Butterfly "Bait" Recipe for your Butterfly Garden FYI

Hi, Everybody--


Don't know if this Butterfly Bait Recipe has been posted recently, but I hadn't seen it before I ran across it on Maggimoo's garden tour postings--- so cut and pasted it here for everyone....Looks like it's originally from Texsas Puddy Print...




Butterfly bait
from a post by TexasPuddyPrint, Edinburg,TX:

Will let you in on a secret we use down here - we use Butterfly Bait to attract the fruit feasters. We find a large variety of butterflies eating at bait stations - Blomfield Beauty, Gray Cracker, Guatemalan Cracker, an assortment of Leafwings, Question Marks, Hackberrys, Emperors, Blue Waves, Red Rims, Band Cell Sisters, Red Admirals, Banners, Malachites, Satyrs...oh, I can't remember them all...but the stuff really pulls them in.

The mix is simple: Mash a few pounds of ripe bananas, a pound of brown sugar and 1 bottle of Guiness Stout beer. Just put everything in a blender and mix it up. Use it fresh or let it ferment in an old milk jug for several weeks to a year! I keep a gallon of it in my south Texas garage (temperature warm up in there!) and open the lid every couple of days or to vent it so it won't explode. As I use it I mix up a new batch and add it to the jug.

I have several pieces of firewood (with bark) hanging from my trees. I used a saw to cut out some grooves into it so the butt-bait will stay put and run off. Many of the folks out at the butterfly gardens just pour it on old tree stumps or fence posts.

THE END


I have been working on my Butterfly Garden Seeds/Plants for next Summer. Just put my Purple Ascleopsis seeds into pre-soak for germination... mmm....what else do I need to get started?!!

Bump!

I'm going to try this. I had no idea. It will drive my neighbors nuts trying to figure out why I have more butterflies than they do!

That's funny. That's exactly what I'm trying to do!

Oh my! I have drunk butterflies with just rotten bananas so I can't imagine what would happen to them if I gave them beer!! LOL My bait always attracts weird green beetles too. I'm afraid to add much else to it and get something weird. I do add some watermelon Gatorade in the banana tho.

Be sure and post your results!

Ah yes...this butterfly bait works wonders. Tabasco cut/pasted my previous post that lists the butterflies it has attracted out in south Texas.

Calalily - you're just down the road from me so you should be able to pull in the same butterflies. You may end up getting some Blomfild Beauties as they were initially spotted at Frontera and another one roosted on a hospital courtyard wall for numerous days.

Am not sure how additives and preservatives in fruit juices affect butterflies but am none too concerned since I've seen some of the butterflies mucking around on cow poop!!!

I ran out of my butt-bait concoction but decided to try out two cans of Guava/Banana and Banana/Strawberry juice that I had in my pantry. I poured that over some rocks in a shallow dishes I use as a butterfly bait stations as well. Had five Red Admirals in my yard early one morning when the air was still chilly! Guess they smelled that and woke up just like me when I smell the coffee? :o)

I found seeing all those Red Admirals a colorful and pleasant surprise considering butterflies sleep late and prefer to flit around when the sun is shining.

~ Cat

TexasPuddyPrint-- thanks for the update on the 'Bait'. Nothing but the best for our butterflies with Guiness Stout in the recipe!

I hope you don't mind that I cut and pasted your recipe into a new thread, but I thought it was a great 'cheater' and little known to we newbies involved in Butterfly watching. Do you have the link for the original thread?

I can just picture your red admirals enjoying your 'cocktail' offerings! I can only hope for that this spring.

Here are some additional ideas for Butterfly Bait:

http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/butterfly/2004054121030074.html

I feel famous. LOL Can't wait for my butterflies to come back!!

I have one question, will it draw o'possums? I don't mind when they stay outside the fence, but if they come in to eat the butterfly stuff, the dog will get them.

I imagine it will draw critters. Try it and let us know! t.

Yeah, I was kind of afraid of getting something bigger than my beetles. I had either a possum or a racoon earlier this year that would take whole fruit off of this hanging feeder. It took stuff out of my bucket and pulled out a bag of bread I had for the birds too, that's why I was thinking a racoon. Never saw it tho. Maybe I could catch whatever it is if it's drunk tho?!

Not a good idea if its a skunk, tho! ;-)

I've had raccoons steal cat food and dig in the garbage can. We have a new raccoon proof garbage can and I moved the kitty food to the laundry room.
The o'possums stole my papaya fruit from the tree and they raided my compost pile. They steal apples that I leave out for the birds.
Something steals my guavas, but everything likes them including mockingbirds, green jays and woodpeckers.
I'd rather have possums than raccoons.

I'd rather have either of those than a skunk! lol I have a problem with field mice, but I KNOW they can not climb up on this feeder and carry off an entire piece of fruit. There is just now way. And the incident with the bread proved that it was a larger animal. I guess I really don't care what it was as long as it's not something like a huge nasty rat. Otherwise it can eat as long as it leaves my plants alone!! A friend is having a horrible time with an armadillo, so I'm lucky.

EEWWW! It's bad enough storing explosive gasoline and oil in the garage all summer. I think I'd better stick to eating the fruit and drinking the beer and growing flowers for the butterflies!

Karen

I have an armadillo driving me nuts! It has dug holes all over the place. It loves the soft dirt in the flowerbed. I know he is after grub worms, I just wish he wouldn't dig up my flowers in the process.

Ha! Ha! The butterfly bait works. I don't have a problem with critters in my yard. Not sure if it's because of my dogs (which don't even bother the birds) or my neighbor's rambunctious labradors...which like to bark and chase everything. Funny thing about them...if they hear me through the wooden privacy fence they will find a knot hole or try to look between the wood slats.

I have fruit trees in my backyard and once in a while I find fruit on the ground that has been hollowed out...not sure if that's the birds' doing or maybe an oppossum or rat? They don't bother the bait stations - those are hung from the branchs (possibly the branch will not support their weight?) or from my wire trellises...the wire panel spacing probably doesn't allow them to shimmy up the wires? Besides that, between the butterflies and honey bees there is never any butterfly bait left over at the end of the day.

We have armadillos back at the ranch. Destructive little buggers! They make holes all over the yard. The ranch dog chases it away but it lives under Dad's workshop. Likes to come out at night when doggy is snoozing.

Also raccoons...they manage to open the dog food tin - a big tin can like the kind popcorn comes in and get to the dog food. Mom has to put two bricks on top of it or turn it upside and put bricks on it...but most times she forgets and they have a party.

~ Cat

I must try this recipe. Anything for the butterflies.

The armadillos have been digging up my flower beds for a month now. They look as if they have been tilled.

Cat, one night I went out in the garage and saw two cute baby raccoons eating the kitty food. I thought they were sooo cute. The next night I heard a noise out there and I think every raccoon for miles around was having a party in my garage. They had the kitty food bin open(a plastic can with a snap on lid) and they had eaten almost 5#'s of food! The little pigs!

Heh! Heh! Yes, racoons are pigs...but they are cute masked bandit piggies!

My Dad used to work for the highway dept. and would find lost little critters when mama turned into roadkill. We had an assortment of critters we raised and set free when we were younger. Racoons, javalinas, deer, ground squirrels, rabbits and even a North American porcupine!

That armadillo is still at the ranch...but we don't try to catch or bother it...we figure it can eat all the grubs and crickets it wants...just so long as it doesn't dig up the plants...which it hasn't...so far.

Will say, racoons are still my favorite...even if they are destructive buggers :o) Am glad I don't have those here in the city though - I have a doggy door that leads to my backyard! I love watching those funny videos of racoons sneaking into houses via the doggy door!

~ Cat

My dad had a racoon recently that ate all the fish out of his little pond! One day he found 2 missing, then the other 2 were gone the next day. Then they just started messing the plants and pump up digging around for fish. Then they made their way to the garage and ate cat food and tried to get into the fish tank he temporarily had out on the back porch. They did eat all the fish food tho. He had to put all kinds of things like pitchforks etc. around the tank to keep them out of it. I think he finally used some "urine" product to scare them off.

Dear Texas Puddy Print and Tabasco,

I have been thinking about starting a batch of this butterfly bait. I hope it gives me the same results as what it did to everybody else. Probably different species because of the location. Also, I am going to try spreading the bait on the lower horizontal board on my fences. If anyone else tries the butterfly bait this year, please post your resuts here. The reason that I have been so hesitant in starting the butterfly bait is we have a rat problem here and I don't want to end up feeding the rats.

Thanks,

Chuck

I watched a show that said to add urine to it. Doesn't that sound gross? Has anyone else read this or saw it on the telly. I am going to try for a few butterfly plants myself this year. They really are pretty. I also want to attract the sweet little hummers again this year.

CBernard,

If you can...use section of firewood or short branches (remember to chip out or saw some grooves into them so the bait will seep in and puddle slightly). Wrap a wire around each end and hang them from your trees or possibly hang them from a hanging plant brace that's attached to your fence.

I think if you have it too close to the ground you will attract ants...which are really no harm but they tend bother the butterflies by crawling all over them when they are trying to feed. Not sure if anything will gnaw at your wooden fence either???

Some butterflies prefer to ground puddle (gather at mud holes or on poo) but they tend to be more skittish when they are down on the ground as opposed to higher up where they can see what's coming at them. It's also easier to photograph them feeding when you hang the bait stations around eye level :o) Butterflies will also puddle on cow piss - something about liquid, salt and minerals...blechhhh!

Lots of the butterfly parks here also use those dollar store three tiered hanging wire baskets and fill them with orange halves etc. You don't necessarily have to make a butterfly bait...butterflies from the brushfoot family love rotting fruit :o) -- but so do critters!!!

~ Cat

Dear Cat,

I made a batch of the butterfly bait today. I only used three pounds of bananas and I think that it was a little too runny. Anyway, just as an experiment I applied it to the top of the fence. Then I read the above message about your three tier hanging baskets and the hanging plant brace. Despite the fact that the date is February 14th, we had three butterflies and one hummingbird show up in the first ten minutes. It was really encouraging but I think next time I will try the hanging basket and the hanging plant brace.

Thanks for the help,

Have a good day!!!

Chuck

CBernard-- That's great! 3 pounds of bananas makes up a lot of bait I think! Good thing it works. It may not be around too long!

I'll be watching for daily reports of who is visiting your bait. t.

bump :-)

Since I posted this thread last January about Butterfly Bait, I learned that here in the Ohio Valley region, bait is appreciated most in springtime (May and June) when certain butterfly species that prefer skat and rotten fruit are in flight---

The Mourning Cloak and most of the brush footed butterflies like animal scat and mud puddles. Also Question Marks, Red Admiral, Common Buckeye, the Hackberry and some skippers (around our area). I did not have my 'concoction' out early enough in the year--I put it out in July and August--so I didn't have many visitors.

The swallowtails like to 'puddle' in the summertime to gather salts and micronutrients, too, although I didn't see much of that going on in our yard this past summer.

More information for Ohio valley butterflies is available here http://www.ohiolepidopterists.org/bflymonitoring/species/photos.htm

and in the booklet "Common Butterflies and Skippers of Ohio" available from the DNR and Ohio Lepadopterists.

Anybody else have good luck with it this past year?

I would like to bump this up. I think I will try it this year.

Any chance of adding the recipe in a sticky??

It's in the sticky. I think it's the sixth post.

Melanie

Oh yes I found it here http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/p.php?pid=3702364

Recipe in the sticky...hmmm...does that make it a sticky recipe? More so if you forget to vent your jug :o) ROLF!!!! Sorry...couldn't resist.

~ Cat

I am going to do this, but my neighbors will probably think I have an alcholoic monkey in my yard with the bananas and beer ; )


Would this attract ladybugs too?

This message was edited Mar 29, 2008 10:31 PM

No on the ladybugs, or not in my yard anyway.
And yes you are right Cat, it is a "sticky" receipe!!! LOL!
I have been working the Butterfly Exhibit with Debnes and Paige (KKB) in the month of March. While standing near the rotted fruit feeder yesterday someone noticed it and said oh, is that what smells? I kept smelling that off and on and thought someone had been drinking! Needless to say I moved away from the bait station! LOL!

Sounds like exciting work Sheila. Would love to have seen that butterfly exhibit. Don't think I'll be planning to visit Dallas again anytime soon but will keep that place in mind if I do.

Sometimes that bait can be potent. We've poured out some around the park and within mere minutes Mexican Bluewings, Malachites and the rare Crackers have shown up. Seems they too can sniff out the stuff and hone in on it :o) Of course, by now most of them are signing up for AA :o)

~ Cat

Cat..They only have it every three years and tomorrow is the last day. Sorry. It is a big crowd draw for sure. It is only held for the month of March this year, I think that was the same month it was held before.

Only every three years? That's not fair!!! Oh well, it's a good thing I live in the deep south tip of Texas where we get 300+ species. No Blue Morphos...but I guess I can't complain :o)

~ Cat

It was so fun working at the exhibit! Finally I had somewhere to share what I know and people listening! LOL Sheila, did you post your pics anywhere? I just have mine online in Picasa. I didn't bother to make any adjustments to them, just posted them all. Most of mine were taken on our "preview" day with my new camera and I had no idea how they would look. I did take a few on my last day with my old camera, and my son took a few. Wish I had gotten a better shot of that Atlas moth, especially since I guarded that fellow for about 8 hours!

Here's a link to mine:
http://picasaweb.google.com/paigek321/ButterfliesInTheGardenExhibit

Paige, your pictures are great! Debnes has loaded a lot of hers in the Bug Files, but we are going to start a thread to post all of our pics to later. You got some that I haven't seen, and may not get to see. A lot of species were few in number for this show. I have a zip file of the Conservatory Guide that Debness took pics of. If you want me to send it dmail me your email.