# Propane Mosquito traps?



## Jim (May 29, 2015)

I need the truth on these things, do they work? Worth the investment?
It is bad this year already.


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## Johnny (May 29, 2015)

down here in the South, we set up a home made contraption that works quite well.
The commercial "bug zapper" uses the black light to attract bugs, then zaps them with electricity. one by one by one by one by one.
a more aggressive approach is to use a common box window fan . . . 
get some fine mesh window screen, make sort of like a big sock or fish dip net that will
be fixed to the backside of the fan.
place a UV black light to the front of the fan.

put this outside on a sturdy surface so it won't topple over.
turn on the light and the fan, . . . sucks in just about every bug in the area.
one way in - they can not fly against the wind and are trapped inside the net.
If you have fish or pet lizards, put the bugs in zip top bags and toss in the freezer for your pets food.
if not, a quick spray of RAID bug spray will ensure they don't come around your house again.
ounce for ounce of dead bugs, I think this will out perform any other skeeter gitter any day of the week.


*CHEAP and VERY EFFECTIVE !!*






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## DaleH (May 29, 2015)

Jim: At a former property, VERY loaded w/ mosquitos, my neighbor wanted to put one in ... on my property. Now to cut my lawn, I'd have to douse myself liberally w/ Cutter or other bug spray - as yeah - they were BAD! 

Well, it turns the propane units ATTRACT the bugs by emitting CO2, and that's why he was asking to put it on my land, as his land footprint wasn't large enough to attract the bugs and keep them away from the swingset and play area for his kids. He was going to pay for the machine and all propane, so I said 'Sure, go ahead, put it here'.

Now I must tell you ... I don't know if theses are good or bad for the environment, but I NEVER saw a mosquito near my property and I could cut the lawn without wearing bug spray. If I hadn't experienced it for myself, I NEVER would have believed it! It was THAT good!

But that fan idea sounds cool too! FWIW I work for a drug company and we use black light traps on all entry doors and we do counts each month and it is rare we see anything deeper into our production areas, so maybe that black light fan idea has merit!


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## DaleH (May 29, 2015)

Oh, I had 5 acres and he had 2 and he went through two 40-lb tanks a year ...

Not sure what model he had, but the damn thing worked!


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## lovedr79 (May 30, 2015)

yes they work. i first saw them 10 years ago when my buddy was working on his internship. he was working with the county on some mosquito catching grant to see what if anything that the mosquitos were carrying. he never had an empty trap!


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## JMichael (May 30, 2015)

I'm not sure what the "propane" trap is but several years ago I went with a friend to pick up his new trailer. When we got there, this company also built and sold mosquito traps. I'd never seen anything like them. Based on his description, the things emitted carbon dioxide while maintaining a temp of 98° to emulate a breathing warm body. Then they used a fan to suck in any mosquitoes that got close and blew them into a huge bag. Sort of like a giant vacuum cleaner sucking up mosquitoes. What ever it did, it worked. They had a few of these things running as demonstrators and the huge bags each one had ws loaded with mosquitoes.


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## DaleH (May 30, 2015)

JMichael said:


> I'm not sure what the "propane" trap is but several years ago I went with a friend to pick up his new trailer. When we got there, this company also built and sold mosquito traps. I'd never seen anything like them. Based on his description, the things *emitted carbon dioxide* ...


FYI, the propane is the fuel that burns, creating CO2 as a by-product of the combustion process ... or, same thing  as you described with greater detail.


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## JMichael (May 30, 2015)

DaleH said:


> FYI, the propane is the fuel that burns, creating CO2 as a by-product of the combustion process ... or, same thing  as you described with greater detail.


I know a lot of years have passed, and my memory isn't what it use to be, but I'd say that as I remember it, they were using a CO² cylinder like the type you see used in welding applications. So this may have been a different design of mosquito trap. Sort of like VHS and BETA tape players. But I can see where it would probably be a better design to burn propane as it's likely cheaper and the heat generated from making the CO² could be used to simulate a warm body. That would eliminate the need for a heating coil to make the heat.


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## BigTerp (Jun 1, 2015)

I really need something to help with the mosquitoes in my yard as well!! Living so close to the river they are a plaque in my yard and seem to single me out for whatever reason. We have a small population of bats that I typically see every evening swopping through my yard eating bugs. Last year I installed a small bat box in hopes of getting more to hang around and help control the mosquitoes. Still don't have any in it though


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## jethro (Jun 1, 2015)

The propane ones work incredibly well. I have a friend with a large property in the woods and they have two of the units. When you first crank them up early summer you will kick yourself as the bugs will be much worse than normal. But after 2 or 3 weeks your property will be bug free. It's amazing really.


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