Well that's true, not everybody reading this is in the same temperate range as myself. Which is good, because then this WILL be a timely reminder that might keep them from repeating my mistakes. The boxes we have up were built to spec from a booklet put out by the Illinois Dept. of Conservation, and it's possible that the mesh idea just represents their thinking at the time. Can't recall what kind of lumber we used but it wasn't rough-cut but really quite slick. I remember thinking that when we decided to build new ones in a few years, I was going to opt for roughing the surface instead of the mesh...the way it would naturally be. We do use hardwood chips in the bottoms of ours, something like 4 inches of them if I recall. I simply go by what I am told when I build a nesting box, so I'm the wrong person to ask for construction pointers. However, your house looks like a well-built box, Konrad, and I think I also recall seeing some wonderful other pics of your handiwork in other threads...owls, maybe? You seem to do excellent work!! Maybe I should give you a call when my current boxes need replacements! Now, whether or not the intended residents will use them is another matter. You say you put your house up last year? It took two or three seasons for the ducks to accept our sites, and I was thinking I had overlooked an important detail somewhere when they finally showed up. The bat house we put up never HAS had any bats in it, and our bluebird boxes in any given year will have either nuthatches, chickadees (weird), wrens, flying squirrels, tree frogs, bluebirds (imagine that) or even totally go unused. So you may be hoping for ducks and wind up with something completely unexpected, like your bees. I'd be happy to have a hive in one of my boxes, but I would certainly want to put up an additional duck box or two to make up for it. It's all according to what you personally want to do. Happily I don't have any problems with sparrows or starlings, but all other comers are welcome. Good luck with your duck efforts...keep me posted if they do show up!

Oh my goodness Connie. Well, this is all so interesting to me. I did some looking around on-line, and found some documentation of Wood Ducks evicting Screech Owls from their nestboxes and also of Screech Owl females incubating Wood Duck eggs! Whoda thunk?? I was surprised to read that the Screech Owls would even choose a box that was so low, but, then I don't know much about the nesting preferences of Owls. I did read that successful Screech Owl pairs will often return to the same nesting site each year, and that isn't good for you if you wanted nesting Wood Ducks. Maybe those darn Crows will leave the Ducks in peace, and they will go on to choose the other box for nesting. It isn't like the Crows need the box for nesting. I am interested in knowing about how this all plays out. Please keep us posted here???~~Angie Here is a link that might be useful: Screech Owl/Wood Duck nesting info

Kendra, the ducks are fairly shy and will leave the backyard if we go towards the pond. When the females starts to sit, she stays in the box, even if we mow the lawn right at the box, but if you open the door to her box, she will be off and not come back for several hours or more. We have two boxes, but a starling has scared them by sitting in the door to one of the boxes, so all three females that are laying are putting their eggs into one box. I think I have scared off the starling, but it will take awhile for them to try that box again. There was one egg in that box and I transferred it to the other box. Now we have twelve eggs in that box and none in the other box. We have put a camera in each box. So far the females have gone in and left before another enters the box but in past years we have seen some nasty fight when two females both get into the box at one time. Here is video taken in 2010--It was Fathers day. In this video you may see that one duck does not make it. He finally jumped after about 20 min. Mom was still waiting for him. Here is a link that might be useful: video 2010

It doesn't matter, just how much works for you. I used to get a bowl of water and shake in a few "glugs", then splash it all over exposed skin and hair, or shake a few glugs into the bath tub and make sure I put my head down in it. I don't have to use tea tree oil much anymore though since I began taking a few MMS drops (mixed with a few drops of citric acid) a day. It seems to make my breath and body have less/no odor, so the little face gnats aren't attracted to me