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How to Make a Plastic Bottle Mosquito Trap

How to Make a Plastic Bottle Mosquito Trap

Summer is good, mosquitoes, it is less. These insects, which are so small and may seem insignificant, are endowed with a formidable power: that of disturbing our tranquility. For there are few things so disagreeable when one tries to fall asleep, a buzzing away and coming closer at intervals from our face, and with him the most unpleasant perspective we could get stung.

What attracts mosquitoes to us?

Mosquitoes would be able to detect our presence at a distance of more than 10 meters thanks to the carbon dioxide that we release into the air when we breathe. They would also use their sight to identify us as a dense mass from which CO2 could come and get closer to us. They would also use their thermal sensing capabilities to ensure that we are a living being. It is also thanks to them that they detect the ideal place where we sting.

In shops, many mosquito traps use heat and carbon dioxide from burning propane to attract mosquitoes.

The operating principle of this homemade trap

This mosquito trap is very simple. Made from a regular plastic bottle, it contains a sweet solution and yeasts that feed on sugar, produce carbon dioxide that attracts mosquitoes. The latter descend along the funnel and then find themselves trapped, flying along the walls of the bottle and not being, for most of them, not able to pass by the funnel in the other direction . They get tired then and end up falling into the liquid and drowning in it.

On the other hand, the fact of covering the bottle with a dark and opaque sheet of canson paper helps to give it a more credible appearance of prey.

The advantage of this device is that it contains no chemicals harmful to the health of children and animals. It is also cheap and easy to make.

In the evening, the mosquitoes will come out of their hiding places in search of possible prey, and if they happened to feel the CO2 trail of the trap before yours, they would probably follow it, and be led to their loss.

Making of the mosquito trap

To make this trap, you will need the following equipment:

- An empty plastic bottle with a capacity of two liters, without the cap
- A cutter or a pair of scissors
- Scotch tape
- Black Canson paper
- 4 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 glass of water
- 1 sachet of active dry yeast

Here's how to make your trap:

1. Cut the bottle
With the cutter or pair of scissors, cut the plastic bottle in half as shown in the following picture:

2. Assemble
Put the lower part upright and insert the upper part, which will act as a funnel, upside down, in the body of the bottle.

Push in the funnel just enough to leave enough room between the bottom of the trap and the lowest point of the neck to hold one or two glasses of water and an air space.

3. Seal the set
Secure the two parts of the trap with tape to keep them in place, but also to eliminate any escape route for mosquitoes.

Then wrap the sheet of black canson paper around the trap. This leaf also blocks the sun's rays and preserves sugar and yeast longer by slowing down their degradation.

4. Prepare the bait
Mix the sugar in boiling water until completely dissolved. Allow to cool until the solution reaches a temperature of about 50 degrees. If the water is too hot, it will kill the yeast; if it is too cold, it will not activate completely. Slowly stir the yeast and mix well, then pour into the trap.

Other ways to get rid of mosquitoes

In your mosquito hunt and for maximum efficiency, you could use other methods in addition to this trap, here are some examples:

- Install mosquito nets around beds and doors and windows.

- Wear long clothes and limit the exposure of your skin.

- Avoid dark clothes because they store heat, which is not the best way to keep mosquitoes away.

Use natural repellents to apply to your skin such as essential oils (be careful not to overdose and dilute them in a carrier oil or water!) With lemongrass, peppermint, cinnamon or castor oil that you can mix with a base of olive oil, witch hazel or sunflower.
How to Make a Plastic Bottle Mosquito Trap