The 1 Minute / 0.10 $ Insect Trap

by peoplayer

44K5245

Intro: The 1 Minute / 0.10 $ Insect Trap

What is more annoying than bees, wasps and other insects looking for something sweet when you are about to eat a good meal on your porch? Using a PET-bottle, a knife and some adhesive tape, in less than 1 minute you will have the most effective insect trap ever!

STEP 1: Cutting

Taking care not to cut your hand into slices, use the knife to cut the bottle. Cut about 1/3 of the top of the bottle, and about as much at the bottom. You will now have 3 pieces. You can discard the "middle" piece.

STEP 2: Making the Funnel

Now, turn the top part of the bottle upside down, and "insert" it into the bottom part of the bottle. Make sure there are no openings between the funnel and the container, since the insects will crawl out that way. Use the knife to trim the funnel to a perfect fit. You will now have a kind of a "funnel" that will lure insects into the container, but prevent them to find their way out, since insects tend to fly along boundaries and have really bad accuracy for flying through holes.

STEP 3: Finish It Off

With some adhesive tape, tape the top part of the bottle to the bottom part of the bottle. Pour some soda or other sweet liquid into the container, to about 1 inch deep. Pour some extra sweetener into it, like honey or more sugar. Put this container close (but not too close) to your table, preferably on the floor, and wait for the bugs to start disappearing into the container. Once it's full, just discard it and make another one or empty it and fill it up again:

Time consumed: < 1minute
Money: 0.10 $

46 Comments

MamaBrownBear 12 years ago

Does this work for common houseflies? Anyone know? Also, anyone know a good bait to use?

peoplayer 10 years ago

There is a trick (that seems to work) for common houseflies here in Mexico. Fill a plastic bag with water and hang it somewhere from the roof. According to experts, the reflections of the water, hanging, will scare flies off. Most Mexican roadside restaurants have these and they work as far as I am concerned.

Void Schism 13 years ago

It does work. If you put a couple of teaspoons of jam (or jelly for those "state-side") and splash of hot water in the bottom and mix them up the bugs will dive for it and get stuck in the mixture

tsmith161 9 years ago

Jelly and jam are two completely different products. Stateside or not.

Void Schism 9 years ago

Indeed they are.

However what is called Jam in the UK is Jelly in the US and what is called Jelly in the UK is Jello in the US. Just helping with a little cultural translation for folks.

tsmith161 9 years ago

Anyone try a rotting piece of red meat in the bottle. It sounds extreme, but I'm wondering...

AluminumFoilMaster 12 years ago

FYI, wasps will attack when unprovoked. When I got my first sting, a yellow jacket landed on me when I was drinking from a water fountain. I have no memory of trying to kill a bee or wasp in my life but I have been stung twice. People who say the only attack when provoked have clearly never been stung. All you gotta do is get like 20-30 feet from their nest.

claudg1950 12 years ago

I couldn´t agree more. I was attacked by a wasp just for walking below a nest I hadn´t even seen.
Immediately and as a retaliation, my wife destroyed the nest with a broom. For some reason wasps didn´t sting her; perhaps a decided attack works with them better than being a peaceful bystander.

cowsclimbtrees 12 years ago

Great Idea. If you want to catch yellow jackets just pour beer in the container.
just make sure its not good beer ;)

SirNoodlehe 13 years ago

time to tie some bees to strings :D

trunx 12 years ago

Why would you do this? Honeybees have suffered large population declines and you want to torture them?

peoplayer 12 years ago

Agree with you. I use this when the bees are too agressive by the outdoor table.

SirNoodlehe 12 years ago

okay, time to capture robotic bees and tie them to strings

zupyo22 12 years ago

what kind of knife? By the way I liked your instructable.

peoplayer 12 years ago

Thanks. It is a Swedish carpenter's knife. Good for most anything. Inox and very sharp despite being inox. :)
http://www.clasohlson.se/Product/Product.aspx?id=164634615

peoplayer 13 years ago

not really. Cutting a bottle taping it and pouring liquid into it takes no more than 45 seconds.

unaffiliatedperson 14 years ago

a great follow up to this wood be to put the insects in the refrigerator till they sleep and then glue them to a matchstick airplane so they can power it when they wake up

yoshi1 13 years ago

Thats kinda cruel.
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