DIY tree catching belt

If you want to protect your apple, pear or cherry tree from moths, leaf rollers, weevils and ants, you should use a trapping belt. These simple and effective traps will help get rid of uninvited guests once and for all.

Hot summers contribute to the appearance of a large number of pests. Fruit trees are especially affected by this. Most insects and other parasites climb the trunks to the most delicious parts of the trees - leaves, flowers, and subsequently to the fruits. Is it possible to stop pests at the stage of “marching” to the crown of the tree? Yes, especially if you use such a simple tool as a hunting belt.

What is a hunting belt and from whom does it protect the tree?

A catch belt is a trap that is widely used for mechanical control of garden pests. Usually it looks like a strip 20-25 cm wide, made of cardboard, paper, rags, straw, plastic film, burlap or rubber.

Hunting belts can be used on trunks of any diameter

Trapping belts are especially effective against pests that first descend to the ground to pupate and then climb up the trunk in search of food. These include:

whiteflies;
weevils;
caterpillars;
mites;
aphids;
bukarki;
geese;
apple flower beetles.

How to clean glue using different means

Sticky traps are most often placed on the floor in areas where rodents have been observed. It is clear that glue stains may end up on the floor - cunning animals overturn traps, causing the non-drying substance to be smeared onto adjacent pieces of furniture. When cleaning, it gets on clothes, and the ubiquitous cats can get dirty in the adhesive composition, because it remains liquid for a long time.

Important! Adhesive compositions do not contain toxic substances hazardous to humans and pets.

Vegetable oil

Clothes are cleaned of glue using improvised means. One of them is regular vegetable oil. They need to generously lubricate the area of contamination or completely immerse a section of fabric in oil poured into a bowl for 5-10 minutes. After this, carefully scrape off the sticky substance. At the same time, do not forget to protect your hands with gloves.

The fat base dissolves the adhesive substance, and the clothes are well cleaned. If necessary, oil treatment is repeated. After this, all that remains is to remove oil stains from the fabric. They are removed with warm water and laundry soap.

There is no negative effect on the skin and the removal of adhesive contamination is 100% guaranteed. By smearing oil on the fur of a cat, you can clean it of glue, and then rinse it off completely while bathing with soapy solutions.

Dish detergent

You can remove adhesive stains with dish soap. It is suitable for secondary processing, when the glue has already been removed from the surface of clothing or from the fur of a pet. After this, the animal can be bathed with dishwashing detergent. It is also good for washing off grease stains from clothes and for washing hands.

Kerosene

Kerosene shows high efficiency in removing adhesive contamination. But its use has an adverse effect on the skin of the hands and dries it out greatly. After cleaning the stains with kerosene, it is recommended to smear your hands with a rich cream with a nourishing effect on the skin and nails. It is best to work with kerosene with gloves, in the air, so as not to be poisoned by its vapors.

We must remember that kerosene has a pungent odor and has a detrimental effect on the epidermis. The smell of kerosene can be removed from clothes only by washing it several times.

Lemon juice

Lemon juice helps remove residual substances and greasy stains. Add 2-3 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice to a faceted glass of warm water. The solution is used to remove stains from clothes and hands. The fabric is soaked in the solution for 5-6 minutes, then the clothes are washed in the usual way.

Laundry soap

The adhesive composition is washed off the floor with laundry soap dissolved in water. A soap solution removes dirt from laminate and linoleum, if the stains are wiped well with a soapy sponge. The glue is first removed from the skin with sunflower oil, then treated with a solution of laundry soap. This method is also suitable for washing children, from whose skin mouse glue should be quickly removed.

Advantages and disadvantages of hunting belts

The trapping belt has several obvious advantages over other pest control products:

This is an environmentally friendly trap, absolutely safe for trees and humans;
with the help of a catching belt you can catch most of the pests (they cannot “bypass” the trap and inevitably fall into it);
You can buy a ready-made version or make a simple hunting belt yourself.

Trapping belts can only be used on small areas where it is impractical to use chemicals

One of the main disadvantages of the trapping belt is that beneficial insects - ladybugs, bees, bumblebees, etc. - periodically get into it.

How to clean the floor

In village houses today, the floor is covered with different materials - linoleum, laminate. Most often, the floor remains wooden in the old fashioned way, especially in modern wooden houses. Different products are used to clean floors with different finishes. It is important to remove adhesive stains, so homeowners are looking for the most effective methods.

Wood

Popular ways to clean wooden floors from traces of mouse glue:

Water with citric acid. For 1 liter of warm water take 2 tablespoons of lemon. Using the resulting solution with a hard sponge, you can remove the dirt by vigorously rubbing the area where the glue gets in contact.
Water with laundry soap. A method that removes even dried stains. Soap dissolves in hot water; use a hard sponge to rub the stain vigorously until it is completely removed.

These are gentle methods because the wooden floor is usually painted, and you need to preserve the staining.

Linoleum

The softness of linoleum requires more aggressive cleaning methods. Alcohol-containing substances are used here. They moisten the cloth with which you need to vigorously rub the stained area. Undoubtedly, before treating with alcohol, the adhesive substance must be collected with a hard board or construction spatula.

It is important not to smear the stain on the linoleum. After this, treat with alcohol.

Types of hunting belts and tips for making them

There are several types of hunting belts. They all have their own advantages and disadvantages that must be taken into account when making them. Currently, dry, poisonous and sticky hunting belts are used.

Dry hunting belts

This is the most popular type of trapping belt, which is most often found in areas. In turn, dry belts are also made in several variations. Let's focus on the simplest and most convenient types of homemade adhesive tapes.

Funnel belt

This is a fairly simple but effective design. Outwardly, it resembles a funnel that has a “pull-in effect.” In other words, insects crawl into the funnel and cannot get out of it. It's quite simple to make:

Take a sheet of paper or cardboard 15-20 cm thick and wrap it around the tree trunk at a height of about 50-60 cm. You should get a cone-like funnel or skirt turned upside down with a narrow hole. The “entry hole” intended for pests will remain wide, and the funnel will end at a “dead end”;
Tie the upper part of the “skirt” tightly with twine or rope, or cover it with clay or plasticine.

After use, it is better to burn the hunting belt

Belt-collar

This is the second most common version of the catch belt. Designed not for parasites that rise up, but for parasites that descend to pupate or overwinter in the ground. Making it is as simple as the previous one, but it remains almost invisible on the trunk and, moreover, “transforms” along with the tree:

cut a strip of rubber 4-5 mm thick and measure 50 cm from the ground level;
fasten the rubber belt to the barrel, first bending the edges to form a “collar”;
glue the ends of the rubber strip together with glue;
Add sunflower oil to the resulting sealed “cup”. Pests that get into the container will no longer be able to get out of it and continue moving downwards. In addition, such an elastic trap “grows” with the tree and can serve for quite a long time, the main thing is to remove the bugs that get into it in time and add sunflower oil.

It is better to use soft rubber - then the belt will stretch as the tree grows

Double-sided funnel

This is a universal trap that prevents both “upstream” and “downstream” pests. To make it you need to put in a minimum of effort:

soak burlap, fabric or paper in the insecticide solution. Their width must be at least 30 cm;
fasten the hunting belt, tying it tightly in the center, leaving the top and bottom free and open, in the form of a “skirt”;
fill the remaining cavities at the top and bottom with clay so that pests cannot move along the trunk.

Double-sided catching belt can be used throughout the whole season

Poison Hunter Belt

Many gardeners are scared by the word “poisonous” in the name of this type of belt. It is believed that the poison gets on the fruits of the tree and should not be consumed in any case. However, this is an incorrect statement, since the trap is attached at the foot of the trunk and the chemicals do not penetrate the root system, nor do they travel up to the crown. In addition, such a “suicide” belt guarantees almost 100% efficiency, since insects crawling inside cannot find a way out and quickly die from toxic fumes. Most often, such a belt is hung on apple trees - it most effectively prevents the movement of caterpillars upward, towards the fruits. Here's how to make it:

take a piece of paper, burlap or other material 20-25 cm wide;
saturate the fabric with an insecticide solution and secure it to a tree trunk at a height of 40-50 cm from the ground to form a “skirt”;
additionally wrap the upper part of the belt with film so that the poison does not erode.

The poisonous belt retains its properties for 1-1.5 months

Sticky Hunting Belt

Usually such belts are used in combination with other traps, but sometimes they are installed separately and they also cope well with pests. They are especially good at catching ants, caterpillars and beetles. How to make a sticky trap:

prepare a piece of craft paper 20-25 cm wide, which would cover the circumference of the trunk;
coat one side of the belt with special non-drying glue, resin or tar;
attach the belt to the barrel with the adhesive side up and cover any possible “passages” both above and below the adhesive belt.

A sticky catching belt is the safest and most reliable means of protecting a tree.

Types of glue traps

The adhesive composition is specially designed to ensure instant adhesion to organic surfaces.

Specialized stores offer several types of traps:

Ready-made boards with glue already distributed on them. The composition of the substance contains aromatic components, their smell attracts rodents. Installing the board is simple: remove the protective film and place the board in a place where active mice are observed. This is how small rodents are caught.
Mouse glue in tubes or jars. It is difficult to apply it evenly to the selected surface yourself. Its advantages are that it does not dry out, and rats are also drawn to it. The glue should be applied to parchment paper such as magazine sheets. In practice, there are cases where a rat, having stuck its paws in the adhesive composition, and, probably, trying to get out of it, simply wraps itself in a strip of paper.
Mouse glue. Contains the same adhesive composition; Having applied it to paper, you can sprinkle millet and any cereal crops on it. The traps work flawlessly.

Attention! You need to wear gloves to apply the glue so as not to stain your hands.

Tips for using catch belts

Hunting belts are placed on tree trunks, usually at a height of 30-60 cm from the base, but in any case below the crown. It is necessary to inspect and get rid of pests stuck in traps every day, otherwise they may escape from the trap. Pests that fall out of the belt must be destroyed immediately.

It is best to secure the catching belt before the buds awaken, so that pests hibernating in the ground do not have time to get out and crawl into the crown of the tree. Traps should be removed from stone fruit trees after harvesting, but on apple and pear trees it is better to leave them until the end of October, this helps fight the winter moth, which lays eggs and goes underground for the winter.

Replace trapping belts as needed and after they become infested with pests. Also, be careful that there are no passages in them that open the way for small parasites to the crown and food.

Insect catching belts are a simple and environmentally friendly invention. Gardeners are increasingly using them in their summer cottages to protect fruit trees from pests. Do you have experience using similar traps? If you have one, share it on our forum.

Cleaning from furniture surfaces

Stains on upholstered furniture cannot be completely removed. The stain is partially wiped off with a hard cloth that gently collects the glue. At the same time, you should try not to smear the stain even more on the covering of the sofa or chair. Then treat with a carpet cleaner using a stiff brush, and finish cleaning the upholstery by washing with liquid laundry detergent.

Apple tree pests and how to get rid of them

Garden parasites try to gnaw at the apple tree. Every gardener should know how to protect their garden and eliminate pests.

codling moth

The apple codling moth is a small butterfly with a gray-brown color. The size of the insect's wings reaches 2 cm. The butterfly does not pose any particular danger; it does not eat fruits, as the name might suggest, but breeds caterpillars. But small parasites will appear at the moment when the apples are already hanging on the tree. Fight pests with improvised means.

Fermented compote is left near the tree. It is advisable to pour the drink into shallow containers. By the end of the day there will be a ton of butterflies on the surface. This method helps to at least slightly reduce the number of moths.
You can prepare a decoction of hot pepper. Take 6 pepper pods, throw them into a pan and fill them with water. Place the pan on the stove and bring to a boil. Then add 100 g of the finished broth to 5 liters of water.
Traditional treatment does not always help. Biological agents help get rid of the disease. The best include bitoxibacillin and lepidocide. But as a supplement, you can use chemicals against the moth: Decis, Kinmiks, Karbofos.

codling moth

Harvest apple tree Silver Hoof

Sawfly

The sawfly is somewhat similar to the previous pest. It also eats fruits, gnawing out the pulp, and is able to do this at an early stage of development (the appearance of the ovary). To prevent the destruction of the embryo, trees are sprayed with folk remedies.

An infusion of wormwood is very simple to prepare. Add crushed wormwood to 1 bucket of water. The homemade infusion should be left for 2 days in a dark place.
To prepare mustard infusion you will need 100 g of mustard and 5 liters of water. The components are combined, mixed and left for half a day.

You can treat the trunk, leaves and roots with Alterr or Vantex, and not a trace of the sawfly will remain.

Sawfly

Medyanitsa

The body length of the honeydew reaches 2.5 mm. The female pest lays eggs directly on trees. To prevent the worm, orchards are treated with home remedies.

Take 300 g of tobacco and add it to a bucket of water. Boil a little and cool. Add 50 g of soap to the cooled infusion.
To prepare the following composition, you will need to chop the bird cherry branches: 300 g of the prepared raw material is poured into a bucket, filled with water and set to boil for 30 minutes.

Important! Any chemicals are suitable (for example, dimethoate, kemifosom, confidor), but they can be used 1 week before the buds open. After some time, the procedure should be repeated.

Medyanitsa

Shchitovka

Green larvae 3 mm long often appear on apple trees. This is a scale insect, which is considered the laziest insect. On an adult apple tree it eats up the bark and makes a hole. Throughout the development of the tree, the insect feeds on apple juice through a hole in one place. If there is a large concentration of beetles, the tree grows poorly and the fruits become deformed. To get rid of an insect mechanically, you need:

carry out regular pruning;
clear the trunk of old bark;
Wash off pests from the tender bark with soapy water.

You can get rid of black bugs on an apple tree in several stages. Before the buds open, the trees are treated with a special composition (7 g of calcined salt + 70 g of green soap + 3 liters of water). Alternatively, choose the drugs DNOC or nitrafen. In case of the appearance of a rodent, fly or other harmful insects, use karbofos, phosphamide, actelik.

Shchitovka

Aphid

Aphids are small insects that attack any plant in the garden. It's practically invisible. It seems like a small parasite, but it brings a lot of problems: the affected leaves curl, the shoots dry out, the buds become deformed.

You can use the simplest method: take a hose with water and turn on high pressure, completely walking through the foliage. This will wash away the pests.
Or make an effective remedy (dilute 100 g of mustard powder in 1 bucket of water) and spray the trees.

But all these are temporary measures, because when the foliage dries out, the aphids may appear again. To completely destroy it, oleocuprite and nitrafen are used as an additional method. After flowering, actara, corsair, and varant are used.

Aphid

Flower beetle

The apple flower beetle is popularly called a weevil; it feeds on the buds and buds of fruit trees, in particular apple trees. Trees are treated before buds open and before flowering.

Take half a bucket of onion peels and fill it to the brim with hot water, but not boiling water. The composition should stand for 3 hours. If you leave it overnight, then in the morning before use you need to dilute the strong solution with water.
To prepare the pine product you will need 50 g of pine needle concentrate and 1 bucket of water. Mix everything and spray the apple trees.

If folk remedies do not save you, then you can use Fufanon, Iskra and Novaktion.

Flower beetle

Mole

The apple moth resembles an ordinary butterfly, only small in size. Its caterpillars eat the leaves and then spin a web. To combat it, make infusions from potatoes or tomatoes, or use ground pepper (1 teaspoon per 1 bucket of water). The infusion should stand for 2 days before use.

Apple moth

Entobacterin, lepidocide, fozalon or dimilin are used as additional control.

Red tick

This insect is almost invisible on fruit trees. Despite its small size, the small pest destroys leaves. Such mites are not found alone; they attack the plant in whole colonies and can gnaw leaves all day long, leaving behind a web.

Red mite on an apple tree

How to care for blackberries

To get rid of them:

Take 500 g of garlic and pass it through a garlic press. The resulting slurry is poured with 1 bucket of water and mixed. After a day you can use it.
Pour 300 g of horse sorrel roots into 5 liters of hot water. Once the composition has cooled, you can spray the leaves.

Of the ready-made preparations, anti-mite, fufafon, and nitrafen have proven themselves to be good.

Bark beetle

Bark beetle on an apple tree

Bark beetle on an apple tree: methods of combating these insects, of which there are several types in nature, help in a variety of ways. They can be noticed immediately after the apple orchard blooms. People call it that because it damages the tree bark. They hibernate under it and devour it. Female apple bark beetles do not die; they can lay eggs several times during the season. How to deal with the harmful bark beetle on an apple tree? The best way is to use copper sulfate.

Ognevka

Moth on an apple tree: how to fight if the trees are affected by this attack? In autumn or spring, all tree trunk circles should be covered with roofing material and old film. You should start from the base of the tree and up to the crown. The trap can be removed in mid-summer. As an alternative, high hilling is suitable.

Mice

Mice usually damage the trunk of a tree. But unlike other rodents, they cause light damage affecting the outer part of the bark. How to save an apple tree if mice have eaten the bark of the tree? If the damage is superficial, the trunk can be tied with polyethylene. When the affected areas dry out, this indicates the tree is healing. If the dying process is irreversible, then it is urgent to replant the bark from a healthy tree.

Mice

After some time, many gardeners again complain that the apple tree has been chewed by mice. What to do if the film did not help? There is another effective way - clay and cow dung. The damaged area is cut off and smeared with clay, and the top is wrapped in cloth, which is regularly moistened with water.

Hares

Apple tree bushes have been gnawed by hares, what should I do? It is urgent to treat the gnawed areas with garden varnish (applied in a thick layer), otherwise the trunks will begin to dry out. If the jumpers remain, then the apple tree can be restored. After treatment, it is better to wrap the barrel with lutrasil, which can be secured with wire.

Ants

Ants on an apple tree

Traditional methods allow you to get rid of ants quickly and effectively. You can use kerosene with carbolic acid. The smell will repel small pests, and the acid will destroy them. To obtain the product, mix 10 liters of water, 400 g of black soap, 1 tbsp. kerosene and 2 tbsp. spoons of acid. The prepared solution is poured into the anthill.

They also make all kinds of traps. How to make trapping belts for ants on an apple tree? Nowadays, almost everyone has a car, so finding an old tire in the garage is not difficult. You need to cut it lengthwise to make several rings.

Next, a trench is made near the infected tree, around the trunk. A tire is placed on top of the trunk and filled with water. Pests will not be able to swim across the “pool” and get to the tree.

Ant traps on trees

You can make catching belts for apple trees with your own hands from ordinary tape. To do this, you need to wrap the belt around the barrel with the adhesive side facing out. Ants, crawling onto a tree, will stick to the tape.

A sticky belt is also made using glue and thick paper. Cut out a rectangle 25 cm wide. Apply glue to one side. A belt is attached 0.5 m upward from the ground. The cracks on both sides are lubricated with clay.

Sticky Hunting Belt

Methods for removing mouse trap glue from pet fur

The rodent trap is often visited by inquisitive pets. For this reason, glue remains on the fur and paws and subsequently spreads throughout the apartment. It is not possible to wash mouse glue off a cat using the usual method. So, use vegetable oil applied to the fur of a cat or dog. Then, the animal should be bathed with laundry soap or dishwashing detergent.

If these manipulations do not bring results, there is only one way out - a haircut. The procedure can be carried out with the help of household members. To do this, one holds the animal, the second cuts off the contaminated fur.

A similar procedure is carried out in veterinary clinics or pet salons. An employee of the organization quickly removes the glue from the wool without harming it.

Funnel belt

This type of catch belt can be made in 5 minutes and works great. To construct a funnel belt, you will need a sheet of thick paper or cardboard, rope (twine) or plasticine. Wrap paper around the tree trunk so that an inverted funnel appears on it. Insects will crawl into its wide edge, but the top of the funnel, tightly adjacent to the trunk, will turn out to be a dead end. Tie the upper part tightly with a rope or coat it with plasticine (clay) so that there is no escape for pests. In principle, such a trap works all summer, but it is advisable to check it once a month and update it if necessary.

The collar belt is made as follows:

Measure the circumference of the tree trunk. Cut a strip of rubber of the required size (remember that the rubber must fit tightly around the barrel, otherwise the trap will simply fall off). Wrap a piece of rubber around the barrel and glue it along the cut edge or secure it in another way. Pull the lower part of the rubber upward so that a roller with a recess is formed on the barrel. Pour sunflower oil into the resulting sealed cup. There will regularly be pests in the oil that need to be removed. And it itself will evaporate, so you will have to periodically add more from the bottle. On average, one liter bottle of oil is enough for two large apple trees for a season. You can replace vegetable oil with technical oil - this will not affect the result.

Conclusions and recommendations

1.Environmentally friendly method, which eliminates the use of chemical pesticides

2. Making catching belts does not require special agrotechnical skills and knowledge; even a novice gardener can handle it

3. The adhesive tree catching belt is absolutely non-toxic and has no odor.

4.Efficiency - this method of protecting fruit trees significantly reduces the number of aphids and other sucking insect pests in the garden.

5.The use of oil and “repellent” belts is an effective “folk” method of getting rid of ants, .

6. Hunting belts should be made annually; the best time is early spring.

Glass wool belt

Another way to catch pests, although not very attractive in appearance, also works. To do this, you will need to wrap the barrel with a piece of glass wool or foam rubber, and press this material on top with stretch film. Insects will get stuck in dense fiber with no chance of finding their way back, and you will only have to destroy them every 1-2 weeks and change the protective layer on the tree.

Belt-collar

A catching belt-collar is a slightly more complicated design, and you will have to prepare for its creation by purchasing some material, which not everyone has on hand.
Yes, and “consumables” will have to be purchased periodically. But such a trap works great throughout the summer, does not injure the tree, is safe for people and animals, and can also be used for several years in a row, stretching as the tree grows. Intrigued? It's simple! You will need: a piece of soft rubber 4-5 mm thick, 30-40 cm wide and long enough to tightly grip the tree trunk; glue for rubber; bottle of sunflower oil.

Types of glue in traps

Rat glue is made from viscous polymers that melt at temperatures below room temperature. Thanks to this property, they are easy to apply and do not harden or dry out throughout the entire period of use. The composition contains a large amount of polybutene, there are additives of cycloisan and polyisobutylene.

There are 2 types of such traps:

Boards with glue already applied. Before use, the protective film must be removed from them. Thanks to the pleasant-smelling components, such “traps” attract mice.
Suspension in a bottle or tube. This is a gel-like form that you need to apply to the base yourself. The cost of such funds is usually lower. Most often, the gel is applied to cardboard. Some manufacturers recommend sprinkling some grain on top.

Double-sided funnel

The versatility of this trap lies in the fact that it helps to fight both those insects that are just rising from the soil into the crown, and those that have already been at the top and went to the ground.
To make a double-sided funnel you will need: fabric or burlap 30-40 cm wide; insecticide; clay; rope or twine.

Soak a cloth in the insecticide solution and wrap it around the tree trunk. Using twine or wide tape, secure the center of the fabric tightly to the tree trunk, leaving the top and bottom edges free. Fill the entire space between the free edges of the fabric and the trunk with clay so that insects inevitably end up in the area soaked with insecticides. Change the belt every 3-4 weeks and burn the used one.