Hummingbird and Butterfly Gardening: Daily Pics of Butterflies, 0 by TexasPuddyPrint

TexasPuddyPrint wrote:
Yes, I use plastic jugs...the gallon kind Ozark water comes in with a screw top. The plastic will expand/bulge as bit as the fermentation process goes on.

Do not fill up to the top...leave a few inches of space.

When I vent mine I squeeze the jug a bit and screw on the cap again...that way, it has a little bit more room to expand again. I only make about 1/2 gallon at a time.

You can easily use 2 liter soda bottles with screw on caps and divide up your mixture into several bottles.

I often divide up my mixture into smaller 20 ounce soda bottles. That way I can leave some at the ranch...or carry one with me when I'm out butterflying at the park or other ranch too. I can easily slip one into my camera bag and walk around and pour butterfly bait on the trees or a pile of rocks. By the time I make a second round...there are usually butterfly eagerly sipping away.

Several local butterflies also carry a small bottle of butterfly brew with them. It's nice to have them visit the park first then reap the benefits of butterflies already gathered. Our NABA Park has several bait stations set up just for us to use (a piece of wood with a groove routed out). They are hanging from the trees and others are staked in the ground.


If you use milk jugs with those pop on tops...they will fly off at the most in opportune times...and you're likely to get goo all over the place.

Best use a plastic jug with a screw on top. I have to vent mine daily when our temperatures get into the 100's...but when the weather is cooler I can forget about them for several weeks at a time.

~ Cat

Here's a photo of a bait station made from a piece of wood. There is a groove about 1/4" wide cut out on the top...so the butterfly bait will pool inside of it.