bucket traps are much smaller than that so you can use a quarter of a dunk per bucket. If you have four traps and use a quarter dunk per trap, one dunk will supply all of your traps for a month. You’ll want to get at least five dunks to last you through peak mosquito activity from May through September. If you have a high density of mosquitos, try a half dunk per trap. I recommend the Summit Mosquito dunks. They are about the same price at the big box stores as they are on Amazon. You can also get extra to toss in other standing water if you have it on your property.
Add a Screen or Mesh Cover (Optional)
If you want to make sure no animals fall into the bucket, you can place a screen or mesh cover over it. Just make sure to use a screen with wide enough openings so that the mosquitos can easily fly down to the water. Chicken wire works great. Alternatively, you can cut holes or openings in the plastic bucket lid.
How to Make Mosquito Bucket Traps
Step 1 – Fill a Bucket With Water
Grab a dark bucket and fill it to about two-thirds full with water.
Step 2 – Add Grass or Leaves
Add a couple of handfuls of grass clippings from your lawn or some dead leaves. This will make the standing water super inviting to mosquitos and give them somewhere to land and lay their eggs.
Step 3 – Cut Your Mosquito Dunk
You can cut the dunk with a small knife. Typically, you’ll want to use a quarter of a dunk per trap, but you can bump it up to half a dunk per trap if you have a significant mosquito problem.
Step 4 – Drop in Your Dunk and Place Your Trap
Just drop in the mosquito dunk and your trap is ready to be placed. Place your traps at the four corners of your property to get even coverage.
Mosquito Trap Maintenance
Once a month, change the water and add new grass/leaves and a new mosquito dunk. Check your traps regularly between water changes to ensure the water doesn’t get too low, and refill the water as needed. Other than that, sit back, relax, and enjoy fewer mosquitos buzzing around!
Additional Mosquito Control Tips
- Check after every rainfall for standing water. You’d be surprised where it can hide; mosquitoes can breed in as little as a teaspoon of water.
- If you have additional standing water around your home that you can’t clear, throw in some of your extra mosquito dunks.
- Consider building a mosquito fan trap to kill even more mosquitos!
- Spread the word about mosquito traps with your friends and neighbors.
Conclusion
Mosquito bucket traps are an easy, safe, and effective way to reduce mosquito populations around your home. They only take a few minutes to build, so talk to your neighbors about building mosquito traps (and while you’re at it, share this post with them). Maybe you can gain some allies in your war against the bugs. Together, you can get even more coverage and further reduce the mosquito population in your community.