03/13/2025
This unassuming little bucket plays an important role at Oak Grove Farm. It is how we introduce birth control to mosquitos. We fill each bucket about half full of old leaves, pulled weeds and other yard waste, then we cover it with water until the bucket is about half full. After letting it sit three days, the water becomes brackish. Brackish water equals bo***ir in mosquito world. It attracts the females like bottomless mojitos. They seek it out as a desirable place to lay their eggs. But we introduce a bacteria to the water in the form of mosquito bits that does not allow their eggs to develop past the larval stage. This bacteria is harmless to all other animals. If your dog drank it, he'd be fine. Still, I do like to cover each bucket with an aquaponic cover just to keep any little animals from falling in and drowning. Plus I think it looks nice. I also painted the buckets so they'd blend in to our natural environment AND mosquitos are attracted to the darker color so that serves a dual purpose.
After about three days of the water becoming brackish, I introduce the mosquito bit. These can last from one to three weeks. I find, this time of year, before it gets very hot, they last a lot longer, usually about three weeks, but once it gets hot, they may only last one week. How can I tell if they're still working? If they're floating, they're still working. If they sink, it's time for a new one. (Or, my tell is, if I get bitten by a mosquito. That usually tells me I need to check the buckets.)
We're starting our buckets now to get a head start. I have already seen two mosquitos! This property is 10 acres and we use 10 buckets and that seems to work well for us. A friend who comes here says she never gets bitten when she's here but when she goes to her mother-in-love's house, who lives up the road, she gets eaten up. She's going to set up a bucket for her this spring.
In Raleigh, the Five Points district started encouraging neighbors to use this method to see if they could stop spraying for mosquitos. In just a few years they got the entire district using it. It works. An entomologist for the Audubon Society wrote a piece about it. It's cheap, sustainable, and super easy. Here's a link to learn more (hint: they replace their whole solution every month or so. I don't do that. I just add a new dunk to the brackish water and use the same water all year. OH! And if it rains, don't worry if some of your water runs over. It won't hurt anything but it may dilute your bacteria so make sure that dunk is still floating ... and maybe pour out some of that extra water so it doesn't overflow next time): https://www.nvbirdalliance.org/news/how-to-set-up-a-mosquito-larva-trap
