I didn't get any martins this past spring, but I have taken the gourds down, and washed them out and am now ready for winter to be over so I can hang them again. I have purchased and frozen my crickets and am going to buy plenty of plastic spoons (probably need to practice)
I'm wondering. Everyone talks about cleaning and sterilizing or disinfecting there housing for the winter for next springs, Martins. Wouldn't the mites, fleas, and larva be dead by next spring if the aluminum housing and plastic gourds are spray washed with water? They (mites and such) wouldn't have anything to live off of. Thanks
rickluc, plastic gourds may not be a problem, but maybe they could still survive in places like the neck of the plastic gourd. Now natural gourds are another story, they can survive in them for sure, don't ask me how, but they do. I have natural & plastic, so I spray them all with sevin at the end of the season to be sure that they do not overwinter.
Even with all the precautions, all kinds of birds could bring in the mites. There really is no guaranteed way to avoid them. They may even be on the nesting material, so its impossible to avoid them completely.
I did not spray with anything. Seems like someone said alcohol and someone a sevin spray, but I cannot remember the directions. Please let me know again, so I can spray the little fellers, to really be ready for spring.
Hello Doris, it is seven. There is a long thread about seven on the forum.
I see your in Turtletown. Have you ever been to the Zion Hill Baptist Church? I know that it was originally the Turtletown Baptist Church founded by post-removal Cherokee families.
I think the area where you live is beautiful. Just think, thousands of years ago, Native American Indians were hanging dried gourds out just like you are doing now. Maybe in the exact same place you are hanging yours.
Rickluc - Insects and mites overwinter all the time without feeding. Some overwinter alive through a sort of hibernation and some lay eggs that overwinter. That's why we have non-migratory insects anew each Spring.
I would take some non-synthetic steps to make sure none overwinter in your martin house (I'm an organic gardener). While I don't have an established martin colony to claim experience from, I'm not exactly talking through my hat, having dealt with insect problems for decades. Tomato planting pots need to be cleaned, too.
Here's what I would do (and plan to do):
1. Clean out the insides, of course, of any nesting material (and beware of wasp nests).
2. Use a small bottle-brush to clean out all the drainage holes. A large bottle-brush or a toiletbowl brush can do the main inside area.
3. Immerse the gourds in soapy water in a couple of trash cans for several weeks. Insects and mites don't breathe as we do, but they don't last indefinitely in water. Plus, soap disrupts their biology.
4. After that (and when utterly dry), I will dust the insides with diatomacheous earth. Diatoms are tiny shelled creatures. Their tiny shells act on the moving parts of hard-shelled insects like sand in a machine, and they cut into soft-insects body's. They are not harmful to larger creatures.
5. That ought to do it, but I might try sprinkling the insides with flea powder, especially the kind that inhibits maturation of the larvae. I'd follow that with a thorough soaking and several changes of water.
I wouldn't use Sevin around any living creatures for any reason.
Samuel Wilson wrote:Hello Doris, it is seven. There is a long thread about seven on the forum.
I see your in Turtletown. Have you ever been to the Zion Hill Baptist Church? I know that it was originally the Turtletown Baptist Church founded by post-removal Cherokee families.
I think the area where you live is beautiful. Just think, thousands of years ago, Native American Indians were hanging dried gourds out just like you are doing now. Maybe in the exact same place you are hanging yours.
My parents are both buried at Zion Hill. It is really beautiful and not at all sad to visit. I have hummingbird feeders at the gravesite, chimes and silk plants. I love to visit there. Thanks for asking.
Cavebear. DE (Diatomatious (sp?) Earth) is NOT recommended to be used anymore by the PMCA. It was found (With in cavity nest cameras) that when the babies were exercising their wings, the DE would rise in clouds of dust, which the babies were undoubtedly breathing in. It appears as though no one wants to do a good scientific study on Sevin (I, not E). Several folks report that it is safe and legal to use with domestic poultry, so they believe it's safe to use with wild birds. However, no one has undertaken an in depth study, except for a few private individuals. At least no one that has made any study public. CUL Lou
CUL Lou - I apologize for not making it clear that anything sufficiently dusty can be harmful to small lungs. I would of course rinse the plastic gourds of diatomacheous earth also. It is not harmful in itself, but too much of anything is. I wouldn't want to explode a bag of the stuff in an enclosed room and breath it in myself either.
I meant that the action of diatoms that harms insects and mites does not harm birds and mammals in that same way. You are correct, it shouldn't be left in the nesting areas. A simple water rinse will remove any harmful residue.
I was commenting on the fact that Sevin is not proven to be safe to use with Purple Martins. It was once thought that DE was safe to use, but now they say that it is not. But then if it was all rinsed out completely, sounds like a plan.
I didn't get any martins this past spring, but I have taken the gourds down, and washed them out and am now ready for winter to be over so I can hang them again. I have purchased and frozen my crickets and am going to buy plenty of plastic spoons (probably need to practice)