Hi
I started out last year Mothing with a MBT 160w Bulb and I have been through about 3 bulbs already.
Probably due to my carelessness but they do crack badly if even a drop of water lands on the surface of the bulb.
I now use an up-turned fat ball bucket to shield the bulb from the rain and it works brilliantly.
Catches I can't really compare to much else but I managed over 300 species from my garden in my first year, numbers weren't high, most in a night was in the 130 specimens region and averaged in summer about 40 moths, plenty to be getting on with!
Has anyone any experience of the Robinson 125 trap shown on Bioqup?
http://www.bioquip.net/acatalog/insects_moth_traps.html
Are they a reliable supplier?
Ken
Hi Ken,
A good friend of mine has this trap and they are very good, the only slight problem is the top bulb shield sometimes blowing off in strong winds. So may have to way it down with something if running on a windy night. I would say by the volume of the base this trap is capable of holding as many moths as the Wat-Don Robinson trap and a bit cheaper to.
Regards,
Barry Hunt.
Yes I have reworked mine into a Robinson type with a larger funnel which has been spray painted black to stop the moths 'seeing the light again' once in the trap!
I was debating with myself how large I should make the entry to the trap from the funnel, so I measured roughly to an Old Lady, Red Underwing, Privet Hawk size, taking into account the length and breadth of their wings.
Its all an experiment when you build your own and its made it alot of fun.
I got the Robinson yesterday. By the time I got home from work and had it assembled it was about 8 pm but I ran it for three hours and got five moths, so at least I've christened it! It's huge compared with my previous trap. I could put whole egg trays in it. It has a drainage hole at the base, something I could have done with previously. I'm not sure I got the vanes in quite right, they seemed a bit reluctant to stay in place, so I'll have to work on that.
Ken
Hi, Barry,
The trap has a screw-type bulb. The trap was ordered at the weekend and arrived on Wed. It has no instructions with it, but apart from struggling a bit to work out which way up the vanes go, I had no problems getting it up and running.
I caught 14 moths last night, which I was quite pleased with considering that the temp fell away quickly at nightfall.
Ken
On a related note, anyone hazard a guess as to why robinson traps are black. They heat up so quickly when the sun hits them and the moths don't like that. I'm going to paint mine white before Summer.type with a larger funnel which has been spray painted black
Well if one has many traps on, one doesn't get round to sort them all by sunrise. Quite often I'd seal off all the traps at dawn, but then it could take couple hours sorting, by then sun is well up. Also at home I don't empty trap, I keep moths in them and open trap in evening. This I find best way to protect them from the resident birds AND my hens!! In summer I find it hard to find a place away from the sun which rises in NE and sets in NW. I may even paint inside of trap white as well. I did this with homemade traps and I find it far easier to see the contents, though it does get grubby looking as the wait shows up the dirt, but even after 2 years, its still white.Hi, Angus, I think that the theory is that you empty the trap before the sun warms up!