Do bug zappers cut down on the biting insects? Not so much. But they kill helpful fliers, evidently

[Attilatheblond]

Beat the paywall with this link I can share with my WaPo subscription

https://wapo.st/3r6D1tR]

studies show virtually no mosquitoes or other biting insects ever enter a zapper.

In 1997, the University of Florida’s medical entomological laboratory tallied the death toll from one bug zapper over a single night: 10,000 insects. Just eight were mosquitoes. Similar studies reflected those findings.

Around the same time, researchers at the University of Delaware used a bug zapper to trap 13,789 insects over a summer. Only 31 — 0.22 percent — were biting insects such as mosquitoes and gnats. What did it kill? Beneficial bugs, mostly. Roughly half the victims — 6,670 insects — were harmless aquatic species from nearby rivers and streams, fish food in the aquatic food chain. Many of the others were parasitic wasps and beetles that naturally prey on mosquitoes.

My nearly 70 years of personal experience, as a delicacy skitters and gnats love to bite, concurs with the scientific studies. Not fond of spraying on the DEET, but it is the only add-on that has ever worked for me. A box fan blowing on me when I pull weeds is the other effective method I have tried, and I have tried 'em all.

When bothered by bees while out in the garden, I have found a couple saucers with a dash of Margarita mix pour in them, set away from where I am working usually works fine. DO NOT give the bees tequila. The spouse dropped an actual Margarita on the patio once. We had a bunch of bees flying drunkenly around for 2 days.