Pesticide-Free Mosquito Control for Daycares

For parents who leave their children in daycare, insect bites are often a major concern. In fact, if a child comes home covered in bites, parents are often quick to blame the daycare for not doing enough to protect their children.

Worries about bed bugs or fleas drive these panicked parents, but more often than not these red bumps are actually the result of mosquitoes or other outdoor biting insects, which attack while the children are outdoors playing.

Regardless of the source of the bites, parents are understandably concerned for the safety of their children. Not only do these bites itch, but some children can’t resist scratching them, which can result in open sores and infections. Of further concern is that mosquito bites can transmit certain diseases – West Nile or Zika virus, for example – that pose a real health risk to young children.

Daycare Responsibility for Insect and Mosquito Control

Daycares

The safety of children is a top responsibility for all daycares. To maintain a strong reputation in the community and achieve their appropriate certifications, any good daycare will take steps to address pest problems as they are discovered.

The most common method of insect control is to ask parents to supply personal mosquito repellent sprays that can be applied to each child. Additionally, professional exterminators may be hired to spray the outdoor play yard with chemicals that either repel or kill any mosquitoes.

While these mosquito treatments can be effective, many parents aren’t thrilled with the heavy application of chemicals directly on their children’s skin or in areas where they’ll be playing for extended periods of time. The fear is understandable – many chemicals once used for insect control were later shown to have unpredictable effects weeks, months or years later.

Daycares, however, can invest in another solution to deal with outdoor mosquitoes and biting insects: Mosquito Magnet® CO2 mosquito traps, a chemical-free alternative to personal repellents or outdoor pesticides.

The Pesticide-free Option for Mosquito Control for Daycare Facilities

These CO2 mosquito traps from Mosquito Magnet® are placed in a corner of a playground, where they attract and trap mosquitoes. Each device can provide mosquito control for up to 1 acre, much larger than the size of most outdoor play areas.

What is a mosquito trap and how does it work? These traps are about the size of a large vacuum cleaner and use proven science to remove female mosquitoes from the area, thereby causing a collapse in the local mosquito population.

Mosquito Magnet® traps work using a special attractant that draws hungry, female mosquitoes to the trap. Once the mosquito comes close enough, a vacuum sucks it into a net inside the trap. The powerful vacuum holds the mosquito in the net, where the insect dehydrates and dies.

Be aware that these traps do require regular maintenance. Every Mosquito Magnet® CO2 trap uses the propane from an attached 20-lb tank to activate the mosquito attractant. The tank and the attractant must be changed regularly – about every three weeks. Nets must be either changed or regularly cleaned to create room for more catches. Attractants, nets and other supplies are all available here at the Mosquito Magnet® website.

Additional Mosquito Control Tips for Daycare

Daycare workers can further work to eliminate mosquito-friendly conditions from play yards, most notably by removing standing water around the property:

Fill in areas where puddles develop
Empty buckets of water used in play
Dump water off toys and store them so they don’t collect water when not in use
Dry off playground equipment
Drill drain holes in toys and play equipment that stay outdoors
Pick up trash or other debris that can collect water

Additionally, keep vegetation that could harbor mosquitoes trimmed and add known mosquito-repelling plants to the facility’s landscaping.

Learn More About Mosquito Magnet®

Want to know more about Mosquito Magnet® CO2 Mosquito Traps? These articles will further elaborate on how Mosquito Magnet® devices operate and the dangers mosquitoes can pose to vulnerable individuals, including young children.

Also be sure to subscribe to the Mosquito Magnet® E-Newsletter, which offers money-saving coupons and important updates on emerging mosquito-carried threats. Finally, connect with Mosquito Magnet® on Facebook to see more helpful articles.