Well, it's more nuanced than that. After finally having some frost, we've reached the perfect weather window in Missouri where I can start cleaning out my purple martin gourds and storing them.
Since we live in Missouri, where we often get snow & ice in February & March each year (right at the time the purple martins are arriving), I cannot wait until then to clean my gourds. So, I do it every Fall, after the first frost. This year, I thought of my past militant attitude towards cleaning out my gourds - **sparkling clean and NO spots!**, and decided that I wanted to share some thoughts on how I now clean my gourds and clarify some nuanced thoughts on *why* I clean them.
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| My required gourd-cleaning protection (click on picture for an enlarged view) |
For the last 2 years, I'm finding that I'm not quite as concerned as I used to be about getting my gourds sparkling clean. I AM focused, however, on killing the mites, fleas, etc. and their eggs. But, it's not ONLY for the benefit of the health of the purple martins that will nest there next year. It's also a concern for where I store the gourds. I store them in our shop where I have other things that I would like to keep mite-free. Things like our side-by-side and my native wildflower seed storage bins. A bout of warm weather would result in those eggs hatching and not be a good thing for me (or Mr. Freeze) to encounter.
A couple of years ago, I bought this 100-gallon livestock tank (100-gallon livestock tank - True Value) and I love it! I can soak 14 to 16 gourds at a time
in it at a time. Put them in to soak one day, then wash them out the next -
and I don't have to kill myself trying to clean all 84 gourds in one
day.
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| 100-gallon Livestock Tank from True Value. 16 gourds in the tank |
Many people just pull out the old nest material and rinse & dry their gourds / housing. And if you store your gourds in a place where you don't care if there are future outbreaks of such insects, you probably don't need to worry about the Bleach soak. But if you do care, then here is what I do:
- Remove all the old nesting material.
- Rinse out the remaining loose material.
- Add water and bleach (enough bleach to make a 10% bleach-to-water solution).
- Shove all the gourds into the tank and ensure all the air bubbles are removed.
- The longer the gourds soak, the easier they'll be to clean out.
I'm finally done for this season, just in time for the freezing winter weather. I do have a few repairs to make this winter to some of my gourds (broken tunnels, torn treads, etc.), but I can take my time with those.
I hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving!
