Mites in Bo11

[Linda Reynolds]

Bill, I am sorry that my remarks hurt your feelings. I should have been thinking on a much broader level. I replied only thinking of the work involved, and the need for extra gourd investment that would be needed by landlords with large colonies. The same holds true for landlords that own many of this style of gourd.

As you know, mite infestations are not fun, and can be deadly to the nestlings if left unchecked. I am happy that you found a solution that works for you. It is most certainly a viable solution, and I apologize for being critical.

We offer 46 gourds, most of which are naturals, but I also own some plastics and two prototype man-made high density foam. We have hosted full occupancy for a number of years, and some seasons host up to 56 pair of martins. A mite control effort at our place needs to be fast, efficient, and easy. We do keep extra gourds on hand just in case of hale damage, or the need to replace one or two that are in use during the active season. However, because of the cost, most landlords that I know, do not keep extras on hand especially if they are offering plastic gourds exclusively.

I was not thinking across the board, and responded by only thinking of larger colonies and the work involved if an infestation broke loose. Again, I apologize for my hasty remarks.

I compliment you on being aware and doing what you can in order to keep those birds healthy, and sharing your technique with others.

[John Miller]

Could moisture getting in be the problem? Mites love moisture..I think. I agree with Emil that naturals have lots of nooks and don't seem more prone to mites. Just brain storming..I don't know. John M

[Peggy Riley]

John I suppose moisture could be the problem. I know you have
the option to use or not use the "cooling cap". I personally would not use
the Bo's without the cap. Without the cap water might get into the hanging
holes which are square.

I've never had a wet nest in the Bo's and I've used them since they
first went on sale.

Peggy

[rdhd]

T

[Keith]

When the atmosphere is just right, or wrong, I suppose these gourds could perhaps get some condensation on the inside of the outer wall. All my experiences is that the nests have always been very dry in these because of the excellent ventilation system and the large drain holes in both the inner and outer layers. I am simply stating my experiences and I'm not doubting anyone else in any way with their own experience.
Keith

[Virgil McCoy]

I would definitely open the outer shell and discard the inner black shell before throwing the whole gourd away. The only issue I have is the gourd being a little on the heavy side but otherwise manageable.

[GeneP]

I've seen this brought up before that someone thought the two shells would give mites a place to hide. But think about it.

Sooner or later the mites have to go through the nest to get to the birds. If sevin is in the nest, they should come into contact with the sevin. Doesn't matter where they're hiding. And as long as the sevin is not wet it should work.

But, if someone is convinced it's the type of gourd that's causing the problem they should change it out. If it truly is the problem, then the market place will weed it out.

I've had one gourd that had mites one time but I'm not a big player. All my gourds are combo pluses and BO-11's.

[~Ray~Gingerich]

Gene, that makes sense, maybe that's why the birds had not been affected that much, (were not jumping and seemed healthy), I had sevin under and on the bottom portion of nesting materials, so the mites would have to crawl up and over the inner wall then down and across the top untreated portion of nesting material to reach the birds or out the seam joints and around.

[Emil Pampell-Tx]

Is it possible that water came into the gourd through the hanging holes, and washed much of the sevin away? If the sevin is washed away for some reason, then you can get a reinfestation rather quickly, especially if you had a lot of rain. If something like this is happening during a wet year, then that may be the problem. We had a real wet year a few years ago, and I had to apply sevin 3 times, the nest seemed to be damp constantly even though no water came in, it was the high humidity causing the damp nests, and that deactivated the sevin rather quickly

The solution is very simple, if you see mites, you need to apply sevin again. For people that make nest changes, it must be done more often if you have lots of mites. Many wild birds can land on the housing, and any of them can bring on new infestations of mites. I am one person that seriously doubts that the type of gourd makes much difference.

I can however see that when you do nest changes, it would difficult to remove most of the mites in a BO11 with the liner. There may be many behind the liner. You may need to use sevin in the BO11s..

[Scott D.- La]

I have been using Bo-11's since their introduction and the Combo Plus prior to that so, have plenty of experience with them among several other brand's. Moisture build up? The only way moisture can build up in these gourd's is when the vent is closed. When condensation form's, you know it's hot enough to start opening your vent's. If you use the basic faceplate that comes with the gourd, you may have water enter in bad rainstorm's however, the drain holes are effective along with the seam of the liner at draining this water. This can be completely stopped by using the Ultimate tunnels. I use a bead of caulk applied to the gourd face and/or tunnel when installing them to prevent any water getting in. You can also do this with the open canopy tunnels as they are just as effective. If you do not want to buy the tunnel's, you can make rain canopies using the plastic porches that come with the gourd. Using a pair of snip's, you can cut it down to any size you prefer.
Mites? Are they worse in this design then other's? In my experience, I would have to say no. I do recommend doing a good cleaning job which is easiest by dunking them in bleach after the season so no mites or swallow bug's can overwinter. I do the same with the other brand's as well. I stopped using powered sevin and switched to liquid as I believe it has a longer effective life. I reapply a time or 2 throughout the season especially, if I start seeing mites. You can spray it in even with young as they always group up at the back of the gourd during nest check's. I have never failed at getting rid of mites. Be sure to spray the access cap's before putting it back on and the outer flange where the access cap meet's the gourd. Spray very well at the entrance and the outside of the gourd as well. I do the same with the other brand's as well. This has been my experience but of course, different sites have different problem's and that has been a constant since I have been on these forum's. The quicker you can find the problem, the quicker you can solve it.

[John Miller]

Ray
Like you, I prefer to put sevin under the nest early in the season, but if you get a mite "bloom" I think it needs to be dispersed through the nest more, so I'd use a spoon and tap some down at this point into the sides of the nest, where mites are forced to crawl through it. John Barrow sometimes uses a turkey baster and squirts it into the nest sides.

I've always been cautious of the liquid, but if Scott D says it's works and doesn't harm the birds, this might be an option too.

John M

[Tim Stover]

i use both i soak the gourds inside with a sprayer let dry for a couple weeks and when i build prenest i put sevin dust through the nest and under it. first year they was mites since i do this not seen a one

[~Ray~Gingerich]

Thanks to all your suggestions and ideas.

Next season I will try to get liquid sevin sprayed into that inner wall space and continue using the powder inside, I shouldn't have a problem with anything overwintering since I soaked each one in strong bleach solution for 30 minutes and then scrubbed everything down. I think in the future, I will seal all the inside joint seams with silicon to restrict some of the entry points into the nesting chamber, and maybe enlarge some of the outside drain holes & push some powder in there as well.