It’s a Great Year to Zap Bugs, Firm Says

To most people, the zzzzt from their back-yard bug zapper spells the demise of another flying pest. To David Blotnick, it’s the sweet sound of success.

Spring in many parts of the country was damp and the summer has been hot, very hot: perfect conditions for a multitude of flying insects.

“It has been a good season,” said Blotnick, executive vice president of DeJay Corp., which supplies the United States, Australia and Japan with more than 750,000 bug zappers a year.

“We couldn’t ask for anything better,” he said last week.

In the corner of DeJay’s East Tennessee plant hang several dozen finished products. Some have been there since the plant opened two years ago.

“It’s our best way to see how they do in the field,” Blotnick said.

Bug zappers attract bugs with a fluorescent light. Circling the light is a grid that zaps the bugs with an electric charge as they try to reach the light.

The plant has about 150 workers on three assembly lines, making six bug killers a minute. The zappers, sold under the brand name Stinger, range from $20 to $60, depending on size.

“We can’t build enough merchandise this year,” Blotnick said.

He said the zappers last indefinitely, though the bulb probably needs replacing every two or three years.

In the off-season, the workers make transformers, which power the grids, for the bug killers.

In another section of the plant, where the transformers are tested, one can hear the familiar zap of the bug killers.

Blotnick says the seasonal appeal of the product is well understood by DeJay, a family-owned business based in Holbrook, Mass., and founded in 1964.

William Blotnick, David Blotnick’s father and president of the company, said DeJay started out making consumer electronic products, particularly children’s phonographs that were popular as Christmas presents.

“We were looking for a product to fill the season,” the elder Blotnick said.