Dedication

[phldave]

Today Tim Gedler, my Dad and l stood in 35 degree rain, sleet, 25 mph winds and flipped crickets to roughly 40 hungry martins. How’s that for a group of dedicated naturalists! Really gives you an amazing feeling you may have saved some lives.

[paule]

Wow, and I thought we were doing well with 12! Similar story though. They are all fed and half of them are in cavities singing up a storm. Pun intended.

[BillieJR]

That is really awesome. A kodak moment for sure. I hope you saved all of their lives.

[C.C.Martins]

That is dedication, job well done! They thank us with their trust and presence. Their contented singing helps too

[flyin-lowe]

How many crickets did you flip? Did they all eventually stop eating or did you flip until you ran out. I was feeding less then 10 a week or go and they would eat about 100 at a time before they stopped going after them. I was only feeding them once a day.

[phldave]

How many crickets did you flip? Did they all eventually stop eating or did you flip until you ran out. I was feeding less then 10 a week or go and they would eat about 100 at a time before they stopped going after them. I was only feeding them once a day.

I think we flipped about a hundred. Plan to do more tomorrow based on the forecast.

[flyin-lowe]

Not sure if you saw my other thread or not. But I experimented this year with bee moths/bee larvae. I don't typically have to buy bulk crickets, and the bee larvae were cheaper locally than crickets. Plus when I buy crickets from a pet store or bait shop I have to stick them in the freezer for a while and then I put them in warm water once they were dead. The bee larvae are not as mobile as crickets and can be launched straight from the container. Locally crickets were about .15 cents each. The bee larvae were 3.00 for a tub of 50 (.06 cents each). They ate them just as good as the crickets.

[avesrun]

The things we do for martins! Thanks for the help Dave!

[phldave]

Not sure if you saw my other thread or not. But I experimented this year with bee moths/bee larvae. I don't typically have to buy bulk crickets, and the bee larvae were cheaper locally than crickets. Plus when I buy crickets from a pet store or bait shop I have to stick them in the freezer for a while and then I put them in warm water once they were dead. The bee larvae are not as mobile as crickets and can be launched straight from the container. Locally crickets were about .15 cents each. The bee larvae were 3.00 for a tub of 50 (.06 cents each). They ate them just as good as the crickets.

Thanks for the info. Have you ever used meal worms ? I have a bag of them yet to try.

[John Barrow]

Great job fellows!
Arrivals in that kind of inclement weather offers a great opportunity to transition your colony to using a feeding platform which in the long run will be safer and more beneficial. Start by flipping the insects toward a nearby rooftop, or fashion an elevated platform out of a piece of plywood, or a baking sheet, etc., Place some of the insects on the platform and fling others in the direction of it, where some my fall on to it.

It is also an opportunity to introduce pieces of microwaved scrambled egg in to the mix. I exchanged emails from a friend who was supp feeding for a large arrival that accompanied a cold blast in Port O'Connor and he sent me a short video of his flipping crickets to a number of hungry martins. I suggested he try egg also on a platform. The next day he sent another video showing his pickup truck pulled up next to his martin system. The truck had a bed cover installed on it and the video showed pieces of egg spread atop the cover with a hand full of martins eagerly eating pieces of egg along with thawed crickets he had mixed in with them.

Wishing the great landlords in Iowa an outstanding martin season!!

[Jones4381]

Wonderful. I'm constantly in awe of peoples admiration of nature. I hope I too can grow to this level of unbridled compassion and commitment for this particular species as most of you in here have. I love Naturalist as I know they have good hearts and a soft nature inside... Well done indeed!

[flyin-lowe]

I have one adult female that will almost take food out of the spoon I am holding. She gets very close and almost like a humming bird inches closed and closer. When I am feeding I have to toss her food by hand because she stays so close to me that she doesn't even see the stuff I flip from a spoon.

[C.C.Martins]

Too much fun! Thats one smart bird, must be neat. Bet she watches for you and gets ready. She has cracked the flyin-lowe code, get up close and personal and ill be full.

[avesrun]

Great job fellows!
Arrivals in that kind of inclement weather offers a great opportunity to transition your colony to using a feeding platform which in the long run will be safer and more beneficial. Start by flipping the insects toward a nearby rooftop, or fashion an elevated platform out of a piece of plywood, or a baking sheet, etc., Place some of the insects on the platform and fling others in the direction of it, where some my fall on to it.

It is also an opportunity to introduce pieces of microwaved scrambled egg in to the mix. I exchanged emails from a friend who was supp feeding for a large arrival that accompanied a cold blast in Port O'Connor and he sent me a short video of his flipping crickets to a number of hungry martins. I suggested he try egg also on a platform. The next day he sent another video showing his pickup truck pulled up next to his martin system. The truck had a bed cover installed on it and the video showed pieces of egg spread atop the cover with a hand full of martins eagerly eating pieces of egg along with thawed crickets he had mixed in with them.

Wishing the great landlords in Iowa an outstanding martin season!!

Hello John! Fortunately the colony is also platform trained as well. We usually flip for a time then before leaving we place crickets on the feeding platform. Happy season your way as well!

[jhcox]

I hope the person flipping bee larva is not flipping larva from honey bees. The honey bees in this world are probably in a worse threat of being wiped out than the PM's are. That's a scary thought seeing how they pollinate most of the food we eat.

[flyin-lowe]

Bee larvae is the name but it is not actually the larvae of the honey bees. It is the larvae of the wax moth, the ones that destroy honey comb. They have always been called bee larvae and are used for fishing bait. I have also kept honey bees for about 8 years. I assume they earned the name bee larvae because they are found inside of honey combs.

[jhcox]

Good I was worried I have bees as well. I have found keeping bees are a lot harder than keeping the PM’s. There are so many things that seem to make being a bee keeper very hard including those moths. I lost a hive last year because of them. Thanks for clarifying that. Good luck with your PM’s and Bees.

[flyin-lowe]

I am pretty much out of the bee hobby for a while. At one point several years ago I had 20 hives going. I lost most of them one spring and over the last two years I got down to one hive. The last couple years, with two teenagers in sports year around I don't really have time to devote the attention they need.

[jhcox]

I know where your coming from flyin-lowe I have 3 teenagers now myself. Just not enough hours in the day.