Thanks Curmudgeon. I borrowed the idea from YouTube, I just applied it. I use dried mealworms. I tried live mealworms and this was more work than I was willing to put in. vz
I've been fine tuning my mealworm house for some time to keep out the rif-raf birds. First came the construction of the unit itself with elongated 1 3/8th's inch holes at either end. This worked fine to keep out starlings, grackles, robins and other larger birds but did nothing to deter those damn house sparrows. I finally tried stringing 8 lb. test clear monofilament fishing line to either end. To my delight the house sparrows made several attempts to enter the mealworm house but were spooked every time by the fishing line and haven't been back since. Now all the the smaller birds can enjoy the mealworms (especially the bluebirds) and it lasts much longer. Thank you youtube. Greater detail can be see in the DDL.