I skimmed the paper and will read it fully when I get home.
The methods section seems to focus on processing and analysis of glue properties. Is there anything regarding cultivation and harvesting of the berries? I wonder if this could be scaled in a way to compete with existing products.
I think mistletoe sets berries in the fall so I will have to wait to try to gather some berries so I can mess with this at home. It sounds interesting.
The interesting part for me will be whether berries can be stored and preserved and for how long and whether that affects the ability to produce this sticky stuff.
I had always heard that mistletoe afflicted trees when the berries were shit out by birds and the berries became lodged in the crooks of the tree limbs above branch collars. It didn't occur to me that they had their own glue but that explains how they can infect even the smallest branches on a tree.
I know that birds definitely spread seeds of other tree species and that jays were a main species enabling the northward spread of forests after the last ice age.
I also fight birdshit elms, hackberries, and bois d'arc along my fencelines and anywhere else a bird stops long enough to shit. I had an old vehicle parked out in the pasture for several years and the blue jays and sparrows used it as a perch, admiring themselves in the mirrors and of course shitting all over it. After a couple years I had trees growing in the outline of this vehicle. I have since moved the vehicle under a shed where it is a less attractive perch and I kept the new grove of trees, all birdshit elms, as a natural feature called the Bronco Grove. They are growing well and have been used by other birds as nesting sites.
I've used other birdshit trees as quick shade sources. Hackberry grows fast and has excellent shade so you can companion plant a hackberry with an slower-growing oak and then remove it when the oak starts to get large enough to make good shade.
I have been in the habit of cutting out any mistletoe afflicted limbs since it will weaken the limb over time but there are always places too high up or too far out for me to reach with the tools on hand.
In a thousand years, archaeologists and historians will argue about the origin of this place name, and they will be completely, 100%, hilariously wrong.
I remember my neighbor using glue made from mistletoe berries to catch small colorful birds (80s eastern europe). I don't recall the exact process, but I think it involved cooking the berries and thickening of the glue. Then coating some thin branches and placing them near the already captured birds. Other birds would land on the treated branch and remain glued to it until freed.
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[ 4.0 ms ] story [ 24.1 ms ] threadThe methods section seems to focus on processing and analysis of glue properties. Is there anything regarding cultivation and harvesting of the berries? I wonder if this could be scaled in a way to compete with existing products.
The interesting part for me will be whether berries can be stored and preserved and for how long and whether that affects the ability to produce this sticky stuff.
I had always heard that mistletoe afflicted trees when the berries were shit out by birds and the berries became lodged in the crooks of the tree limbs above branch collars. It didn't occur to me that they had their own glue but that explains how they can infect even the smallest branches on a tree.
I know that birds definitely spread seeds of other tree species and that jays were a main species enabling the northward spread of forests after the last ice age.
I also fight birdshit elms, hackberries, and bois d'arc along my fencelines and anywhere else a bird stops long enough to shit. I had an old vehicle parked out in the pasture for several years and the blue jays and sparrows used it as a perch, admiring themselves in the mirrors and of course shitting all over it. After a couple years I had trees growing in the outline of this vehicle. I have since moved the vehicle under a shed where it is a less attractive perch and I kept the new grove of trees, all birdshit elms, as a natural feature called the Bronco Grove. They are growing well and have been used by other birds as nesting sites.
I've used other birdshit trees as quick shade sources. Hackberry grows fast and has excellent shade so you can companion plant a hackberry with an slower-growing oak and then remove it when the oak starts to get large enough to make good shade.
I have been in the habit of cutting out any mistletoe afflicted limbs since it will weaken the limb over time but there are always places too high up or too far out for me to reach with the tools on hand.
Thanks for this article.
In a thousand years, archaeologists and historians will argue about the origin of this place name, and they will be completely, 100%, hilariously wrong.