Keep Your Garden Safe: Homemade Slug and Snail Traps with Honey
Gardeners know the frustration of dealing with snails and slugs that can cause damage to their plants. These pests love to feast on seedlings, leaves, flowers, and even fruits within their reach. Tomatoes, strawberries, and grass seedlings are particularly vulnerable, but they can also damage the stems and roots of other plants in your yard. Fortunately, there is a simple and effective solution to keep these pests at bay: homemade traps made with honey.
Using an ingredient that you probably already have in your kitchen cabinet, you can create a bait that will lure snails and slugs into your traps. Honey, when combined with water and yeast, becomes an irresistible temptation for these garden pests. All you need to do is place a shallow container, such as a tuna can or a yogurt cup, in the ground and fill it with the honey mixture. As the pests are attracted to the sweet scent, they will enter the trap but won't be able to climb back out.
To start your DIY snail and slug trap, you'll need to combine some honey with a bit of yeast in a bowl. (Both items can be purchased at your local grocery store for less than $10 altogether.) This mixture will then need to be boiled in water before it can be used. Once your bait is ready, find an old plastic food container, a shallow metal can, or a small jar. You'll want your container to be deep enough that the slugs and snails cannot escape the liquid and drown but not so large that other animals, such as frogs, could become stuck as well.
For this pest control method to work, you'll have to bury the bottom of your container in your garden's soil so that the opening is level with the ground. When it's in place, fill your container halfway with your honey and yeast bait. When the mollusks smell the yeast and honey, they will make their way to your trap, fall inside, and drown. You'll need to regularly check on your trap to refill the honey mixture and make sure no other animals are being affected.
