First, a huge welcome to all the new subscribers who've joined recently! Whether you found us through WTOP, WUSA9, word of mouth, or just saw the first mosquitoes of the season, we're so glad you're here. This community is growing fast and I'm feeling optimistic that the future holds a summer of many patio hangouts!
Here are some highlighted updates since our last email:
Website updates: We've been working hard to make it easier for you to jump in. If you haven't checked out the website in a couple weeks, you'll notice improved navigation and tons of new content — more comprehensive guidance on trap placement, CO2 for Mosquitaires, BTi treatment details, and our data collection efforts. Check it out.
GAT Trap Backorder/Stockout: The Biogents shipment of GAT traps from Europe are now officially in transit to their Wisconsin warehouse. There have been some snafus along the way, and with the holiday weekend coming up, you can expect to receive your orders the first week of June.Â
We're reasonably confident we won't see stockouts again this summer— Biogents proactively shipped extra inventory to handle whatever additional orders come in. So if you've been holding off on ordering because things were out of stock, the wait is almost over.
Best practices: In the meantime — and honestly, for the whole season — focus on the fundamentals. Remember to walk your property after this weekend's rain! Toss standing water in your yard. Treat the water you can't toss (rain barrels, ponds, drains). And if you have traps deployed, keep them maintained: refresh sticky cards every 2 weeks, replace Mosquitaire sweetscent packs every 8 weeks, and keep those buckets of doom topped up with fresh dunks.
Add your data! We're also asking you to log your traps (yes, including buckets of doom!) on our data collection form at ittybittymosquitocommittee.org/measurable-impact. We're mapping everything to understand our coverage and what's actually working. Every data point helps!
Definitely not so itty bitty anymore! We're now at 180+ block captains and spreading across DC, Maryland, and Virginia! If your block doesn't have a captain yet, consider volunteering. We have guides and a growing block captain community that supports and helps each other.
Also, over 3,100 GAT traps and 460 Mosquitaires have been ordered through our community page so far! We have 68 traps logged on our data map at the moment, so I'm expecting to see quite a few more on there :)
Quick PSA on our emails:Â We use Brevo to send these emails, and Brevo wraps links to track clickthrough rates. It's standard marketing stuff and totally harmless, but if you're wary of clicking funky links, all this content lives in our archive at ittybittymosquitocommittee.org/blog with clean links.
Thanks for everything you're doing! Now go outside and make sure your trash/recycling bins are covered during the rain!Â
Michelle
www.ittybittymosquitocommittee.org/
ittybittymosquitocommittee@gmail.com