Home-made Codling Moth Traps Recipe

This year we’re trying a recipe for home-made Codling Moth traps, using liquid molasses. The ingredients are as follows:

• 100ml (0.5 cup) liquid molasses (not the crystalised sugar type)
• 1 litre (2.5 cups)warm water
• 3g (0.5 tspn) dried baker’s yeast

Mix it all together in a jug – apparently the Codling Moth is attracted to the smell of molasses, and the yeast increases the number of volatiles in the concoction. I have absolutely no idea if this works as I’m not a chemist, but a youtube video from Utah University says it does, so who am I to argue?

This is enough liquid to fill three plastic 4-pint milk cartons. I simply cut a hole in the one side so that once it’s hung in the tree by twine around the handle, the hole is facing downwards, on the opposite side to the handle. There’s only about 4cm (1.5″) of liquid in each carton, and I’ve bent the tab up created by cutting the hole only on three sides, to create a small overhang, preventing rain water from getting in and diluting the mix. I may cut another hole on the other side though, as someone has suggested this will help move the smell around the orchard.

These Codling Moth traps need placing in the trees from May through to August, and I’m going to initially change them every month, unless they look as though they need changing more frequently. We have them every fourth tree or so at the moment, but I’ll keep adding to to them as we get through the milk!

Plum Moth Traps

Whilst poddling down the orchard I also set some Plum Moth traps – again, I have no idea if they’ll work but we had wormy plums at the tree next to the house last year, so time will defintely tell! With these types of trap, one pheromone bait will last the entire season, which is less hassle than the home-made molasses version for the apple trees.