Darn Spiders

[Frank1]

We have a dusk to dawn light on our back porch. The problem is that the light attracts bugs and the bugs attract spiders. The porch railing is always full of spider webs. I brush them off but the next day they're back. I think I read some time ago that there is some sort of a bulb that will not attract bugs. Does anyone know anything about that?

 

[Brink]

Hello Frank,

Those yellow bug light bulbs are supposed to not attract bugs. Here's a few examples at Walmart.

bug repellent light bulb - Walmart.com

 

[Anak]

What type of dusk to dawn light do you have?

• Fluorescent
• Halogen
  
• Compact fluorescent
• High-pressure sodium
• LED or
• Metal halide?

Usually just a yellow bug light will do the trick. Bugs/insects are not attracted to the spectrum of light that yellow colored bulbs emit. Do Bug Lights Work? | Yellow Light Bulbs Explained | 1000Bulbs.com

But, in some of these they are hard if not impossible to find yellow replacement bulbs. Here's one for flood lights: Shop Mood-lites 90-Watt PAR38 Medium Base Yellow Outdoor Halogen Flood Light Bulb at Lowes.com

New information is coming out about white LED's being bug resistant this link gives both sides of the story: Correction: LED Lights Do Attract Bugs. | Energy Circle See embedded links for the "other" stories.

It's better if you have high-pressure sodium (HPS) instead of metal halide (MH)

HPS is a better choice for outdoor lighting applications than MH for the following reasons:
1. Efficiency
2. Vision
3. Health
4. Environmental effects (flora and fauna)
5. Toxins
6. Financial costs

HPS provides better quality lighting at a lower cost and with less damage to the environment.

Source: http://www.darkskysociety.org/.pdf

HPS are the ones that emit a bronze-ish yellow light and are liked by the IDA

You can not install a HPS bulb into a MH fixture and/or vice versa, The early models you could, but the voltages and ballast's used are different and explosions would happen, in the later models the bulb bases were changed and they are no longer interchangeable.

Your best bet is to visit your local electric supply house, the type that an electrician would go to, to pick up his parts and see if they would have any bulbs that you could get to replace the ones in your present fixtures. If not, see if they have some type of yellow lens or filter to replace/cover the existing lens.

You could even try a yellow magic marker if you could dismiss the aesthetics of the application. Red has also been known to work, for a while, and it seems some insects are immune to the red spectrum.

As to the spiders, well, they're actually good for the environment attesting to the fact that they are trying to keep up with your bugs, but if you or your family would rather not have them around you could go to the local supermarket and get some bug spray for spiders or you could make up your own less toxic home-brew:

How to Make Spider Repellent at Home: 8 Steps - wikiHow

Natural Spider Repellent | Seventh Generation

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

It's been my experience that those bulbs don't always work.

Instead of an always on dusk to dawn, what about one that comes on only when a motion sensor detects anything larger than a cat moving nearby (some are really sensitive). They can also have a photocell so they come on only when it's dark outside.

 

[Layback Bear]

I for years have use Jerry Bakers tonics for just about anything.
Every one I have tried have worked. I have several of his books.

Jerry Baker, America's Master Gardener: Tips and Tonics

 

[Anak]

Thanks Bear! I bookmarked that link. I used to like watching Jerry on the local channels, but they don't carry him anymore

 

[Frank1]

Next time I go to WalMart, I'm going to get some of the yellow flood lights. There's only one way to find out if they work and that's to try them.

 

[LADYPINKtomato1]

I used to watch Jerry Baker on our PBS station.. ( AETN ) here in Arkansas.. his info.. always worked great.