14 Farmers' Bulletin 73i^. 



with three parts of water. The attractiveness becomes marked on the 

 second or third day. 



Sugar-beet or " stock molasses," which is very cheap, especially 

 in regions Avhere produced, when mixed in the foregoing proi:)ortions, 

 is fairly attractive. 



On dairy farms, probably milk is the next choice as a bait to cane- 

 molasses solution, considering its convenience. The curd from milk, 

 with about one-half pound of brown sugar added to each pound and 

 water to nudve it thoroughly moist, is a very good bait and continues 

 to be attractive for 10 days or more if kept moist. A mash of bran 

 made quite thin with a mixture of equal parts of water and milk 

 and Avith a few tablespoonfuls of brown sugar and cornstarch and a 

 yeast cake added makes an attractive and lasting bait. During hot 

 weather stirring the old bait or adding fresh is a daily necessity if 

 best results^are to be secured. 



Sirup made by dissolving 1 part of ordinary brown sugar in 4 parts 

 of water and allowing the mixture to stand a day or two to induce 

 fermentation is almost equal to the molasses and water as a fly bait. 

 If it is desirable to use the sirup immediately after making it, a small 

 amount of vinegar should be added. Honeybees are sometimes 

 caught in large numbers at this bait. Allien this happens some of 

 the other baits recommended should be used. 



With the baits before mentioned comparatively few blowflies will 

 l)e caught. For use about slaughterhouses, butcher shops, and other 

 places where blowflies are troublesome, it has been "determined that 

 the mucous membranes which form the lining of the intestines of 

 cattle or hogs are without equal as a bait. This material, which is 

 commonly spoken of as " gut slime," can be obtained from packing 

 houses where sausage casings are prepared. The offensive odor of 

 this bait renders its use undesirable very near habitations or mate- 

 rials intended for human consumption. 



For use under range conditions experiments are underwaj^ with 

 dried gut slime. This material is giving satisfaction as a screw-worm 

 fly attractant and is easily carried, being in a highly concentrated 

 form. The flaky material is placed in the bait pans and water added 

 at the rate of 1 pai-t slime to 10 or 20 parts water, after which the 

 mixture is thoroughly stirred. 



Another packing-house product known as blood tankage is a 

 good fly bait when used with molasses and water. This combina- 

 tion results in the capture of a large percentage of house flies. 

 Where these materials are not obtainable fairly good catches will 

 result from the use of fish scraps or meat scraps. With any of these 

 baits the catches will be found not to be entirely meat-infesting flies, 

 as actual counts have shown that the percentage of house flies in 

 traps over such baits ranges from 45 to 75. 



Overripe or fermenting fruit, such as watermelon rinds or crushed 

 bananas, placed in the bait pans sometimes gives satisfactory results. 



