DIY Organic Fly Trap – Ecobites.com
Update – They have posted drawings and rewritten the original article so that it is MUCH clearer now! Thanks folks, it makes a LOT more sense than what I was getting from the text the first time around!
Looks like what I was visualizing was upside down which I wondered about at the time, which is why I kept going back and rereading and trying to get some picture in my head of what they were doing.
Please note that I was NOT attacking the article or author but simply trying to understand how to build this device and having trouble understanding the original textual instructions without having some visual aid to assist me.
Thanks again for taking the time to clear up the text and for adding the drawings of the construction of this inexpensive and easy to construct fly trap. I’ll be building several of these asap.
———
Had a couple of comments on this article since the one of Steve’s, that I am moving to another post all their own so I can discuss some of the points they bring up in more detail than is possible in the comments section of this blog. The new post is located at – Update on Organic DIY Flytrap – Ecobites.com
Original post follows –
Okay, I’ve read this article about half a dozen times now and without pictures or drawings I only vaguely understand what they are talking about and what I do get isn’t making sense.
What I seem to be getting is that the bottle bottom is now the top with the wire Y piercing it to hang by and the top of the bottle being inside the bottom with the cut off neck facing the round bottom. Then the seam where the two meet is taped together and the water and bait is supposed to be held in by the taped seam.
Do we cut off the screw neck so they don’t have a place to land? Yellow tape? What kind of yellow tape is gonna make a water tight seal? I’d think some kind of glue or caulk would work better. That is if I am visualizing this correctly.
Guess I am just being dense tonight. Will reread it tomorrow and see it there is a light bulb lit then. Of course if the author had bothered to include pictures or even a basic drawing I (and all the other really dense folk out here in reader land) wouldn’t be having to try to figure out what the hell they are talking about.
Organic Fire Ant Control – DirtDoctor.com – Howard Garrett – The Dirt Doctor
Gonna have to do something, cause the little suckers are over running us this year. Some of the stuff on this page sounds good, some not so good.
Have had success with pouring boiling water into the mounds before and that’s what I’m gonna do for right now at least around the immediate area. As soon as the Airsofters get the rest of their stuff gone I’ll work on those areas too. Got a couple of wash pots that I set over a fire, fill with creek water and boil, open the mounds up and pour it in. Never had to do it more than once to a mound to kill the queen and most of the workers and never had one come back either. 😈
*** esprit cabane, the magazine of crafty & green living ideas
A really neat French magazine (now in English too) that has all kinds of projects and craft ideas with a focus on homemade and non-toxic. From how-to’s on making wallpaper paste and rice glue to upholstering furniture and making your own paint they cover a wide range of projects for anyone interested in doing it yourself.
I was surprised to find that glazers putty was simply a mixture of chalk power and linseed oil. They give the proper mixture and explain how to use and the curing time.
Good stuff! 😎
A Low Impact Woodland Home
I know I’ve posted about this house before but I think he’s got a new site, and I know that some of the stuff on the site is new. Good stuff! And I still want to build one!
Mike’s Electric Stuff
All kinds of neat and nasty electronics stuff. 😯 🙄 😉
DIY Electric Kawsaki Motorcycle : TreeHugger
This is freaking awsome! Has a 15 mile range and a top speed of 40 mph. Gonna have to look through the bits and pieces of several motorcycles that I have in the barn and start looking for a motor and pricing batteries. 😯 😎
Speed Up Windows XP – Wired How-To Wiki
And one more How-To from Wired. Even though I don’t use Windoze I know lots of folks that do and have to help some of them out from time to time so am once again posting the link here so I can find it later. 🙄
Make a Local Backup Of Your Gmail Account – Wired How-To Wiki
Another good How-To from Wired. Mainly posting the link here so I can find it later when I need it. 😉
Set Up Dynamic DNS – Wired How-To Wiki
Done this before but alas the computer is no more so am glad there is a How-To so I can (maybe) get it set up again on the soon to be server.
Supercharge Your Camera with Open-Source CHDK Firmware – Wired How-To Wiki
Digital cameras have powers beyond what is immediately available to the user. On a standard Canon, for example, the fastest shutter speed option offered is 1/1,600 second, but the hardware can handle much more than that — up to 1/60,000 of a second.
CHDK, the Canon Hacker’s Development Kit, is an open-source software project that can be loaded on cameras using Canon’s DIGIC II or DIGIC III firmware platforms. It unleashes new features including RAW file format, live histogram display, a battery readout, and the ability to run scripted actions on a camera.
CHDK does not replace the existing firmware on your Canon, so the process is completely reversible. The existing firmware stays intact, while the CHDK software is loaded on demand from an SD card.
Makes me want to get a Canon camera and try this. Sounds quite interesting.
Shave with Olive Oil : Planet Green
Aimed toward women but I’m gonna have to try this one though on my face and neck instead of legs… 🙄 😉
Clean Your Coffee Grinder : Planet Green
Interesting. Never really thought about the coffee grounds and oil clogging up the grinder. Use part of a piece of stale dry bread and grind it up, it’ll clear out the grounds and dry up the oils too!
Microwave your foods safely
Bucknavage offers the following recommendations for good microwave cooking:
1) Rotate food frequently to help prevent cold spots. If your microwave oven does not have a turntable, be sure to stop the oven during cooking and rotate the food item by 90 degrees every couple of minutes.
2) Stir the food frequently during cooking if possible to help distribute heat throughout the product.
3) Let food sit for at least two minutes after microwaving to allow more time for the residual heat to distribute throughout the food.
4) Don’t cut cooking time short. Allow enough time to get the product hot throughout, using manufacturer’s instructions on the packaging as a guide to cooking times. Check temperatures in the food with a properly calibrated thermometer – product temperature must reach 165 degrees F throughout. Check the temperature in several places to assure that no cold spots exist.
5) Cook large pieces of meat on a lower power for a longer period of time. This allows more time for heat to reach the center.
6) Don’t continue to eat food if the product seems cool; stop and reheat the product to get it to the right temperature.
7) Cover food to keep the product moist; the steam generated will help distribute the heat. Use a container that is manufactured for use in microwave ovens.
8) Continue cooking immediately after defrosting or precooking food in the microwave. Storing partially cooked food in the refrigerator may allow harmful bacteria to grow within the product.
Microwaves work real well for warming or reheating cooked foods but I like to cook most stuff (meats especially) on the stove.
#7 is a REAL good tip. I’ve also found that small containers (just larger than the food being cooked) with a loose lid and a SMALL amount of liquid will cook much quicker and better than a larger container or one with a large amount of liquid. When cooking beans, peas, corn or the like, I drain all but one to two table spoons of the liquid and they will cook much better in a quarter of the time than if all the liquid is used.
Drink Up Before You Snack : Planet Green
Tis what I do. And I drink water rather than sodas, regular or diet. Makes a big difference in the calorie intake.
Tips From an Expert: A Penthouse Photographer on Taking Pics of Beautiful Women
This link is safe for work but the one in the article isn’t. Good tips for general photo work with a digital camera. I need to get the book out on the Nikon and see if I can get it to take manual settings and try some of this out. 😎
FreeNAS: The Free NAS Server
The above link takes you to the WIKI where all the docs and user guides and such are located. Don’t know why I have had such a hard time finding it / figuring out where the info is other than most distros have a link that says Documentation… 🙄
Building a Home File Server | Linux Journal
Good article on setting up a basic file sharing server for home or small business use. Been meaning to do something along these lines for years. Guess it’s that time… 😎
Comments (3) 
Themocracy