MITES! YUK

[joeincan]

I have five 18 day old martins, and while doing my nest check today I noticed the house was covered with mites. The five young did not appear to have them nor did the compartment on the inside appear to have them. I do have seven in a spray form, and I do have soft pine needles. My first thought was to start to spray the five vacant compartments and the outside of the house. The sixth compartment (the one the martins are in I suppose I could do a nest change, but gawd I dont want to screw things up. Suggestions needed! Thanks in advance!

[Sparky]

You will get many opinions here, but here's mine. I would spray those compartments and the outside of the house. It will kill them right away. I also would do a nest change in the occupied compartments, and/or use the Sevin in the powdered (form) version and place 1-2 teaspoon in front and under the nest material. This will assure the won't mites migrate there if they haven't already.

[Laverne]

Hey Joe.

Sparky has given you good advice.

I just found your post - so, how did it go? Are the mites all gone now? Did you do a nest change? What did you find in the old nesting material? It would be really weird for mites to be all over the rest of the house and "not" in the nest where their food source is.

Catching the mite problem before the young jumped was good. Now that you have corrected that problem , you should have smooth sailing ahead!

Good luck and best wishes for a successful season!

[joeincan]

Yesterday I lowered the house and sprayed the whole house including the 5 unoccupied compartments. I also looked at the babies, and could not see any mites in they're compartment. I know this does sound odd. I have the earliest fledge date as july 25th. With this in mind I decided not to do a nest change. The mother and father always are around when I lower the house. They are definately good parents, always watching. I did notice the babies have moved to the entrance compartment, and I have noticed a couple of heads sticking out of the SREH hole. I will admit the nesting material appeared kind of nasty. It appeared kind of damp from a few thunderstorms we have had. It was matted down, and appeared black.
Today I approached the house, and inspected the outside of the house. I did not see any mites. Since the babies heads were sticking out of the hole I did not lower the house. This house sits out in the water about 30ft offshore. I will have to be watching for an early fledger. If you think I should do a nest change I will, if not I will wait it out.
We have had an excellent hatch here in Essex County, On. I have never seen more newbies flying around. They come by in packs of 20 and are on all the telephone wires. I hope to add 5 more this year, and fill all my compartments next year.

[CUL Lou~Mich]

Joe. Hopefully you got them. As for putting Sevin powder in the apartments. I've been told that as little as 1/4 teaspoon was needed. I think 1-2 (Full) would be way over kill. I personally think using too little would be better than too much. After all, one could re-apply if too little didn't solve the problem. It's awfully hard to "Un poison" something though, if you used too much. JMHO. CUL Lou

[1 Ron Vasser]

Hi Joe...If the nest with your babies is damp and matted down and the rest of the house had mites I would do a nest change. Don't worry if their heads are out of the hole, they will go to the back of the compartment when you start the house down. They still have 10 to 12 days to live in the wet smelly nest that most likely has mites if the rest of the house was infested. The mites can become overwhelming in just a couple of days. Good luck.

[Sparky]

Ha I had to re-read my post. I meant teaspoon not tablespoon, sorry . To borrow from a cooking practice, I use the old pinch or two method. Then wash my hands of course.

[Forum admin: Sparky, your orginal post has been edited to correct amount from tablespoon to teaspoon.]

[Laverne]

Hey Joe...

Did they fledge, yet? How's it going?