With temperatures climbing and the hours of vitamin-D-rich sunlight getting longer in the Northern Hemisphere, you're probably feeling the pinch from mosquitoes and searching for ways to protect your family from them.

Because you know how much I love gadgets as well as practical low-tech solutions, here are some interesting ways to keep your yard and home bug-free.

• Spend $200 on a high-tech electric mosquito trap called the Mega-Catch from Hammacher Schlemmer. It disperses a scent from a strip of octenol that smells like a human's breath that attracts and collects bugs in a mesh bag.
• Use the very same concept described above to create your own low-tech carbon dioxide yeast brewing machine, using a 2-liter soda bottle, 50 grams of sugar and 1 gram of yeast.
• Install a bat box that attracts the little critters. A bat eats about 2,000 insects every night.

If you're not as handy around the house or don't have a yard to contend with, you may be considering the use of commercial insect repellants -- but be wary. Most commercial insect repellants contain DEET -- a deadly and potent neurotoxin that you want to stay away from.

Two safer and completely natural alternatives to toxic repellants are Neem-based Botanical Outdoor Gel, which I sell in my Web store, and cinnamon oil, which has been found to be better at killing mosquitoes than DEET. 

Please also review the Related Article links below for more tips on safely keeping mosquitoes away this summer.