Bug Zapper

[EddieWalker]

Last year I bought an electric bug zapper from Home Depot that worked great at first. It has the purple light and an attractant that you put into the bottom of it about once a month. For quite awhile it was zapping bugs all night long. It was fun just to see the sparks!!!! But towards the end of summer it stopped working. The purple light is on, and there is new bait, but nothing is dying or getting zapped.

I'm wanting to buy another one, but one that is better and will last a lot longer. Who has a good one and what brand is it?

Thank you,
Eddie

 

[Western]

This for mosquitoes?? They really don't work for them and waste your electricity. I saw a study where they tested them in the everglades, said they where a marketing myth. below is an excerpt from the American Mosquito Control Association: here Home

"Do Bug-Zappers work?
Black light insect electrocution devices (Bug Zappers, etc.) are purchased in huge quantities by homeowners due to their demonstrated ability to attract and kill thousands of insects over a 24 hr. period. One industry representative estimates that over 1.75 million of these devices are purchased annually in the U.S. But do they really control pest insects? Bug zappers do indeed kill some mosquitoes. However, the only two controlled studies conducted to date by independent investigators at the University of Notre Dame showed that mosquitoes comprised merely 4.1% and 6.4% respectively of the daily catch over an entire season. Even more important was the finding in both studies that there was no significant difference in the number of mosquitoes found in yards with or without bug zappers. What is particularly disconcerting, however, is the number of non-pest insects that comprise the vast majority of trap catch. Many of these insects are beneficial predators on other insect pests. They in turn constitute a major part of the diet of many songbirds. Indeed, reduced numbers of moth and beetle prey species have contributed significantly to the decline of songbird populations in many affluent suburbs. Insect electrocution devices undoubtedly bear some responsibility for this phenomenon. Mosquitoes continue to be more attracted to humans than to the devices. One study conducted in homeowners' backyards showed that of the insects killed by these devices, only 0.13% were female mosquitoes. An estimated 71 billion to 350 billion beneficial insects may be killed annually in the United States by these electrocuting devices.""

I dont know where to get a good one, I haven't used them since the early 90's when I saw the test

 

[Looking4new]

I use concentrated garlic oil and just drive them away. It works good.

 

[MacLawn]

I use concentrated garlic oil and just drive them away. It works good.

Yep, that'd drive me away alright! Mosqites, hate them rascals. I don't know Eddie, I reckon them candle oil thingamajigs work. What're they called? That citronella stuff.

 

[rekees4300]

Who has a good one and what brand is it?

The best selling one on Amazon is "Flowtron Electronic Insect Killer" for $29.

 

[mjarrels]

I have one in Virginia that I really don't need, but when visiting inlaws in the Philippines, I just use an electric fan on high. Bugs can't fly in the breeze.

mark

 

[lostcreekranch]

I've found that the bug zappers attract bugs but don't seem to kill them. When I had a home in Houston, years ago that was on one of the bayous, I used to buy bug zappers for my neighbors as Christmas gifts every couple of years. All my bugs were attracted to their zappers and we could sit outside in the evening with no bugs. ;-)

Great trick that neighbors never figured out.

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[oosik]

I have bats that do a great job on all nighttime bugs. Its a little frightening at first - you go outside in the evening and the bugs are attracted to you due to either body heat or THEY WANT YOUR BLOOD. The bats come for the insects and for a while are diving right at you. Soon the bats back off and pick up the bugs a ways away from you.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I've found that the bug zappers attract bugs but don't seem to kill them. When I had a home in Houston, years ago that was on one of the bayous, I used to buy bug zappers for my neighbors as Christmas gifts every couple of years. All my bugs were attracted to their zappers and we could sit outside in the evening with no bugs. ;-)

Great trick that neighbors never figured out.

Sent from my iPad using TractorByNet

That is actually the way those are supposed to be used. Put them about 100 feet from where you sit and the black light will draw most of the bugs toward it. Whether or not they kill them is another story.

 

[lostcreekranch]

That is actually the way those are supposed to be used. Put them about 100 feet from where you sit and the black light will draw most of the bugs toward it. Whether or not they kill them is another story.

Knew that Gary. That's why I gave them to my neighbors. These were patio homes so distance to neighbor's back yards was about right.

Those 4 years at Univ. of Houston really paid off.

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[toppop52]

We were on vacation at our Outer Banks house about 20 years ago, a very large moth got into the bug zapper that the management company decided we needed. The thing went super zap crazy, set the large moth on fire, before I could get to it to unplug it, the flaming moth landed on a big patch of dried out dune grass, torched it off in about 2 seconds. I got the hose and put out the moth/grass while my wife unplugged the zapper. I dropped off the burnt out zapper at the property manager's house the next morning, along with instructions on where to store it.

 

[Retired Iron Peddler]

When we lived in rural Denton County Texas, I used a bug zapper on inside my shop building to control mud daubers. I hung it up high near to the roof in the center of my metal building and it did a good job keeping down the mud dauber population and their pesky mud nests and effectively controlled those little wasps that build mud nests inside small pipes and tubes which effectively plugs them. I only ran the zapper during the late summer months when the mud daubers were really active. The zappers worked for several years, but I usually replaced the black light bulb once a year. We've been in rural Titus County Texas for 8 years and don't have a mud dauber problem... yet.

Bill

 

[EddieWalker]

Thank you everyone, your advice just confuses me even more. I want to control the mosquitos, but after reading the reviews and your comments, I'm wondering if I'm going about this the wrong way. I haven't sprayed my house yet for bugs and that usually helps control them to some degree. I'll do that after work this week. I've been wanting to put out bat boxes, but I seem to always forget about it and do something else. I need to get on that and see if I can increase my bat population. I have small brown bats that are pretty active over the ponds, but it would be nice if there where more.

I have my doubts that the zapper is the way to go.

Eddie

 

[toppop52]

Thank you everyone, your advice just confuses me even more. I want to control the mosquitos, but after reading the reviews and your comments, I'm wondering if I'm going about this the wrong way. I haven't sprayed my house yet for bugs and that usually helps control them to some degree. I'll do that after work this week. I've been wanting to put out bat boxes, but I seem to always forget about it and do something else. I need to get on that and see if I can increase my bat population. I have small brown bats that are pretty active over the ponds, but it would be nice if there where more.

I have my doubts that the zapper is the way to go.

Eddie

I have been spraying with Home Defense Max, once a year for three years now, I've had a grand total of 2 spiders, no bugs except an occasional fly that sneaks in an open door, but they don't last long. I spray the foundation, around all openings of any kind, the decks and steps. I also spray inside around the baseboards, under cabinets and and sinks. It's safe for pets after an hour, so I shut them in a room and spray the rest, then in an hour let them out and spray that room. Not counting the hour wait, total time is about 45 minutes for the job and it costs $12.95 a gallon, which gets me one and a half uses, including spraying my outdoor buildings. Best stuff I ever found.

 

[murphy1244]

Eddie, you want Bats and Barn Swallows. Daytime and night time control.

 

[Western]

Eddie, you want Bats and Barn Swallows. Daytime and night time control.

What Murph said. You have the perfect lake and property to attract Purple martins and they, along with bats are some mosquito eating machines.

BTW, only female mosquito bite! doesn't that just seem "natural":laughing:

 

[kevinwak]

I bought a bug zapper at costco last summer. It worked great at first, and then same thing, just light and no more zap. I realized that I let the dead bugs build up inside and it shorted out. I bought a replacement and blow it out every couple days with an air hose. Lasted then.
It usually left about an inch thick layer of dead bugs under it each day. After about 3 weeks of use there was noticeably less Mosquitos throughout the yard.

 

[KiotiKowboy]

I love bug zappers and have no idea why they seem to have lost popularity. Flying critter problems are GREATLY reduced in just a few days. Even though I rarely have a unit last more than 2 years, the cost is a non-factor vs the benefit.

 

[Pete Judd]

Wont have one. They kill to many of the good bugs. I have many bat houses, and they eat up to 600 mosseys an hour each.