The Daily Record (Maryland) published a Washington Post story on 1 October 2026: Bee Safe Mosquito Control (Silver Spring) is among the first companies in the USA to sell Wolbachia male mosquito releases directly to households. In summer 2026 it released 600,000 mosquitoes across 25 properties in Maryland and Washington, D.C.
Main points
- How it works: the male mosquitoes do not bite and carry the naturally occurring bacterium Wolbachia; when they mate with wild females, the eggs do not hatch. In one customer’s garden about 1,500 were released each week.
- Supply: MosquitoMate (Kentucky), founded by researcher Stephen Dobson; the method received federal approval as a commercial biopesticide in 2023 after trials such as one in Harris County, Texas, that reduced target populations by 93%. This summer MosquitoMate produced about half a million males a week.
- Bee Safe charged $1,000–2,000 per acre this summer; 21 of 25 customers have renewed for next year. Owner Todd Montgomery said shipping was the main difficulty: the insects live only a short time, so delays waste valuable days.
- Chantal Vogels (Yale School of Public Health) notes releases must continue, otherwise populations recover; according to the article, the method works best and is most affordable over a large area. In Sacramento a 2025 pilot over 25 acres reduced target mosquitoes by about 40%.
VPMA’s note
A service model in the USA. Members can see how a small company brings a biological solution to household customers; it does not imply that this method or product is permitted in Vietnam.
- Source
- The Daily Record (Washington Post News Service) – A novel form of mosquito birth control comes to MD and DC
- Published
- 1 October 2026
- Section
- New approaches to insect control
- Company
- Bee Safe Mosquito Control (Silver Spring, Maryland)
Editorial note: This is a short summary and comment by VPMA, not a full copy. The original text and copyright belong to the source cited. The article’s picture is a stock photo (Depositphotos) and was not used. The photograph of a pair of Aedes albopictus comes from the pest pages already on the Association website (Wikimedia Commons, James Gathany/CDC, public domain).
Source: The Daily Record (Washington Post News Service) – A novel form of mosquito birth control comes to MD and DC (summarised in English by VPMA). Read the Vietnamese page.