About this time of year, purple martins start arriving from South America. Martins are the largest member of the swallow family and are very desirable in that they only eat bugs. They come here to nest and raise their young then migrate back to South America-- about 6 months. Most areas of the U.S. get them. If you put up a martin house you probably can attract some. Go to www.purplemartin.org for more info on houses. If you have martin house you will have sparrows and probably starlings---both undesirable. Plenty of targets if you can shoot an air gun in your yard. I keep my peep sighted Sheridan by the door and usually grab it. Sometimes I use my scoped RWS. Yesterday I was missing so set up target and was hitting low and right--readjusted my scope and back on. The sparrows and starlings remain here all year so I have targets all year. Besides shooting them, I also have traps. Be interested in hearing reports from any others with martin houses.

Some of my Hunting buddies homes are within 100yds of some rather large Swamps. Plenty of Mosquitoes for the Martins. Not sure how many Martin houses they have up, but it is a good many.

Have you put in a Swamp to create Mosquitoes for the Martins yet?

No swamp installed--even out here in West Texas where it is dry--the mosquitoes can adapt.

Hey CarpetMan, An old CORPS buddy of mine in Florida has a bunch of the Boring Bees. Look like Bumble Bees,but eat holes in eaves that look like they were drilled with a bit.

He would load the holes with Carb Cleaner and in a short while the Bee would tumble out so he could apply his foot to it.

As he was sitting there pondering the situation, he remembered me mentioning that it used to be considerable fun to shoot-down Wasp Nests, and Wasps or Bumble Bees that would land. He decided he would try to blast a few of the "hovering" Bees.

I think he Killed 5 or so with BBs, but the Kill rate was not real high. So he thought about it and decided to load some Rice in the barrel. He was now able to Kill the ones 3'-6' away very well. but it ran out of "steam"( ) beyond that.

Next up was a load of #4 shot, but it went straight like the BBs. Then he called last night and told me he is working on some new Bee Blaster Material - HEAVY Spaghetti - broken into 1/16"-1/8" pieces. Should be Heavier than the rice and smoother going into(and out of) the barrel.

Another problem he would have using bb's or pellets on the bore bees would be marking up his house. He could use a mold and make wax bullets or even a combo of wax and some other material. Several years ago there was a group buy on a .177 mold and .22 molds common.

He might just like the Wax idea. He headed to GA to get into something this week, but I'll mention it to him.

He has been shooting away from the house as he sat on the porch, so that wasn't a concern. He also mentioned the Rice he had been originally using was "Long Grain". So he is also considering using Short Grain.

Also thought about the small round Bird Seed, but thought the Mass might be lower than the Rice. Harbor Freight has some kind of small grind Plastic for use in a Tumbler. It is irregular in shape and small enough to go in the barrel, but there is no mention about it having(or not having) any kind of Grit in with it.

Thanks for the Wax idea.