Kevin,
I totally agree that giving beer to slugs is a waste of good beer, and
a costly porposition as well. Your suggestion of using wine dregs is
ideal. Our fly bait, a yeast and catalyst concoction, is a great beer
substitute and only costs $6 a gallon. For those who do not already
have wine dregs at hand, it could be an economical solution. As a fly
bait we suggest 1 bag of bait mix to a gallon of water, but for slugs
I suppose it could be watered down a bit.
http://www.biconet.com/flies/SolarFlytrap.html
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to write or call.
Cheers,
Eric W. Acosta - Director
Biocontrol Network
Bio-rational Alternatives for an Ever Shrinking Planet
**************************************************
URL http://www.biconet.com Email: ebugs@biconet.com
**************************************************
In a message dated 5/15/00 11:20:48 PM, Kevin Chisholm writes:
Depending on your lifestyle and that of your neighbors, the best way to go
about getting beer for slugs is to wait until the day after the big party
and then empty all the bits from leftover beer cans and bottles into a
bucket. I was always told that flat beer worked better on snails and slugs
anyway.
Cyndi
_______________________________________________________________________________
Oakland, California Zone 9 USDA; Zone 16 Sunset Western Garden Guide
Chemically sensitive/disabled - Organic Gardening only by choice and neccessity
_______________________________________________________________________________
"There's nothing wrong with me. Maybe there's Cyndi Norman
something wrong with the universe." (ST:TNG) cyndi@consultclarity.com
http://www.tikvah.com/
_________________ Owner of the Immune Website & Lists http://www.immuneweb.org/
Kevin Chisholm wrote:
Make a bad meat brew... use this to spray underneath board traps
might greatly the efficiency ( slug kills per chop))
try one trap-innoculated-, and one w/o for an accurate guage of brew
efficiency.
basic board trap is a 1"x6"x6' long board laid on ground near the war
zone. Use a couple thin scraps of wood to give a "slug's" worth of
clearance.,,,an additional board flush w/ the soil surface should give
some foundation for the " execution"( morning walk along the garden
path).
good luck-
bill e
Dear OGL
I had some porkchops that went bad and set them outside on a post for
the crows last night. (Didn't want to feed a feral cat, and distract her
from her mouser duties!!) The crows knocked the meat to the ground, made
off with one of them, and must have been scared off, before they could
eat the second. Now this is the interesting part: there were three slugs
racing for the bad porkchop.
It might be another "arrow in our quivver" to know that slugs are
attracted to bad meat.... howevre, I don't know how to keep other
animals and flies away from the meat, while still allowing the scent to
escape for attracting them.
Would anyone have any thoughts on ways to use bad meat in the war on
slugs?
Thanks.
Kevin Chisholm
I suggest you build a small but strong container for the meat leaving
small holes the slugs can get into but strong enough to stop coons, dogs,
and ferrel cats from getting in. Remember it can also attract flies and
their larvae. An old gallon or quart paaint can should do with no more than
half inch holes. Make sure you ckean out old paint which slugs might not
like and reseal tightly after baiting. You need more than one hole to
insure circulation and something to kill the slugs afterward or just check
it and do that when yopu find them. They also like to hide under things so
you could just look there.
The best slug beer would have all these properties:
1. It would have just the right amount of hops, enough so that the
"beer" is preserved by the hops, but not so much that slugs find it
distasteful. I use Cascadia (the most bitter hops) in all my
preparations to create a Standard Hop Tea (1/4 c. hops to 1 c. water -
that's the proportion we use to preserve bread yeast) and dilute it down
by about a factor of 2 when making a beer for slugs.
2. It would have live yeast that go on producing alcohol as it
evaporates from the pan.
3. It would have a reservoir of flour or other starch (and some sprouted
grain, malt powder, or amylase to help digest it) so that the yeast
don't run out of food.
The last recipe I made went something like this:
2 cups water
1/2 c. Cascadia hops
about 3 c. rye flour (maybe get rid of that rancid bag from the
supermarket)
1 T. blackstrap molasses
dash malt powder
1/2 t. yeast
1 c. water
1/2 c. sugar
dash vitamin C
Simmer the hops, covered, for 1/2 hour. Strain the decoction. Whisk in
enough rye flour to make a thick paste. When it cools, add 1/2 t.
yeast. Let sit at room temperature until it starts to bubble.
Refrigerate in a closed container. This is your yeast starter for next
time. (Use half as much water, hops, and flour if you already have
plenty of yeast starter, and proceed with part 2.)
To the remaining hop batter, add the molasses. When it cools add the
malt powder and yeast. Allow to sit at room temperature until it starts
to bubble. Add the water, sugar, and vitamin C. Allow to sit again
until it starts to bubble. Set in small pans around the garden.
I caught 9 slugs with a pan of this the last time I tried it. With so
many irons in the fire, I forgot to add water to the pan.
(Note: Many cities have water purification systems that poison yeast.
Distilled water may have to be used in those cities.)
Bill
S. OR Coast
Kevin Chisholm wrote:
Hi Kevin
Just tidying up my file and found this old posting of yours. Here I have
seen it recommended to bait slug/snail traps with catfood.
Unfortunately, when I tried this there was a neighbour's dog who was
making very free of our garden and everything I put the bait in he
either managed to get into or carried off, so eventually I gave up the
idea.
The rotten old brute has long died, but I expect if I started again some
other canine tramp would continue the bad work.
Moira
--
Tony & Moira Ryan
Wainuiomata (near Wellington, capital city of New Zealand)
true
Patricia Ruggiero wrote:
have to keep the beer bowl full all the time.
Pauline Hamilton wrote:
Yes, Pauline, it's true. Every morning you'll find beaucoup slugs dead in
the saucer. We used the cheapest beer available.
Within the past year, though, some folks on this list discussed making your
own "mash" by combining yeast, water, and ---? I forget. Cheaper, I
think, than beer.
Pat
who now lives in droughty central Virginia where we aren't bothered by slugs
Pauline wrote: corner of the
garden the snails and slugs would go for that and leave the rest of the
garden alone. Is this true? Or just an excuse to have a can of beer in the
fridge?>
Hi Guys,
I read somewhere that if you put a saucer of beer in the corner of the
garden the snails and slugs would go for that and leave the rest of the
garden alone.
Is this true? Or just an excuse to have a can of beer in the fridge?
Also,
My lettuces have gone to seed - can I harvest seeds of them to replant?
What do I need to do?
Can anyone help?
Pauline
Oamaru
New Zealand
Pauline Hamilton wrote:
Hi Pauline,
"It all depends"!!! :-) From older correspondence on this topic, it
is clear that American beer is an effective lure for slugs/snails (the
Canadians say this is the /only/ thing American beer is any good for!
But that may be unkind, we wouldn't know!), while other kinds of beer
(and this includes NZ beer, which we have tried) is not very effective
at all. A light, lager type of beer seems more likely to succeed than
the heavier draught kind - but you would need to do some experimenting
for yourself.
However, it is possible that a mixture of beer with some extra yeast
might work, we have seen this suggested but have not actually tried it.
In recent years, we have mostly used traps (very simply made from old
soft drink bottles), which we find work well. Another useful trick is to
scatter biggish pieces of black plastic near places where the molluscs
are being a nuisance, weighting these down with a few stones to stop
them blowing away. Snails find these irresistible places to hide under
for the day - so during the day you lift the pieces up and stomp on the
slumbering snails you find there (or whatever method appeals to you).
Moira has had some grand stomping sessions and disposed of hundreds of
the creatures that way. To avoid messing her shoes, she shakes or pushes
the creatures onto a piece of newspaper, folds it over, and stomps on
that. The squashy mess that results goes into the compost bin, paper,
remains, and all!
> Also,
> My lettuces have gone to seed - can I harvest seeds of them to replant?
> What do I need to do? Can anyone help?
Wait until the heads are ripe, then cut them off and store them - upside
down - in a paper bag in a dry, cool, place until you are ready to
sprout them.
Tony
--
Tony & Moira Ryan
Wainuiomata (near Wellington, capital city of New Zealand)
(But you would know that! We put these two lines in for non-Kiwis!)
Dear Pauline
Beer definitely works as a way to drown slugs. Soapy water is just as
effective at drowning slugs.
By Actual test, beer is 19 times more effective than soapy water; I had 5
trays of soapy water and 5 trays of beer solution set out, and I found 19
dead slugs in the beer trays, and only one slug in the soapy water trays. I
observed a slug actually crawling into the soapy water tray, dipping his
snout into the soapy water solution, and then immediately turning around and
leaving the tray.
Soap and alcohol seem to destroy the function of the alcohol slime coat, and
they cannot crawl back out of the "water."
> Or just an excuse to have a can of beer in the fridge?
Actually, it is a shame to waste the beer on slugs!! You can make a
"synthetic beer" simply with a bit of sugar, yeast, and flour. If you make
"home made beer or wine" you can save leftover lees, or yeast settlement
from racking. It works just as well as beer.
Kindest regards,
Kevin Chisholm
mixture of flour, water, yeast and a little sugar works nicely if you let
it ferment a bit. But I discovered that it was worth it to also check my
vulnerable plants in the early evening when the slugs had come out and
search for and destroy any that I could find. I use a long pair of tweezers
I have and dump the critters in a jar of soapy water - no squishing needed
then, and you can put the lid back on and use the jar for several nights.
Probably some Sluggo would help too. With all the slugs I have no one thing
is sufficient to control them.
Kris
My research told me that for every slug on top of the ground there are 10 or
more under. When I applied Sluggo in the greenhouse, most all the lettuce in
500 sq. ft had a hole of some sort. The slugs ate all the first application of
sluggo in about two and half days, I had to re-apply. I rarely see slug damage
now in any of the greens. This house is about 2500 sq. ft and was moderately
infested. It has been four weeks since I used the first application. I am just
now starting to see the occasional hole or tiny slug so I am going to order
more of the "stuff".
The beer traps only worked slightly. One needs to have one every square yard
and maintaining them is a hassle.
I also have a few resident toads who seem to find their way in all on their
own.
Chris
Jake's Farm
I haven't used beer for snails, but it is very common in Denmark (I don't like beer and don't have it in the house, so I coexist with the slugs at strawberry time).
I'd buy more seeds and sow in cool weather, but I suppose it was not too much sun that made the lettuce go to seed? If it happens in Denmark it's because they get too hot and dry.
Carol
