Is it just me with a slug infestation?

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I used slug nematodes when I kept my hives on open ground and on gravel that had a lot of soil in it...It took a couple of doses over 3 months, but now I rarely see any slugs..the brand I used were "Nemaslug"
I'm a cheapskate ... I make my own.

All you need is a bucket with a lid, quarter full of water ... wander round at night with a torch and collect all the slugs up you find - chuck them in the water in the bucket .. keep collecting and puttiung them in until you have a nice stew of dead slugs. Leave it for about a week or 10 days .. strain the liquid off the remaining solids (there won't be much) and dilute the mixture at about 5:1 and water the area you want to protect ... it will be full of FREE nematodes ... Simples ... perhaps a little gross but it works.
 
I'm a cheapskate ... I make my own.

All you need is a bucket with a lid, quarter full of water ... wander round at night with a torch and collect all the slugs up you find - chuck them in the water in the bucket .. keep collecting and puttiung them in until you have a nice stew of dead slugs. Leave it for about a week or 10 days .. strain the liquid off the remaining solids (there won't be much) and dilute the mixture at about 5:1 and water the area you want to protect ... it will be full of FREE nematodes ... Simples ... perhaps a little gross but it works.
Great idea...never thought of doing it that way....Cheers
 
I use “Sluggo” slug killer around plants attractive to slugs. Applied twice a year they are slug free. Our dog isn’t interested in it and birds don’t eat it. Here’s a rather long description.

“Dear reader, we want to disturb nature’s perfect harmony as little as possible. This is why we have been developing environmentally friendly products for the home and garden since 1854. It was then that the W. Neudorff Company was founded in what used to be Prussia. The company was one of the first in Germany to manufacture pesticides and animal care products. In 1959 my grandfather, Rudolf Lohman, bought the company and brought it to Emmerdale in Lower Saxony. Since then, our aim has been to minimise our impact on the environment. We achieve this through the use of renewable energy in our production plants and the selection of only the most sustainable raw materials for our products. This means that you can enjoy creating a beautiful, natural garden with a clear conscience. By maintaining this natural cycle in your garden you ensure that beneficial insects, birds, hedgehogs and other garden dwellers feel at home as well. And in doing so you are working in harmony with the green paradise on your doorstep. I hope you have a great gardening season and enjoy the benefits of a natural garden. Yours, Hans-Martin Lohman (Managing Director - Neudorff). - Greedy night feeders. Slugs and Snails. These slimy visitors come mostly under cover of darkness. They descend on newly planted lettuce with a vengeance but their favourite foods also include strawberries, hosts and dahlias. Usually there isn't much left in the morning, only their slimy trails show who was responsible. By providing shelter to hedgehogs and shrews in the garden you can help reduce the scourge but additional help is required in the fight to save produce and flowers. Slugs and snails love to come out in the rain. Reinhardt Arndt, head of our experimental garden, knows why: “Slugs and snails have to consume lots of water in order to produce the slime which helps them to move. This explains why they mainly appear when there is lots of moisture around as then there is no danger of them drying out. In developing the Sluggo Slug & Snail Killer we made sure that the pellets are able to absorb plenty of water so that they will appear particularly attractive.” Prevent slugs and snails. -With a few measures, it is possible to reduce the annoying plague of slugs and snails. These include: Only watering plants in the morning . Where possible, placing slug barriers around plants .Keep breaking up the soil so that the slugs’ hiding places are destroyed Using plants that slugs and snails don't like the taste of such as aquilegia, saxifrage, monkshood, sedum, lady's mantle , campanula, nasturtium. No dead slugs and snails visible. – With Sluggo Slug & Snail Killer Sluggo Slug & Snail Killer contains ferric phosphate, an active ingredient which also occurs in nature. "Once the slugs and snails have ingested Sluggo Slug & Snail Killer they stop eating", says Reinhardt Arndt, experimental engineer for the development of pesticides. “Sluggo Slug & Snail Killer causes the slugs and snails to creep back into their hiding places in the ground to die. Which means that the slime trail that slugs and snails are so well known for does not occur. The dead slugs and snails are no longer visible as they die in the ground and quickly decompose.” Sluggo Slug & Snail Killer poses no threat to birds, hedgehogs, earthworms, pets, bees and other useful insects. Both iron and phosphorous are plant nutrients which results in any excess pellets being broken down rapidly in the soil, leaving no residue behind. Effective control for slugs and snails. - Spread Sluggo Slug & Snail Killer at the first sign of any slug or snail infestation. During a mild spring, this can occur as early as March when the slugs and snails start eating the leaves of tulips and other bulb flowering plants from below the surface of the soil. It is very important to make sure Sluggo Slug & Snail Killer is liberally spread across the entire flower bed. It is not enough to just spread it in a circle around the plants as once a few granules are eaten this would allow the slugs and snails a gap through which to crawl. Features of Sluggo Slug & Snail Killer May be used with strawberries, lettuce, vegetables and ornamental Plants . Is particularly resistant to rain . Prevents the slugs’ and snails’ slime trail .Poses no threat to pets, hedgehogs, earthworms, bees and other useful insects No waiting period before harvesting is necessary. Neudorff’ s Sluggo Slug & Snail Killer is approved for organic agriculture by the Organic Farmers and Growers Association and is the only slug pellet which has been awarded the Ecocert Logo.“
 
I use “Sluggo” slug killer around plants attractive to slugs. Applied twice a year they are slug free. Our dog isn’t interested in it and birds don’t eat it. Here’s a rather long description.

“Dear reader, we want to disturb nature’s perfect harmony as little as possible. This is why we have been developing environmentally friendly products for the home and garden since 1854. It was then that the W. Neudorff Company was founded in what used to be Prussia. The company was one of the first in Germany to manufacture pesticides and animal care products. In 1959 my grandfather, Rudolf Lohman, bought the company and brought it to Emmerdale in Lower Saxony. Since then, our aim has been to minimise our impact on the environment. We achieve this through the use of renewable energy in our production plants and the selection of only the most sustainable raw materials for our products. This means that you can enjoy creating a beautiful, natural garden with a clear conscience. By maintaining this natural cycle in your garden you ensure that beneficial insects, birds, hedgehogs and other garden dwellers feel at home as well. And in doing so you are working in harmony with the green paradise on your doorstep. I hope you have a great gardening season and enjoy the benefits of a natural garden. Yours, Hans-Martin Lohman (Managing Director - Neudorff). - Greedy night feeders. Slugs and Snails. These slimy visitors come mostly under cover of darkness. They descend on newly planted lettuce with a vengeance but their favourite foods also include strawberries, hosts and dahlias. Usually there isn't much left in the morning, only their slimy trails show who was responsible. By providing shelter to hedgehogs and shrews in the garden you can help reduce the scourge but additional help is required in the fight to save produce and flowers. Slugs and snails love to come out in the rain. Reinhardt Arndt, head of our experimental garden, knows why: “Slugs and snails have to consume lots of water in order to produce the slime which helps them to move. This explains why they mainly appear when there is lots of moisture around as then there is no danger of them drying out. In developing the Sluggo Slug & Snail Killer we made sure that the pellets are able to absorb plenty of water so that they will appear particularly attractive.” Prevent slugs and snails. -With a few measures, it is possible to reduce the annoying plague of slugs and snails. These include: Only watering plants in the morning . Where possible, placing slug barriers around plants .Keep breaking up the soil so that the slugs’ hiding places are destroyed Using plants that slugs and snails don't like the taste of such as aquilegia, saxifrage, monkshood, sedum, lady's mantle , campanula, nasturtium. No dead slugs and snails visible. – With Sluggo Slug & Snail Killer Sluggo Slug & Snail Killer contains ferric phosphate, an active ingredient which also occurs in nature. "Once the slugs and snails have ingested Sluggo Slug & Snail Killer they stop eating", says Reinhardt Arndt, experimental engineer for the development of pesticides. “Sluggo Slug & Snail Killer causes the slugs and snails to creep back into their hiding places in the ground to die. Which means that the slime trail that slugs and snails are so well known for does not occur. The dead slugs and snails are no longer visible as they die in the ground and quickly decompose.” Sluggo Slug & Snail Killer poses no threat to birds, hedgehogs, earthworms, pets, bees and other useful insects. Both iron and phosphorous are plant nutrients which results in any excess pellets being broken down rapidly in the soil, leaving no residue behind. Effective control for slugs and snails. - Spread Sluggo Slug & Snail Killer at the first sign of any slug or snail infestation. During a mild spring, this can occur as early as March when the slugs and snails start eating the leaves of tulips and other bulb flowering plants from below the surface of the soil. It is very important to make sure Sluggo Slug & Snail Killer is liberally spread across the entire flower bed. It is not enough to just spread it in a circle around the plants as once a few granules are eaten this would allow the slugs and snails a gap through which to crawl. Features of Sluggo Slug & Snail Killer May be used with strawberries, lettuce, vegetables and ornamental Plants . Is particularly resistant to rain . Prevents the slugs’ and snails’ slime trail .Poses no threat to pets, hedgehogs, earthworms, bees and other useful insects No waiting period before harvesting is necessary. Neudorff’ s Sluggo Slug & Snail Killer is approved for organic agriculture by the Organic Farmers and Growers Association and is the only slug pellet which has been awarded the Ecocert Logo.“
Presumably ferric phosphate as in post 15 above
 
Is it just me with a slug infestation?

I hope it's not you and it's just the hives.
 

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