Saturday, November 19, 2011

How do you build a butterfly house without complicated materials?

How do you build a butterfly house without things like wood? What materials do you need? Is there a way to build one with netting of some sort?|||Known as a "fly cage," your butterfly home may be easily constructed as follows:





Make 2 squares of 1/2" board (plywood is fine), 12"-16" on each side. Round off the corners, starting at about 2-3" back from the corner on each side. Then, along the edges, affix a velcro strip all the way around both pieces. Use brads and glue to secure it in place.





Cut or drill a hole (1" or so) in one piece of the wood. That will be the bottom piece. The hole is just a place to push in and secure a branch from a tree that will run from "floor to ceiling" of the fly cage.





Now attach a 3' long piece of wood (such as a section of firring strip) between the two sections of wood, so the outside of the strip is even with the edge of the pieces of wood. Thus, if you attached it to the left side of one piece of wood, you would attach it to the same spot on the left side of the other. Attach a velcro strip to the outside of this strip along the entire 3' length of it.





Get a 3' width of "bridal netting" or some equivalent, long enough to go all the way around your rounded off squares and overlap at your strip between the floor and ceiling. Sew the other piece of velcro tape (the side that will stick to what's already on the wood) to the top and bottom edges of the netting, so the netting will now marry up to to the velcro on the edges of the wood. The netting should be somewhat too long, so that it is not tight around all sides -otherwise it will tend to pull to the middle.





And sew a section of velcro to the INSIDE of the netting along the 3' edge, so it can be pressed onto the velco on the wooden strip. This lets you open a section to put in your branch and the butterflies, insert food and sugar water, etc. You need only open enough to get your hand in, so the flutterbys don't escape.





Now attach the netting to the frame so the 3' edges of the netting meet at your strip, and the top and bottom edges attach to the velcro on the frame. You'll see the reason for the rounded corners now; eliminating the sharp angle makes everything fit better. (You could use circular pieces of wood if you wanted to).





Also, as the netting gets old and worn, you can make up a new piece very easily.





Screw a hook to the top -and hang that thing!





Here's a place to order some "painted lady" butterfly caterpillars, so you can watch everything from the beginning:





http://insectlore.stores.yahoo.net/livbu鈥?/a>|||How to make your own "butterfly house"





Making a butterfly house that is safe for the butterflies can be both easy and inexpensive. All you need are the following materials:





2 yards (6 feet) of bridal netting with a width of at least 36 inches (48 inches is better)


About 2 feet of ribbon or string


2 circles cut from corrugated cardboard, with a diameter of about 14 inches


An old tree branch


A small, shallow plastic dish or bowl


A new plastic pot scrubber (Do not use a scrubber that has ever been used with any cleaning soaps or chemicals.)


Directions for making your butterfly house:


1. Fold your bridal netting into thirds as shown to make a rectangle.





2. Tie one end of your netting closed using a short piece (6 inches or so) of string or ribbon. Be sure to tie the knot securely! If this knot comes loose, you will lose your butterflies!





The website has diagrams as well. I have done this with luna moths, and it is a neat and fun project. Good luck.

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