A PEST control expert has revealed an effective way to keep mosquitoes away from your home – and it costs just 50p.
This comes as a dengue-spreading species has been discovered in the UK for the first time.
The recent spell of warm, humid and damp weather has proved the ideal breeding ground for mosquitoes in the UK, including the arrival of one invasive species – the Aedes aegypti mosquito.
Known to transmit viruses including dengue, chikungunya and Zika, the flying insect was spotted inside east London residential properties for the first time in recent years.
Thankfully, a pest control expert has revealed a simple way to keep mosquitoes away and prevent you from being bitten.
According to Timothy Wong, technical director of pest control company MMPC, a few kitchen cupboard essentials is all that is needed to get started.
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Simply combine sugar, yeast, and water to create an effective trap for mosquitoes.
“After a few hours, the yeast starts releasing a steady stream of carbon dioxide, which mosquitoes are highly attracted to,” adds Timothy Wong speaking to the Martha Stewart website.
To begin, gather together an empty water bottle, white sugar, yeast, water and a black cloth or napkin and cut the bottle just below the neck (make sure to keep both parts).
Then mix together sugar, yeast and water – for a two-litre bottle, you will need four tablespoons of sugar, 1/3 teaspoon of yeast and one glass of warm water.
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Place this within the bottom of the bottle.
Then turn over the top part of the bottle so that it’s pointed downward, creating a funnel, and place it on top of the bottom of the bottle.
Use tape to hold the funnel in place and wrap the entire trap in something black (such as a rubbish bin bag) while leaving the top uncovered for mosquitoes to fly in.
Continue to refill the trap with fresh sugar and yeast every few days and you should have created an effective trap – all for the cost of just 50p.
But if you have been bitten, don’t fret – the arrival of the Aedes aegypti mosquito is considered more “an early warning rather than an immediate public-health threat,” according to Oxford University doctor, César López-Camacho.