A few days ago I remembered something I did a few years ago which was to use an old yogurt container with some kind of fruit in it to attract wasps and a rock to add enough weight so the trap doesn't blow off the edge of the porch in moderate wind. My former method was to put the bait on the upside down lid and then carefully put the container on it when there were wasps on the bait. It's kind of risky but I have never been stung while doing it. However, I thought there was a safer way so I have tried it. That idea was to put the container with a small hole in the bottom on the cover (the container is now upside down) and hope the wasps to go inside. Then when the sun has set and loose wasps are no longer hanging around the trap I put it in the deep freeze where it stays overnight, killing the wasps. In the morning I open it, remove the bodies and put it back together. The first day I got 7 wasps. Spurred by success I made another trap and got 4 in one and 5 in the other! Then today, day 3, there were none! The cantalope bait had apparently become too dry to keep making a lot of good smells. I left it in the traps and added some orange juice. That produced quite a bit of activity but I have yet to learn if the wasps used the entrance hole.
Somebody on another forum suggested making a hole in the side of the container instead of the bottom, so today I set up another feeder-trap with a single hole about half way up the container. This new one is baited with honeydew melon. Result? I'll know in the morning.
On another front I found more wasp nests near the garden which I was able to spray this morning. I thumped on those tires again and got no response. It pays to recheck. I don't know if the wasps that hatched this year would be old enough or in the mood to return to the area and raise another brood before winter.
Today was a cooler day, actually in the 40's this morning so I needed a sweatshirt for the first time in weeks! I got a few extra things done outside. One of those was to clean a larger circle of weeds from around the fig, add compost and water it. The compost is very dry so it will be watered again in the morning. Most of the water only got the compost to begin soaking it up. The fig is only about 6 inches high and I had cleared about a one foot circle when I planted it. I also took green cuttings from the elderberries and have them in water in the shade to produce roots. This is attempt #3 to start some new plants. The clusters of berries are ripening a few at a time. Some are purple and some are still green. All of the rhubarb has been watered and one of this spring's transplants appears to be dead. At least the top part is. It was the weakest looking one when I planted it. The roots might still have life so I watered it again today and left the sticks that mark it's location in place so the rototiller doesn't run over it.
We saw the antelope again last night after not seeing them for the past week. There are still 11 of them with one being a nice buck and the rest females with youngsters. The mule deer doe with twins is a frequent visitor to our shady area by the old and younger cottonwood and willow trees near the garden. The doe looked at me through the garden fence. Now her twins are starting to loose their spots. Yesterday before they bedded down for the day the youngsters were bouncing around between the shop and a storage building. I sneaked around and tried to get pictures. This evening they and 3 adults are grazing on a green strip where the irrigation ditch runs into the pond.
I picked the first cucumber today from one of my struggling plants and saw that there is another one that should be ready in a few days. I need to do some pruning of unwanted grape vines to see the fruit, a job for early morning because there were still a lot of wasps around there this morning.
Discussions:
| Thread Title | Last Reply | Replies |
|---|---|---|
| Rooting elderberries in water by LysmachiaMoon | Aug 15, 2021 9:58 AM | 5 |
Post a new thread about this blog entry:
