Protecting grape bunches from birds and wasps. Protecting grapes from wasps and birds

Grapes are a sweet, juicy berry that is loved not only by people. Unfortunately, grapes can be eaten by small species of birds and various insects, for example, wasps. These insects can spoil grapes in families.

If there is a nest next to the vineyard, then insects can spoil quite a large amount of the harvest.

How to protect grapes from wasps, birds and other pests? There are many ways to help protect berries. The features of choosing a method and technologies are discussed later in the article.

Choosing the most appropriate method

There are quite a few ways to protect the harvest. Homemade traps, bags and other tricks can save grapes. Each method is quite effective, but when choosing a method, you need to consider some factors.

All methods can be divided into five groups:

Each group should be considered in more detail and choose the most convenient option that will protect the vineyards.

Destruction of wasp nests

This method involves fighting directly with wasp nests. The method will work if you know exactly where the nests are. In small areas this is not difficult to do. But if the vineyards are large, or insect nests are nearby, this option will not work. It is also worth considering that a swarm of wasps can be very dangerous for humans.

If such a procedure is planned, the main thing is to take all precautions. Be sure to wear a protective suit made of thick fabric.

It is better to use special mittens and a mask that are used in beekeeping. Destroying wasp nests is best done at night, although this is quite difficult and inconvenient.

The owners of the sites usually know where the insect nests are located, so finding them will not be difficult. But if the nest is not found, you can inspect:

• space under the slate;
• roof;
• the space between the wall and the finishing material;
• pipe cavities.

If a nest is found, you should choose the option of destruction. Using a thick bag, remove the nest, wrap it in it and screw it tightly. It is important to carry out this procedure as quickly as possible.

If the nest is large or located in an inaccessible place and it is difficult to get rid of it yourself, it is better to contact a specialist.

Traps

This method has many advantages. This does not involve any financial expenses, protects the vineyard without any treatment, and is safe for humans.

When making a trap, use a regular plastic bottle, in which you need to cut off the neck (the upper third of the bottle). As treats for wasps that they would eat, you can use any fermented jam, kvass, beer with added sugar.

Important! To avoid luring bees into traps, do not use honey or syrups.

Pour the selected treat into a cut-off container, turn the cut-off neck over and put it inside. The neck should not come into contact with the liquid. There should be a distance between them. Such traps can be placed near the vineyard, or hung on a support. If there are a lot of wasps and the area is quite large, traps can be placed near each bush. Wasps, falling into such traps, cannot get back out. To destroy as many pests as possible, traps should be changed periodically.

Lures

This method also uses treats, but treated with an insecticide or boric acid.

Important! With this method, it is necessary to choose a product that does not have a strong odor, since the wasps will ignore the bait.

They also use fish, meat and lard - insects eat such bait well.

When bait is used, the wasps bite off a piece of the food used and take it to the nest, where they feed the larvae, thereby poisoning them.

If boric acid is used, it is taken at the rate of: 1 part acid per 10 parts of bait. Any open container can serve as a vessel for bait. Plates, saucers, bowls, cut off bottle bottoms and much more. Such baits must be changed frequently so that the wasps eat continuously.

Repellent

This method raises some doubts, but it is still used. If in previous methods the effect occurred directly on the wasps, then in this case the vineyard itself must be treated. Chemicals are used for processing.

As for the effectiveness of this method, it really works and allows you to save the crop from insects and birds.

But the downside is that without preliminary and thorough preparation, such grapes cannot be eaten.

Package

Quite an effective method, but, unfortunately, not convenient for everyone. This method involves packaging the bunches of grapes themselves in bags made of various materials.

This method is quite simple to implement, but if the vineyard is large, the process of packing each bunch will be long and troublesome.

Bags can be made from any material that is available. The packaging can be old unnecessary tulle, pieces of agrofibre, nylon mesh. The size of the bag should be such that there is room for the bunches. Special nets are also sold that last quite a long time and protect the grapes well.

Important! It is not advisable to make bags with gauze, since it tends to dry for a long time after rain.

Traditional methods

When it comes to controlling wasps in a vineyard, all methods are good. If they do not harm either the grapes or human health, they are worth trying.

Regular vinegar or wine can be used to repel wasps. Its main advantage is that it is non-toxic and harmless to both humans and plants. In addition, it is easily washed off by rain. Wasps cannot tolerate the strong and pungent vinegar smell, which can last up to several days.

It is important to spray the grapes with vinegar after each rain.

If the farm has a smokehouse, the grapes can be treated with liquid smoke. To do this, they treat the very soil under the vineyards. This product has a persistent odor that will repel wasps for a long time.

The harvest can be preserved and protected in different ways. Everyone chooses a more acceptable and convenient method for themselves:

Fighting wasps in the vineyard is possible and it will definitely bring results.

Choosing a method for protecting grapes from birds

If everything is clear with wasps and methods have been found, slightly different methods are needed for birds. You can fight birds peacefully and at the same time effectively using one of the following methods:

All of the above methods are effective and can be convenient under various conditions. Often the choice of repellent method depends on the size of the vineyard. It is possible to use several methods at once, which will increase the reliability and efficiency of crop protection.

Quite a serious problem in vineyards. If no measures are taken, berry losses will be enormous. Birds start pecking at a new berry every day. And even if not all the berries in the bunch are damaged, they begin to rot, and the bunch is completely destroyed.
Birds destroy only the berries of table grape varieties. If the berries of technical varieties are quite large and tasty, and there are quite a lot of such “techies” in personal plots, sparrows will enjoy them with pleasure.
In my vineyard, sparrows love to eat berries. Moreover, not necessarily mature. There were cases when they started to peck completely green berries. I tried various ways to distract the birds from the berries. I removed all the places on the site where sparrows could make their nests, and placed water in a basin on the site so that they would have something to drink. Nothing helps, probably some kind of gourmets...
This year I have decided a little bit about what determines the timing of the start of the sparrow feast. We didn’t touch the berries until we finished eating the apricots. Well, by that time the grapes were almost ripe.
I looked through a lot of information on ways to protect a vineyard from birds. I have identified two accessible methods for myself.
Mesh bags
Each bunch is covered with a nylon mesh bag. Such bags can now be easily purchased ready-made, at fairly affordable prices.
Advantages:
- if you choose bags made of mesh with a very small cell, then protection against wasps will be provided,
- in this way you can protect the berries even in the case when the bunches are placed on a plane not in a row, chaotically, for example, on the horizontal plane of a gazebo or pergola.
Flaws:
- labor costs are quite decent,
— a dense mesh quite significantly impairs the quality of treatments against diseases and the ventilation of berries,
- if you use a net with fairly large cells, birds can damage a fairly decent amount of berries even under the net. On vertical planes, sparrows sit on the wire or branches next to the bunch, and through the mesh they easily peck all the berries that are pressed against the mesh.
I don't use bags in my vineyard, so I can't show you a photo.
Protecting berries with a net
The most popular way to protect berries from birds. It is even used in industrial vineyards.
For this work, a special plastic mesh is used. Such nets can now be purchased without problems, and the cost is quite affordable.
You need to choose a mesh with a small cell, approximately 20mm by 20mm. The mesh must be protected from destruction by sunlight, then it can be used for several years in a row.
Usually the width of the mesh is made such that it can cover approximately the lower half of the plane. You should not make the grid strip too narrow. It will have to be pulled tightly:
- the leaves will be severely deformed, impairing ventilation,
— the mesh will press very tightly against the berries, while leaving unprotected parts of branches and leaves next to the bunch. Sparrows calmly sit here and calmly take out berries through the net with their beaks.
To ensure good ventilation of the berries and their availability for spraying, before attaching the net, all leaves near the bunches must be removed. The berries are left without protection from the scorching rays of the sun; they have to be additionally shaded with a protective net. The shade net must be removed before spraying.
Before starting work, I cut the wide mesh fabric into strips of the required width. I choose the width in such a way that it is possible to cover the strip from the bottom of the grapes to the trellis wire located above the grapes with a mesh. It’s better not to be greedy here and attach the net higher. Sparrows do not know how to stay on the surface with their paws up (like titmice), they cannot hook onto a bunch from below, and here the net can be attached close to the bunches. If only there were no twigs or wires near the bunch for them to sit on. But it’s better to attach the net on top of the bunches higher, away from the bunches. To cover both the twigs and the wire next to the bunches with a net. Then the birds will not have the opportunity to sit next to the bunch, and they will not be able to get the berries.
Well, the width of the canvas should be sufficient for free fastening at the top and bottom, so that there is no need to pull the mesh too tightly.
I always place the mesh strips on both sides of the plane. On the gazebo, I also cover the rows of bunches with separate strips of mesh on both sides, fastening them below and above the bunches. This is important for ease of harvesting.
On the gazebo, it is possible to wrap the bunches hanging down in one row with one mesh sheet, and attach it only above the bunch. But you shouldn't do that. The berries on the bushes do not ripen at the same time; the crop has to be harvested selectively. We cut off some bunches, others are left hanging. And here it is much more convenient to remove the bunch from the embrace of the protective mesh if the bunch can be pulled down, where there are no branches and nothing interferes with the work. We remove the fastener connecting the mesh strips at the bottom and calmly take out the bunch. If you wrap a row of bunches from below with one sheet, then you can only get the bunches from the top, which is very inconvenient.
To attach the mesh to the trellis plane I use a stationery stapler, metal hooks and clothespins. Below the bunch, you can easily connect the mesh strips using a stapler. Above the bunches, strips of mesh are hung on wires using metal hooks. And if you need to attach the mesh directly to the shoots and vines, it is best to use clothespins.
It’s clear how to work with hooks and clothespins, but there are subtleties when working with a stapler. It is necessary to connect the mesh strips in such a way that you can later remove the fastening without damaging the mesh. This is quite realistic and not difficult. To do this, I cut strips from newspaper. Next, I tear the newspaper strips into pieces of such a size that I can wrap the paper around the mesh at the attachment points on both sides. The edges of the mesh strips that need to be connected end up in the middle, between two layers of paper. And then I punch the paper with the staples of the stapler, securely fastening the mesh. You don’t need to aim for long to get the stapler staple on the thin threads of the mesh. And later, when you need to separate the mesh, this is easily done using the tip of a knife or a device at the end of the stapler. The staples are clearly visible on the paper, and prying and straightening them is not difficult.
The mesh must be secured in such a way that there are no large gaps between the mesh strips, both below and above. Sparrows are quite smart birds and easily find the entrance to tasty berries. There was a case when I saw a sparrow inside the net. He kicked him out, jumped out very quickly, but then I myself spent a long time looking for a place where he could get inside...
In the fall, after harvesting, the strips of mesh are rolled into small coils, placed in large plastic bags to protect the mesh from drying out, and rested until the next harvest. Next to the net, there are wire hooks in bags waiting for the next harvest, which can also be easily removed from the trellis wire...
Video on this topic -

The house outside the city is my weekend retreat and permanent summer residence. On the adjacent territory I planted a small vineyard. I bought planting material at exhibitions and forums; the heavy clusters that appeared promised to turn into tart homemade wine over time. I just carefully studied several suitable methods for making it. But I had to endure a shock no less than the heroes of Alfred Hitchcock’s famous thriller “The Birds”.

The birds first visited the plantation at the end of August. At first, I didn’t even understand who it was that was daily tearing apart the ripest grapes and littering the ground with fallen berries. Finally, at dawn, I saw a feast. The talkative flock pretended not to notice me. Under the blows of small strong beaks, juicy ripe berries burst. I walked between the rows, assessed the damage and realized that the dream of a good harvest was becoming ephemeral.

I decided to use a biological method of protection. If we consider a small impudent bird as an element of the food chain, then we can find justice for it too. I remembered how dashingly the cats dealt with the young birds in the spring. But it turned out that cats raised on Whiskas react sluggishly to flying live food. Our Persian bumpkin did not want to work as a watchman on a plantation. After all, it’s much more pleasant to lie on the floor of a cool veranda all day. When I finally forced him to move closer to the grape bushes, I discovered an idyllic picture. The cat sat down in the shade of grape leaves, and through half-closed eyes watched the sparrows shamelessly gobbling up ripe berries. What outraged me most was the blissful purring of the cat; it seemed that our Matvey was simply enjoying the company of birds.

A neighbor advised me to build a high pole and try to lure the peregrine falcons. These hunters, unspoiled by civilization, will not refuse a free lunch. Moreover, in winter I had to watch how a predator silently glided in the air, clutching a gaping sparrow in its paws. I found suitable boards, and then imagined that the bird might show interest in our growing ducklings, and decided to abandon the adventurous venture.

Time passed, the morning birds chirping only made me feel furious. A sweetish smell of rot floated over the vineyard; wasps were actively tasting the berries bitten by the birds. I was already inclined to believe in the high intelligence of birds: they chose the ripest bunches and never returned to damaged fruits. One evening I noticed several magpies, they literally devastated a grape bush, leaving broken leaf cuttings hanging forlornly.

We accepted the losses, although it was such a pity to waste time, and the seedlings of elite varieties were not cheap. The next year, we didn’t want a repeat of this situation, so we began to look for a way out. If your vineyard is on the migration path of a bird tribe, then an invasion cannot be avoided in the fall. They say that intuitively they stock up on antioxidants, and for this purpose they chose the most accessible source - smoky blue grapes. After the expansion of starlings, rooks and other migrants, my once well-groomed vineyard presented a pitiful sight. Logic dictated that a fence was needed, something blocking free flight over my miniature plantation. The simplest solution is .

But there were some nuances; you had to see thin fishing nets strung on posts around the vineyards and strawberry beds. The treacherous fishing line worked no worse than a snare, the numb bird bodies swayed in the loops, and some fought desperately in agony, unable to free themselves from the deadly grip. I wouldn’t want to clean the network of such a load every morning. On the other hand, this sight could have traumatized my wife. Women's nature is sensitive and contradictory. Inventing the one hundred and first recipe for cooking chicken fillet, beautiful ladies will weep inconsolably when they see a wounded and dying sparrow.

I did not retreat and persistently searched for useful information, and did not give up the experiment. They advised me to hang posters everywhere depicting the huge eyes of birds of prey. They assured us that the small birds would sense danger and avoid our garden. Naive attempts... I used up a bottle of black mascara and hung “scare banners” in the aisles. The birds unanimously ignored my amateur artistic attempts, but my friends had a reason to gloat and alternately call me either Dali or Picasso. After the first rain, the makeshift exhibition hall turned into soggy sheets of cardboard.

Through trial and error I found the right solution. It still turned out to be, but it was made of dense polymer fiber with ultraviolet stabilization. The bird will not get through the cells and will not get entangled in them. The stretched mesh fabric forms a barrier; when faced with it, tits and sparrows will simply have to change their trajectory. Maybe they will fly to neighbors who have not yet managed to cover their vineyard with mesh armor.

Now I can calmly listen to the cheerful chirping, and not think about losses. When I see a bird, I don't want to grab a shotgun. The transparent nets seem to float in the air; they are stretched over thin frames or attached to guy wires, or even directly on the vines. It's nice to feel like a winner... Now I want to rummage through the catalog and choose new grape varieties for autumn planting. I’m already looking at a small wooden barrel for wine from the next harvest.

Wasps love sweet grape juice and cause significant damage to vineyards during the ripening season. Therefore, the problem of combating these insects is relevant for gardeners. There are many ways to solve the problem, with varying degrees of effectiveness.

Ways to protect grapes from wasps

Since wasps attack vineyards during the ripening period, chemical control methods are undesirable and should be used with caution. It’s better to avoid toxic drugs altogether.

Nets and bags

Protecting bunches with various nets gives 100% results. Depending on the size and location of the bushes, you can either use individual bags made of plastic mesh for each bunch, or cover entire bushes or rows with mesh. Such a shelter will also protect the vineyard from damage by birds. If you wish, you can sew the bags yourself, and they are also offered in a variety of online stores. Typical bag sizes for bunches of different weights:

• 18 x 33 cm;
• 23 x 40 cm;
• 25 x 44 cm;
• 30 x 50 cm.

The cost of the bag is very modest and depends on its size, as well as the size of the batch. On average, this ranges from 3.9 to 6 rubles per piece.

Depending on the weight of the bunch, bags are produced in various sizes

Traps

The purpose of traps is to lure insects, catch them and destroy them. Various options are possible - let's look at the popular ones.

From plastic bottles

Wasp traps can be easily made from ordinary plastic bottles of any size. To do this you just need:

Glue traps

Such traps are easy to make from a piece of plywood or cardboard. To do this, they are coated with a special glue, and a bait is placed in the center. Wasps attracted by it will land on the sticky surface, and they will no longer be able to peel off. The name and type of glue are not particularly important. You can use Alt, Apcoll, Trap and others.

Poisonous baits

If you pour sweet baits into small containers (bowls, jars, trays, etc.), into which you first add an insecticide (the so-called preparations for fighting insects), then, after tasting such a treat, the wasps will die. The product used should not have a strong odor so as not to repel insects. The most commonly used means are:

• Agita et al.

These drugs do not act instantly, which is their advantage. As a result, the wasps not only eat the poison themselves, but also bring it to the nest, where they feed it to the larvae, as well as the queen.

Photo gallery: wasp control products

Boric acid is successfully used to control wasps Borax effectively fights wasps
Agita insecticide can be added to wasp baits
The drug Otos is effective in the fight against wasps and is safe for bees

Destruction of wasp nests

This is a radical method that requires certain skills and caution. When destroying a wasp nest, it is imperative to use personal protective equipment - masks, gloves, thick clothing. It must be remembered that wasp stings (especially in large numbers) are not only painful, but can also cause allergic reactions, swelling and abscesses.

Abscess (Latin abscessus - abscess) - purulent inflammation of tissues with their melting and the formation of a purulent cavity.

Wikipedia

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abscess

In order to destroy a nest, it must first be discovered. It is better to do this early in the morning, when wasps fly out en masse in search of food, or in the evening when returning home. Found nests are destroyed at night under the light of a red lantern (the wasps do not see it). To do this, use potent insecticides, preferably in aerosol packaging. They process the nest by direct pollination. You can also use fumigation with smoke bombs, which causes the wasps to fall to the ground, where they can be easily crushed underfoot. After treatments, the nests are destroyed by burning or placing in boiling water. If access to the nest is difficult and it is located in some deep place (hollow, crack in the wall, etc.), then you can seal it with construction foam.

Having a small vineyard, I also have to deal with wasps. I think the most effective way to protect dessert varieties is to use mesh bags. They are inexpensive and reusable. But for technical varieties this method is difficult to implement, since such grapes have a large number of small bunches growing at a fairly high altitude (up to 3.5 m). In this case, traps made from plastic bottles with bait made from old jam help me a lot. The advantage of this method for me is the fact that at the same time I protect from wasps the pear tree growing nearby, which is also susceptible to attack by these harmful insects.

Growing a grape harvest is a rather labor-intensive process. Properly planting a bush, preserving a seedling that will begin to bear fruit only 3-5 years after planting, protecting the bunches from pests and diseases, achieving the correct size of berries and clusters without the use of chemicals, watering and feeding the crop - this is not a complete list of work that has to be done perform for a summer resident. And it’s very disappointing when, after putting in the effort, a flock of birds swoops in and pecks at the results of your labors. A flock of jackdaws or sparrows can peck and spoil berries that have not yet reached ripeness by 80%.
Birds, of course, occupy an important place in wildlife and the benefits of their vital activity are invaluable. How to protect grapes from birds without harming the birds?
Having learned where the juicy berries are, the birds will constantly fly in and peck at the delicacy.

Grape predators

Not all birds damage crops equally. Among the most common grape predators are the following:

• magpies,
• jackdaws,
• sparrows,
• tits,
• wagtails,
• starlings,
• blackbirds.

Peculiarities of behavior of feathered thieves

Experienced gardeners have noticed that there are certain patterns in the behavior of grape raiders. Pay attention to some features of their behavior:

1. Thieves usually arrive after sunrise or before sunset.
2. Increased attention of birds to berries appears at the stage of softening of the grape skins.
3. The most dangerous period is the moment after the birth of the chicks. The first brood in June and the second in August coincide with the ripening of the grapes.
4. The reason for pecking the crop is often the desire of birds to quench their thirst. To get a drink, small flying pests, such as sparrows, usually peck at the berry once. And this is enough to spoil the product, which is then attacked by wasps.
5. Large raiders - magpies, rooks - eat the entire berry.
6. Thieves quickly get used to sources of artificially created danger and cease to be afraid

Crop protection methods

Methods of protection against raids depend on several factors: the location of the garden, the birds that live in the area of ​​the summer cottage, and your ability to create protective equipment.
Among all the ways to protect sweet bunches, there are 2 types:

• Grape isolation.
• Scaring off robbers in the following ways:
  • optical, visual,
  • sound,
  • combined.

Before scaring off thieves, professionals advise placing several drinking bowls at your summer cottage. Perhaps the small birds, who only want to quench their thirst, will drink from the drinking bowls and not touch the vineyard. The water in containers must be clean and fresh. It needs to be changed every day.

Method for isolating a ripening product

To isolate sweet bunches, you can use the following materials:

• double utility nets,
• nylon stockings,
• fishing nets,
• polypropylene fiber nets,
• special networks,
• tulle for windows.

If there are few brushes, then you can save the grapes using double nets for packaging vegetables. Such nets can be purchased at a hardware store. They are sold in rolls. After cutting off the required piece, put it on the brush and secure it. This mesh bag is well ventilated and protects the attractive product from raiders.

The mesh can be replaced with elastic nylon stockings. The disadvantage of this method is the high labor intensity of the process of putting the device on the bunch. In addition, despite the good ventilation of the structure, the shelter still disrupts the natural ventilation of the grape clusters, which can easily get sick.
How to save bunches if there are a large number of brushes? Experts advise covering the rows of the vineyard by stretching nets over trellises or tulle with small cells. The method, frankly, is not cheap.
Professionals also advise using cheaper Chinese fishing nets, polypropylene fiber nets that do not deform when exposed to ultraviolet rays.
Unfortunately, smart birds find loopholes to get through the mesh to get to the treat, so this method is not ideal. And in soft fishing nets, a thief can get entangled and die.
The experience of gardeners in Japan is interesting. They use special caps that are secured above the grape bunch. Experienced gardeners suggest making such a cap from a plastic disposable plate. To make the device, you will need scissors and a stapler.

Visual deterrent to robbers

Most pests are repelled by a variety of unfamiliar objects:

• old toys,
• scarecrow,
• blue plastic bags, ribbons cut from them and hung on trellises,
• individual birds, such as starlings, are afraid of tapes tied in a panicle;
• mirror surfaces,
• imitation of images of birds of prey and humans.

A black-colored kite can be an effective imitation of a predator, good at deterring thieves. Such a kite has a drawback - it requires constant human supervision.
Stores offer signs with images of birds of prey. They should be hung so that they move.
Robbers perceive a fishing line or thick threads stretched on trellises as snares for catching birds and do not peck at clusters.

You can scare away sparrows from grapes, as well as some other raiders, with the help of inflatable balloons with five huge eyes painted on them. Such a balloon can be made from a large inflatable ball - bright blue, white, black or orange. Draw round eyes with bright waterproof paints. The ball can be tied to a trellis.
The eyes are placed along the diameter of the ball at 72 degrees. With this placement, the birds will always see 2 eyes. Move the cylinders to a different place from time to time.

Sound bird repellers

Sound repellers include the following equipment:

1. Ratchets of various types, made from auxiliary materials and bought at the store.
2. Recordings of bird calls.

Feathered pests do not like noise. Hang rattles, plastic bottles, foil cans, create noise in any other way, even just by clapping your hands (which is somewhat tiring) - and you will secure the grape plot from raiders for a while.
The invention of one of the winegrowers is effective. This is a noisemaker-sparkler, consisting of a plastic bottle with blades, a CD disk and a stick. Even with a slight wind, the device moves, sparkles and makes noise.
At airfields, to prevent birds from getting into the engine, tape recordings of the cry of birds of prey are used to scare away flocks. From the experience of winegrowers who have researched this issue, recording the cry of a bird at the moment when a snake has found a nest also very frightens the feathered robbers.

Modern enterprises offer bioacoustic repellers (for example, Korshun-8), which are quite effective. Such devices have a built-in timer that turns on the equipment precisely when the raiders visit the vineyard - at dawn and before sunset. The presence of scream recordings and the possibility of alternating them eliminates getting used to the device.
Thieves quickly get used to such repellers. What to do if the robbers do not respond to the remedy and have adapted to it? The various methods of protection that are in your arsenal should be constantly alternated to maintain the result.
Expert winegrowers advise using all methods in combination. Only in this case will protection of grapes from birds during the ripening period be most effective.
It is worth adding that birds are afraid of cats. The feathered pests that have been pecking at the treat will fly away when they see a cat on the property, and will also convey the news to all members of the flock.