Summertime, and the living is easy. Easy, that is, unless swarming mosquitoes infest your big outdoor event. If you’re planning an event where your guests are going to eat, be sure nothing is going to be eating your guests. Even if there’s not going to be any food at your gathering, let’s make sure your guests aren't on the mosquitoes’ menu.
Protect Your Guests at Outdoor Events
There are many types of outdoor events that could be potentially ruined by uninvited guests with wings. As you plan outdoor events, it’s wise to consider your guests’ comfort and overall experience. No one appreciates smacking away pesky mosquitoes during what’s supposed to be an entertaining event. And, of course, no one wants to be put at an increased risk of contracting a mosquito-borne illness. Mosquito control for outdoor event venues may be needed for the following:
Weddings
One of life’s rare milestones, weddings are momentous events that are worthy of careful planning and attention to detail. Wedding photographs capture the day’s special moments, which include happy, comfortable guests enjoying the significance of the joyous occasion. Engaging in proper wedding mosquito control will ensure those timeless wedding photographs are full of smiles and cheerful guests – not of your friends and family annoyingly swatting away mosquitoes.
Restaurants with Outdoor Seating
In the warmer months, restaurant patrons appreciate the relaxation and enjoyment that comes with eating outdoors. Sometimes adequate outdoor dining is hard to find, so it comes as an added bonus when it’s offered at a favorite restaurant. Enjoyable outdoor dining can quickly turn sour if mosquitoes invade the premises, making outdoor restaurant mosquito control a significant concern.
Outdoor Music Events and Festivals
Planning an outdoor music event comes with quite a few considerations. The main focal point of the event is always the music, so running the proper sound and correlating with the musicians is of utmost importance. Guests come to enjoy one another’s company – not to fight with mosquitos. Avoid unhappy musicians and guests and plan for adequate mosquito protection at your outdoor music event or festival.
A Variety of Options for Outdoor Event Mosquito Control
Weddings, outdoor restaurants, and music events and festivals are common places in need of mosquito control. But there are many other types of events that require mosquito control as well, such as outdoor birthday parties and barbeques, pool parties, evening gatherings, graduation parties and many more. When you plan an outdoor event, you may consider a variety of methods to prevent mosquitoes from invading your space. Here are some of the methods that are typically considered:
- Bug zappers
- Mosquito nets
- Mosquito repellent
- Mosquito candles
- Mosquito Magnet® traps
Don’t Get Zapped
Let’s start with the things that don’t work or are impractical, first of which is the bug zapper. Bug zappers work very well for killing lots of bugs. Unfortunately, mosquitoes aren’t on the list of bugs that zappers will zap. Zappers work using a fluorescent light to attract insects. Surrounding the light is an electrified wire mesh. When the insect flies toward the light, it hits the wire and “zap” - the voltage in the mesh is sufficient to electrocute the offending bug. Mosquitoes, however, are drawn toward certain attractants, and fluorescent light isn’t one of them. More precisely, if fluorescent light is an attractant, it’s not much of one, as is shown in an academic research study. The research shows that zappers are ineffective. In controlled studies, there’s been no difference between the number of mosquitoes in areas that were “guarded” by zappers and those that weren’t. They may appear to work, but most likely they won’t get the job done when it comes to mosquito prevention.
Nets are Impractical
Netting is another approach often used to prevent mosquito bites. Netting is generally best used to cover a small area, like a bed, to prevent mosquitoes from attacking as people stay in that enclosed space. You might consider using netting to protect areas about the size of a gazebo. However, guests at any outdoor event, like a luau or wedding, will be moving around. This means they will be going in and out of the netted areas. When the door opens, so to speak, mosquitoes can easily invade what was thought to be a protected area. For netting to have any chance of working at an outdoor event, it needs to be large. The world’s biggest mosquito net was unveiled at the African Summit on Roll Back Malaria conference held in Nigeria in the year 2000. It covered an area about 50 feet on each side, but it wasn’t exactly aesthetically pleasing. Can you imagine having your wedding guests under a 50-foot tented net while the bride and groom say “I do?” Fortunately, this isn’t the only option.
Mosquito Repellent
Most people use a repellent cream or spray to address the problem of mosquito bites. You can find mosquito repellent sold under many different brand names, and most of them contain a chemical known as DEET. DEET works by affecting the receptors the mosquito uses to help find you. Those receptors hone in on your heat, the CO2 in your breath and other chemical signatures. DEET makes it much more difficult for a mosquito to find you. While DEET can be effective when applied on an individual person, it’s not going to be very effective at an outdoor event like a wedding, or when a restaurant is serving food outdoors. First, for DEET to work you must cover all exposed areas of the skin. You do that typically by applying a cream to yourself. That leaves the cream on your hands. But you absolutely must wash your hands afterwards to get rid of the DEET before eating anything. Ingesting DEET can lead to many problems. In low doses, it can result in nausea and vomiting. In larger doses, it can cause hypotension (low blood pressure) and bradycardia (slow heart rates). In some cases it can also cause neurologic problems, including seizures and going into a coma. It’s obviously problematic to use DEET for any large-scale outdoor event, particularly when serving food. There’s simply too much risk posed by the possibility of someone ingesting the repellent. Also, DEET-based repellents often have a strong fragrance, which can be offensive for many guests.
Mosquito Candles
Mosquito candles can be part of successful event venue mosquito control. Mosquito candles include chemicals, such as citronella oil, that are known insect repellents. When you light a mosquito candle, the chemicals are emitted into the air and can help keep mosquitoes at bay in a limited area for up to 36 hours. Newer candles, called Conceal Candles, burn a different substance that affects the mosquito’s olfactory system. It essentially makes them “blind” in their search for warm-blooded targets. But the main problem when considering mosquito candles for an outdoor event is that you won’t be able to light enough candles for complete effectiveness in a wide-open area. Researchers at North Dakota State University concluded this fact in a recent study. Burning mosquito-repellent candles at dinner or at guest tables enhances mosquito prevention, but you have to think bigger to truly address the challenge of outdoor event mosquito control.
The Solution: Mosquito Magnet® Traps
Fortunately, there’s a newer solution to the problem, and it’s called the Mosquito Magnet® trap. As the name implies, rather than repel mosquitoes from an area, the trap attracts them and then kills them. It’s so effective that in some cases it can actually break the lifecycle of the mosquito. The Mosquito Magnet® trap is based on more than 18 years of research and patented technology – it’s a truly revolutionary approach to stopping mosquitoes. The trap is propane powered. It converts to CO2, which is what mammals exhale with each breath. The CO2 is emitted at just the right temperature – and with enough moisture – to make it appear to a mosquito like it’s a hot-blooded meal waiting to be munched. Once mosquitoes are lured near the trap, they’re attracted directly to it using a secondary attractant. These attractants differ depending on your geographic location, but once in the vicinity of the trap, mosquitoes are sucked inside by a vacuum located near the exhaust vent on the trap. It’s called Counterflow™ Technology. The mosquitoes cannot escape the trap and eventually die of dehydration within 24 hours.
Mosquito Magnet® Traps Offer a Large Zone of Defense
When planning outdoor event mosquito control, you must consider the size you need to cover. It’s easy to imagine an outdoor restaurant venue, a concert, a luau or a wedding that would encompass an area well over 100 feet on a side. Mosquito Magnet® Traps offer an incomparable zone of defense against mosquitoes. Other methods, such as candle repellents, may work in an area about 10 feet by 10 feet under optimal conditions. But a Mosquito Magnet® Trap can protect an area as large as an acre, which is larger than 200 feet by 200 feet. There's no practical way to protect an area that large with candles. Mosquito Magnet® Traps offer the confidence that comes with protecting your guests without worrying about keeping candles lit or repeatedly spraying DEET all over the area, only to discover that your efforts failed.
Discovering Where to Place the Trap
As an event planner or organizer, you’ll need to give some forethought to where your event is going to be held, the size of the area, and where you think the mosquitoes will be coming from. The best strategy is to position your trap between the mosquito breeding areas and where your event is going to take place. You also want to put some distance between the trap and where the event will be held. You don’t want mosquitoes having a choice between the trap and your guests. You want them to find the trap, get sucked inside, and die. You should also think about placing the trap in the shade if possible. Mosquitoes don’t particularly like direct sunlight. Placing the Mosquito Magnet® Trap in the shade offers you a greater likelihood of catching them.
Different Models to Choose From
There are several different Mosquito Magnet® Traps to consider. Each offers different features, so consider which ones would be most appropriate for your event. The Mosquito Magnet® Patriot runs on regular AC current and comes with a 50-foot power cord. It also comes with a one-year warranty. Like all Mosquito Magnet® Traps, it covers one acre, uses the company’s patented CounterFlow™ technology and is supported by customer service should you have any questions. The Mosquito Magnet® Independence has all of the features of the Patriot, except it runs on four “C” cell batteries. This offers more flexibility for positioning the trap. The Mosquito Magnet® Executive expands on the features of the Independence by including a fuel saving technology that helps you use less propane to fuel your trap. The Executive model also runs on a rechargeable custom battery, so you don’t have to keep purchasing “C” cells to keep your trap active. Finally, the Mosquito Magnet® Commander model offers even more features, including monitoring capabilities from your PC or SmartPhone and trap statuses sent via Wi-Fi by email or text.
Protect Your Guests with a Mosquito Magnet® Trap
Outdoor event mosquito control used to be a real challenge. Mosquito candles work only in a limited area and you need to be downwind of the candle so that the fragrance will blow in your direction. Bug zappers are ineffective, if not useless, for stopping mosquitoes. And mosquito nets are impractical for any large outdoor event.
Personal mosquito repellent is the most-often used method of mosquito prevent for individuals. But when it comes to protecting people at a wedding, concert or other outdoor event, asking your guests to cover themselves in DEET is impractical. Also, it’s not a great way to introduce them to your event. Plus, if you’re serving food, you run the risk of your guests ingesting residual DEET left on their hands after application. Instead, mosquito traps are a great way to create a mosquito-free zone for your guests.
The Mosquito Magnet® Trap comes in four different models, each offering features that can match your outdoor event needs. One of the great aspects of a trap is that it addresses the entire mosquito population, not only individual mosquitoes. When most effective, a Mosquito Magnet® Trap can actually break the mosquitoes’ breeding cycle, putting your and your guests in a much better position to enjoy your special event.
When placing a trap, start before the mosquitoes begin to breed. Keep an eye on the thermometer because mosquito eggs start hatching when the mercury rises above 50°Fahrenheit. If you’re in the South, begin earlier than if you’re in higher latitudes. In Florida, you can think about using a trap any time of year, but certainly by February. In upstate New York, you might get started in May.
We want your outdoor event to be free of mosquitoes. Check out our full line of mosquito traps, all of which ensure your special occasion goes off without an itch.
