Theyre still out there, but at least they arent biting you.
Kill adult mosquitoes, for example with foggers.
This is the least effective strategy.
Kill larvae or interfere with breeding.
This is where the bucket of doom comes in.
Youll eliminate breeding sites in your yard,exceptfor that very special bucket.
The bucket will kill the baby mosquitoes before they can grow up.
If youre interested in trying to kill adult mosquitoes,read up on adulticides.
They can be toxic to other insects like bees.
If you live next door to a swamp, the bucket may not help much.
How a mosquito bucket of doom works
First, you should probably understand the mosquito life cycle.
Females lay their eggs in or near water, and the larvae are aquatic.
They pupate (like caterpillars) and emerge from the water as adult mosquitoes.
Male and female adultsdrink flower nectar(!!!)
Thats where the biting comes in.
She needs a blood meal to be able to build those little baby mosquito eggs.
Then the cycle can begin again.
Were going to disrupt this process by poisoning the water that the larvae live in.
The eggs will hatch, but the larvae will die.
Is a mosquito bucket of doom safe?
Insects that dont breed in water arent affected by dunks, sobutterflies and bees are safe.
So thats where I decided to set up my first bucket of doom.
I asked my daughter to gather up some dry leaves from the corners of the yard and driveway.
Then we filled the bucket partway with water, before adding the magic ingredient.
Add water to the bucket, making a nice little pond for the mosquitoes.
Drop in 14 of a mosquito dunk, or the amount indicated on the package.
(Some photos online show people using a full dunk per bucket; thats probably overkill.
)You will need to add a new dunk monthly.
And remember,you still need to dump out all of your non-poisoned standing water.
The bucket of doom works best when its the mosquitoesonlyoption.
People who use these buckets tend to report that they noticed far fewer mosquitoes in the months that followed.
