Butterfly Bait: How-To Formula

We love butterflies! They have lifted human hearts for millennia with their fragile, colorful beauty. There are specific flowers that butterflies love, but what if you don’t have the space or time to grow butterfly-attracting plants? We can make Butterfly Bait! Because not all butterflies are only attracted to flower-nectar, this magic stuff will attract butterflies to your yard, even if all you have is a balcony.

Just wait until you find out the ingredients of Butterfly Bait! They’re not as pretty as the butterflies, that’s for sure–but this magic goop will have White Admirals, Mourning Cloaks, Viceroys and many others flocking to your place. Here’s the formula:

Many butterflies prefer rotting fruit, tree sap, dung, carrion, urine, and other non-nectar sources of nutrients. You can allow fruit from your fruit trees to decay on the ground, leave your pet’s droppings where they lie, or place a bit of raw meat or fish in a discreet part of your garden.

And here is the formula for Butterfly Bait:

INGREDIENTS
1 pound sugar
1 or 2 cans stale beer
3 mashed overripe banana
1 cup of molasses or syrup
1 cup of fruit juice
1 shot of rum

Mix all ingredients well and paint on trees, fence posts, rocks, or stumps–or simply soak a sponge in the mixture and hang from a tree-limb.

Adapted from The Butterfly Garden, by Matthew Tekulsky (Harvard Common Press, 1985)

For more information about butterflies, including some fascinating facts, and a listing of plants that will attract them, see Care2’s How to Attract Butterflies.

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Cathy N.

1:36PM PDT on Nov 1, 2011

~What a concoction!~I may try this if I don't have to buy the rum or beer~I definitly would like to have more butterflies!!~

send a green star

Carole R.

7:37PM PDT on Oct 20, 2011

Great! I will give it a try.

Sulette M.

12:40PM PDT on Jul 24, 2011

Mmm will try, thanx great info!

Michele W.

6:04AM PDT on Jul 17, 2011

Thank you

Prochi T.

11:54AM PDT on Jul 12, 2011

Masha S.

4:51AM PDT on Jun 5, 2011

thanks, who has stale beer?

Jane W.

5:53PM PDT on Jun 2, 2011

"... or place a bit of raw meat or fish in a discreet part of your garden."
Just what I need, a wild animal dining hall all day and night!
No amount of butterflies is worth that.

Hope S.

12:18PM PDT on Jun 2, 2011

Interesting article. Thanks.

Diana P.

8:43AM PDT on Jun 2, 2011

TYVM :-) Now to wait for the Monarchs to appear. :-)

Carolyn C.

8:05AM PDT on Jun 2, 2011

You can grow milkweed to attract butterflies. Free seeds are available for a SASE

http://www.thebutterflyfarm.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=43&Itemid=61