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Old October 18, 2011   #1
semi_lucid
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Texas, zone 6b
Posts: 100
Default Making Low Cost Sticky Traps

I've been thinking about ways to control Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs and Squash Bugs. (And also Pickleworms.)

The Commercial sticky traps I've seen seem a bit too expensive, so I'm looking at making the glue for the lowest cost possible.

I found a couple of places online that said;

"You can make an adhesive using a quart of corn syrup and a quart of water. Simply combine the water and corn syrup and boil it until it makes a sticky paste."

So I was thinking the following;

1. Grow some squash plants very early in the year, indoors.
2. Make up 5 gallons of the corn syrup glue.
3. Grind up the squash plants, and maybe add some kind of preservative.
4. Mix the squash plants into the glue to give it scent.
5. Spread the glue on sheets of corrugated card board. Preferably very brightly colored cardboard, to attract thrips. One source said hot pink is best for thrips.
6. Early in the season, before you put your transplants out, place the large size traps in the area where your garden will be. The idea is to trap the over wintering population early in the season.
7. Continue trapping through out the season.

The key is this glue needs to be low cost. So I started looking for corn syrup in bulk packaging, and at a low cost. I found that some syrups are thicker, for example "Gold Metal 4160"

Quoting from foodservicewarehouse.com;

Q: Is this corn syrup thicker than the type you can purchase in the grocery store?
A: Yes, the 60 lb Glucose Corn Syrup (4160) by Gold Medal is extremely thick. It is considered to be class 42DE and it resembles thick molasses. We don't recommend using a plastic measuring cup with this corn syrup because of how dense it is.

http://www.google.com/search?q=Gold+...w=1333&bih=829

http://www.cargill.com/food/wcm/grou.../na3014942.pdf

So does anybody know much about corn syrup? Anybody have any ideas about how to make a low cost glue?

John
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