To keep mosquitoes from ruining your place, it is nice to have an enticing trap to lure them away from you. This guide is about making a mosquito trap.
Because mosquitoes are attracted to the CO2 we breathe
out, I started looking for ideas that used CO2 as the bait for the
mosquito trap. I did think of dry ice but it does dissipate fairly
quickly.
Thanks to the students for their hard work on this project. I've used some of their photos for illustration.
Supplies:
- 1 2 liter soda bottle
- a sharp knife
- black paper
- tape
- candy thermometer
Take a 2 liter soda bottle. Cut off the top right below where it starts
to narrow for the top, invert and place inside the lower half. Make a simple sugar syrup.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup water
- 2 cups cool water
- 1 tsp. active dry yeast
Directions:
Bring 1 cup of the water to a boil.
Dissolve the sugar into the boiling water.
Once the sugar is dissolved completely, remove the pan from the heat. Stir in 2 cups cool water, stir well.
Check the temperature of the syrup to make sure it is no hotter than 90
degrees F, if hotter, let cool to 90 degrees F, add 1 tsp. active dry
yeast, no need to mix. Put syrup in the bottom part of the bottle, using
the cut off neck piece, leave in place.
Be sure to seal the two
parts of the bottle with the tape. The fermenting yeast will release
carbon dioxide. Put black paper around the bottle since mosquitoes like
dark places and carbon dioxide. This mosquito trap will then start
working.TIPS: Put the trap in a dark and humid place for 2 weeks, you'll see the effect. You'll have to replace the sugar water + yeast solution every 2 weeks.
