Can I use something instead of Guiness? Neither my husband or I drink it, so I don't want to buy a whole 6 pack just to make a batch of bait.
I wouldn't mind buying something he'd drink the rest of which is something like mic lite.
Or can I use something like old wine? For some reason I thought that might be good because it's like rotten grapes right? Or is there something dangerous in there?
I also have bitters but I'd probably need too much?
I'm thinking the old wine would be perfect because I'm just going to throw it out.
Any ideas or experiences please. : )
Also, I know I read something about makeing a bait station with screening to keep other things out. I can't find it now, and I need to do something like that. Yesterday I stuck a banana out to hold over, until I figured out what to do for the bait and, this morning there is no banana - something likes gettin in my trash and all. So I think it will be a good idea to keep it so other critters can't get to it.
Thanks for any help in advance : )
Question about butterfly bait?
Totally unrelated to the question, but I am so excited I have to share. I got to see a Black Swallowtail lay eggs all around the Zizia aurea I grew from seed last year! I am glad it will soon pay off :D I wasn't sure if I'd even get Black Swallowtails here, because they weren't showing in my area on the butterfliesandmoths website. I e-mailed a picture, so hopefully my county will be added. I also didn't know whether they would be attracted to Zizia. In the past I grew Parsley, and Dill for them and I never got any cats on them. Last year I grew Rue and Zizia and I had cats eat down the Rue to nothing. The zizia was winter sown and only a couple leaves all year, so I had it in pots and planted out in fall so that is probably good that they didn't notice it or it probably wouldn't have survived.
Merideth,
I did a bunch of research on this last year and it seems like Guiness is the proven winner. No on the mic...It's got to be a dark beer. I've used old fallen logs and just cut some holes in there and then just slathered the bait right on there. I hang the wood up on hooks and it's been ok. I also put out old watermelon and everyone has some. Experiment and see what works for you in your garden...it's different for all of us it seems!
Adrienne
Thank you Adrienne, I bought all the bananas and brown sugar last week. I just need to get guiness and I can mix a batch up. : )
I haven't bought any, but if you only want one could purchase it from a bar, pub or whatever they call it now days. My son gave me one that was left at his work for last year's batch. Guess they don't sell it in the convience stores in the singles?
LOL I love it....read repeated where other DGer mentioned banana soaked in Gatorade...found out that butterflies aren't the only ones enjoying it...LOL...those little mammals with bushy tails do as well
Racoons or field rats would get the bananas here if left out over night. Our squirrels don't get out at night just daylight hours.
Congrats on the BST on your Zizia too!! I didn't know about that plant being a host, and it shows someone in N Tx grows it, maybe I could too. I finally got a pic of the BST laying eggs Monday. I have raised about 16 cats so far this year and never seen the adult flying around until yesterday.
Thanks Sheila, I tried the zizia because I had searched for natives in the parsley family, it was the only one I could find in that family that was a native around here. So I figured if the BSTs were around they must have been eating zizia before humans started gardening. : ) So that's why I tried it, plus I thought the yellow Queen Ann Lace like flowers might provide nectar for some butterflies. Double duty plants for the butterflies are allows a plus. Congrats on getting a pic of your BST, I have a very hard time with them because they are always moving their wings. I did get one recently, but it was a cool cloudy day for butterflies and the one I got a pic of wasn't moving as much as they usually do.
I did try to get the convenience store to sell me a single, but the owner wanted me to buy them regularly if he did. Lol, kinda defeated the purpose of buying a single. Yes, he said they wouldn't sell.