Ants LOVE birdnests. Every time we do the cleaning of the nests by just using pressured- air blowpipe to get the dust out before using the water and many small pieces of the nests come out , in no time there would be all kinds of ants coming out for those. I guess this is one proof that birdnest is not just good for only emperors, even the more innocent and ancient lower species with no brain still know what is good for them.

Hmm ok, maybe I used to sell my nest every few weeks I never have ant problem. Now with the low BN price I just dump all nest in my store and now it's become an ant heaven.

So many ants!! I just put some of the nest in the freezer today hopefully when I go home today it would be easier just to brush off the dead ants because I'm lazy to get the nest wet, then they expand and have to dry up again.

hello Chao, I am looking a good track record contractor for my new BH. If yours is trustable, would you mind to share the contractor contact? my email: yitsengleong@yahoo.com
thanks

No consultant. And I don't really like the idea of naming names.

i notice my bh having the same problem. my bh located in paddy field. alot of birds was encountered during the paddy harvest session. however, when all paddy were harvested, not many birds hanging around as the ground was cleared. small birds difficult to stay and looking for other area. as a result, i notice the small bird usually goes to other area and seldom come back.

i thought breeding fruit flies is a good action to accomodate the fruit needs for small birds. hope WW can comment this. Thanks alot

When I was building my latest BH, because it had lots of tall trees around my agri land I had to pay to local kampong folks to chop down some of those huge trees.

However due to logistic concerns so just left those trees as it is and let them rot. Occasionally I will tell the folks to try and help me burn the tree trunks off bit by bit but since it is too huge they are basically still around. Lately I noticed these rotting wood are actually breeding a lot of insects especially after rain you see all those termites flying around and only around these rotting wood and the number of swiftlets 'cari makan' around my agri land is unbelievable.

So there you go, maybe this is easier than breeding fruit flies or what not (somemore might bring disaster to nearby farmers). Just chop off some nearby trees, stack them up and over time they will rot and attract insects.

thanks northface, it is good idea.
however I think it is not suitable if the cut trees stockpile at paddy field. it create nightmare to the parry farmer as snake or rat may also there.

This post has been edited by littlebird: Dec 9 2011, 03:42 PM

If you need lots of fruit flies, just plant Starfruit trees and leave the fruit to rot. This plant grows almost anywhere and fruits in about a year and remains fruiting all year. They fruit profusely and the fruit flies love them. Much better than the wild figs.

If you got oil palm nearby, nothing you plant will be beat the fruiting/flowering oil palm.

If you find this information useful, please donate RM10 to any charity fund

TF my friend,

Very good suggestion to donate to charity in your area so that you maybe safe @ BHs with God's protection as BH is dark inside and many friends have fallen from stairs and afew thru holes. A rather dangerous place and donating to charities is a form of giving back and seeking God's blessing.

For the padi field BHs, I wonder if the place maybe hot on sunny days and cold on rainning days? It's my feeling only as I haven't been to a padi field BH but as by the look of it tell me since there is no tree to block and filter wind, the place must be cold during rainning time and very warm during sunny days cos no tree to cool the air. Air is the natural form of air conditioner, air movement cool the area and stagnant air keep the temperature controlled.

If my predicament is correct, then when building BH in the padi field, one must consider the above by ensuring that the BH is well insulated from the heat and cold. Also, if you want to try producing fruit flies for the birds, it's OK as the swiftlets can see from very far away and fly toward your BH.

thanks tf and ww

will try and see. will let u know if the method work

so far, for the paddy field, i found the area is abit windy and easily get thunder shock. and the area is not hot as the area are wet most of the time. and is an idea place for swiftlet cause many food available there.

but the problem is when paddy was harvested, the area was empty and sometimes some farmer may do open burning there. noticed that the area was no birds during the session

The open burning in Indo was what cause the swifltlets to migrate here long ago.

So, m conclusion is that swiftlets never never like smoke and from my experience, there was this one BH next to a restoran and the BH was empty of bird for afew years until the owner of the BH went to see the restoran owner to allow him to move the exhaust outlet of the restoran away from his BH and after that, the birds started coming and staying.

So, my advice ( should be said, suggestion) is do do burning further away from your BH, thus allowing the birds to have confidence to stay and breed in your BH. After your BH is successful, any burning or burglary or anything will not prevent the olc birds from returning home ie your BH.

Coming very near to my 1K postings at V1 to V4, I shall call it a day @ !K posting and let others do the discussion at this forum. Thanks all for all the ears listening to my bird shits story and were patient and kind to me. I shall be always be viewing the posting but will no longer be an active participant here and pls. remember, I ain't migrating to another blog or forum as I love and know this honest sharing forum only and hope that this forum will go on and on one day, we shall be the no.! forum for discussion ever in the net.

Ahhh Unc WW,
Lousy timing to go into semi retirement
Some more... for no better reason than reaching 1K posting?
You are eligible for a short rest if someone steals your keyboard and no other reason

Everyone (including your good self) agrees that 's opportunity in a crisis...
Just thought that folks will during the lull go for experimenting, testing and renovation.
All can be conducted with only half the concern for opportunity cost...the price of EBN being what it is now.
Your guidance is more relevant now when they go tinkering with their BHs.
A plus if the end results in more birds and nest ; the worst case.. learn what not to do

WW, take a well-deserved break and come back stronger.

my bh always shock by storm,then the fuse jump, no electric. I have to go back bh to open the fuse. Any way to protect fuse shock by storm? please advice. tq

Ask your electrician to bypass a few wall sockets that are not connected to MCB at all, that way during rain will not trip because a lot of MCB very sensitive.

Connect your amps to that socket, and you can protect your amps by using those computer surge protector, so far I've been doing this for 2-3 years no amp got fried by lightning yet.

thanks a lot, bro

Mine has the same problem, but after I've replaced existing ELCB with less sensitive one, so far ok. Anyway, good to know computer surge protector can also do the trick to protect amps from lightning.

This post has been edited by swift4ever: Dec 14 2011, 01:45 PM

I use Cal-lab surge isolator. It will isolate instead of arresting the surge. Save my equipments 3 times already. Life time guaranteed replacement for damaged isolator at a fixed fee of rm25.

Agree. Make sure you use Cal-labs http://gmysamptimersolarwire.blogspot.com/ whether you go through MCB or by-pass MCB.

1. Direct without going through MCB. You risk a fire if there is overloading due to lighting or faulty system. Cal-labs Lightning Isolators is MANDATORY.

2. Use auto-close ELCB. Price around RM900 - RM100 without installation. Cal-labs is still mandatory to protect your sensitive equipment from surges coming though the power lines. Surges coming though speaker wires is not protected.

3. In severe lightning prone area, the ELCB itself can be destroyed by lightning. Replacement is expensive.

4. Use Hager ELCB which is less sensitive to nuisance tripping.

Above just my humble opinion. Input from qualified electrician is much appreciated.

Auto-close ELCB priced from RM90 to RM100 without installation? Gosh! I need a Cal-labs before my amps go up in smoke one day. Thanks guys!