On a whim I decided to test out sticky fly paper as a means of dealing with annoying (biting) flies that took over my worm room after bringing in a lot of aged manure. I honestly didn’t think it would work at all. These flies crave blood, not the same smelly stuff that normal house flies are attracted to. Nevertheless, I figured it was worth a shot – my daily fly-swatting missions just didn’t seem to be making a dent in the population, since new ones were emerging from the material constantly.
Let’s just say I was pleasantly surprised by the effectiveness of the sticky traps. I set up 4 of them, and within a day or two I was no longer mobbed every time I opened the door. Since then, they almost seem to have disappeared – although judging by the fact that the concentration of flies on the strips has increased, I’m pretty sure they are simply getting trapped shortly after emerging. The ones that are working the best by far are hanging next to a fluorescent bulb that is on all the time. Insects are generally attracted to light, so this is almost certainly the reason behind these ones being so loaded.
Aside from taking care of my manure fly problem, I’ve been really pleased to see that a LOT of gnats are being trapped as well. I’ve been wondering how well the strips would work against fruit flies, but I’m definitely not brave enough to start up my own infestation on purpose.
They should make them with a watermelon odour – I bet that would make for an excellent fruit fly trap!
Anyway, check out the picture below (of one of the traps) and bow down before me…OH MIGHTY KILLER OF THE FLIES!!!!!!!
Written by Bentley on November 14th, 2008 with 14 comments.
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Just thought I would provide a quick Worm Inn Journal update today. Nothing monumental to report, but the system seems to be working very well (as predicted). It’s become quite clear that I will more than likely need to continue spraying the system with water – likely on a daily basis – in order to keep the upper zone nice and moist for the worms. I am actually really happy to see this since I’d much rather add water than have to soak up excess moisture (with dry bedding) pooling in the bottom of a plastic tub type of system. This will also really help to keep the worms concentrated near the top, rather than distributed throughout the system (although I have little doubt there will still be some down below).
As you can see in the picture, today I added a really thick layer of fall leaves over top of my composting mass. Unlike shredded cardboard (and other absorbent bedding materials), they won’t end up drying out the system – in fact, they should really help to reduce the amount of water lost via evaporation. They will also become an ideal worm habitat and food source as they start to decompose.
Before adding the leaves, I added a substantial amount of ‘homemade manure‘ and a bit more aged manure/straw. I should also mention that since starting the system I have also added a fair amount of shredded cardboard to help keep things balanced.
So far so good, the worms seem to be really active in the upper layers and I have yet to see any trying to escape up the sides our out from the bottom. I’m totally sold on the homemade manure approach to feeding now too – worms go gaga for this stuff, and it’s amazing how quickly it disappears!
I am harvesting a bunch of worms from my outdoor systems today, so hopefully I’ll be able to add more to the Inn over the weekend!
Stay tuned!
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Written by Bentley on November 14th, 2008 with 3 comments.
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1937 lb of Organic Waste, and Counting!