I need to get my gourds up this weekend and am planning on mixing diatomaceous earth in with the pine needles in an attempt to keep mites at bay.
Has this worked for anyone?
The toxicity of sevin worries me.
Diatomaceous Earth
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Louise Chambers
- Site Admin
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- Joined: Tue Nov 04, 2003 1:07 pm
- Location: Corpus Christi, TX
Lisa,
Diatomaceous earth is not recommended for use in birdboxes (not legal, either, but then neither is sevin) - the dust is a problem. A nest cam we had in a gourd at the PMCA colony showed that as nestlings grow feathers and start flapping their wings in nest, they stir up a cloud of dust. The dust is partly dissolved feather sheaths, partly broken down nest material - and if DE is placed in or under nest, some of the dust will contain DE, which is an irritant if inhaled, or if it gets into eyes and mouth, nostrils.
So while DE has many uses, it is probably not a good material for control of nest parasites in martin homes.
Diatomaceous earth is not recommended for use in birdboxes (not legal, either, but then neither is sevin) - the dust is a problem. A nest cam we had in a gourd at the PMCA colony showed that as nestlings grow feathers and start flapping their wings in nest, they stir up a cloud of dust. The dust is partly dissolved feather sheaths, partly broken down nest material - and if DE is placed in or under nest, some of the dust will contain DE, which is an irritant if inhaled, or if it gets into eyes and mouth, nostrils.
So while DE has many uses, it is probably not a good material for control of nest parasites in martin homes.