Lenggong BH Owner New Requirements

(The middle floor configuration with the spot where the LAL need to be opened)

Four days ago the Lenggong BH owner called and requested for a meeting with me at his office some where in Kajang, Selangor.

Managed to find the place and met with him and his wife.

So why was I called for the meeting?

"Harry we wanted you to go ahead with the revamp operations but with a few changes.  We want you to add a few new things.  First is to proceed with the opening of the LAL on the middle floor and increase the number of air ventilation holes per your proposal" he commented.

I was trying to avoid both additional jobs since it will be very tedious and dusty.

After a long while discussing about the matter his wife make a very strong comment why the LAL should be opened.

"Pak Harry if you do now, there will be lesser disturbance once the BH is well populated.  We know that the floor hacking is not a quite job.  There will be a lot of hacking and the whole floor will feel the vibration.  So can you please proceed with the opening?"  she sound very convincing.

The floor of the BH was about 4 inches thick and layered with those steel gratings.

Well I guess I cannot say no but to proceed with the operation.

The two addition scope of works will lengthen my revamp operation by at least 2-3 more days.

Will mobilize my workers to site today July 7th 2014 and start work as soon as we can.

The BH is about 4 hours drive from Kuala Lumpur and I need to fetch my workers about 45 minutes away in Subang.

Hope to finish the job within 10 days or lesser.

Once done will move them to Bujang Valley in Merbok Kedah.

If you wish to come and learn how to modify sick BHs please call me at 017 7551318.

Remember no one will be so generous to teach you to be a better BH operator.

Pak Harry is the only one who is there to offer such an opportunity.

Call me as soon as you can !!!

What I Wanted To Do With Extra Land Around Bujang Valley BH !!!

(This looks like the plan to utilize the excess land at Bujang Valley)

After clearing the land around a BH at Bujang Valley I came out with something interesting for the BH owner to consider.

Frankly I have not told him about this interesting plan.

The total acreage, according to the owner, was about 2.5 acres.

The land was fenced up using those bricks.

The BH took only about 50 feet by 80 feet of the total land area.

The rest of the land were covered with thick bush with a few cobras breeding at one corner of the land.

So what should be done with this beautiful and the most fertile land in lembah bujang?

First I think I wanted to have a water pond.

The water pond is the top of my list but it must not be too closed to the BH.

So I think the corner of the fence will be a good choice.

There is a water stream about 50-60 meters away.  So fresh water can be pumped from the stream.

My next idea is to plant some figs trees.

The best will be around the pond.  A few like 8-10 will be good enough.

So what about the rest of the land?

Hmmm....

I think I will get some soursop trees, delima trees, nangka trees, magic fruit trees, papaya and passion fruits.

Yes I think these trees will be a wonderful choice.

The papaya will be good for insect generation operation.

The soursop fruits can fetch a good value if they are sold.

The nangka will be for the owner and me to consume.

The rest will be just for my hobby.

Let see what happen with the idea once I propose to the BH owner.

If you have any additional thing to add please call me at 017 7551318

Beside Facing The West What Else!!!

(This picture shows you how complicated it was to enter the nesting rooms)

I thought I was smart about doing a kind of prediction why those birds are making their nests closed to the entrance hole areas.

This BH owner talk to me a couple of times on the phone and told me about his BH problems.

One point which was unusual was that many of the nests in his BH were concentrated near or very closed to the entrance hole or LAL areas.

Without doing more I told him that my suspicion was on the direction of the morning sun.

Well he told me point blank that his main entrance hole is facing the East.

Hmm...

How come this time my prediction was wrong?

My desire to inspect his BH grew very strong and voluntarily I asked him to allow me to do a kind of BH inspection about his BH problems.

My intention was to check what was the actual reason why those birds prefer to have their nests closed to the entrance areas.

About a few weeks ago I was given the invitation and after a good 45 minutes around the BH both inside and outside I discovered the whole truth.

The main culprit was the improper design of the entrance hole system.

Even though the main entrance hole was facing the East the way the entrance hole and the LAL was located force those birds to twists and turns until they reach the nesting areas.

Just imagine if you want to stay at the lowest floor you need to twists and turns at least 11 times and on the middle top floor at least 8 times.

The birds maybe after the twist and turns feel so tired and to minimize the dance they decided to locate their nests near to the exit hole.

I sat down with the owner and wrote to him my recommendations what he should do.

After a full explanation he followed my advise and implemented exactly what I described to him.

Just after finishing the renovation he called and sound very relief.

"Pak Harry I have done all the things you recommended and I can see the improvements.  Now those birds will have lesser twists and turns when they return home everyday."  he sound very relief.

Well with this new experience I need to add to my swiftlet dictionary that when those birds choose to erect their nest closed to the entrance hole areas it could be due to these two reasons:

1) Your main entrance hole is facing the west and not the east.

2) Those birds have difficulties to enter your nesting rooms due to you flying path design.


Let us wait for a few more weeks to see what happened with the affected BH.

I will monitor the progress and advice all about how the BH progress after the revamp operation.

(I asked the owner to relocate the main entrance window more to the left)

(Once they entered the floor they will be directed towards the nesting room)

(They will also have a shorter flying path to reach the ground floor)

Collected Two Sets Of Titanium Bullet Tweeters !!!

I was on the road nearly the whole day today July 5th 2014 from 8:30 am till 9:30 pm.

What really happened was during my trip to Lenggong, Perak to deliver a load of equipment, assembled for revamp operation, the owner could not arrive on time.

What I did was to divert up to Kedah to visit two BHs while waiting for the Lenggong BH owner to call me.

He called after 2:30 pm and I quickly left Kedah and reached Lenggong at about 4:30 pm.

The owner was pleased to see me but I was not that much.

Pretty tired of driving around and waiting for him.

Once loaded those items into his 4 wheel drives we drove up to his BH and unloaded them inside the main data room.

I wanted to carry out some sound test but fail to see any result since all his external sound playing tweeters were dead.

Anyway I quickly find my way home.

Just before arrival I detour to Rawang to collect two sets of Titanium bullet tweeters.

The supplier was waiting for my arrival and I am very glad that he managed to get exactly the same model that I wanted.

My plan now is to arrange for a test.

Each pack came with two pieces and I am planning to install all the four playing internal sound.

On each side of the bullet tweeters I will install at least two fake nests.

Let see how those birds will respond to this idea.

If there are any response will let all of you know.

I think there will be some weird things that will happen but let us not make any assumptions.

Give me about a few weeks from today.

Best of luck to me.

King Cobra Inside Lembah Bujang BH Compound !!!

(I found a King Cobra in a BH compound at Lembah Bujang)

What else can you expect when you try to clean the BH surrounding ???

What about a King Cobra? This is true and let be remind you please clear those bushes around your BH.

During my weekend I took my wife home and this is where I will sneak out to visit this BH at Lambah Bujang in Merbok Kedah.

The BH owner literary handed over the BH to me to nurse it since it was critically ill or sick and under ICU breathing apparatus.

Before handing over I was told that the BH was put into operation for almost 1.5 years and with only 12 nests.

He tried almost every thing and after failing almost everything he called me for some help.

At first I thought he wanted me to do the normal thing like inspection and revamp but his was dead serious to hand it over to me in total.

I was very reluctant due to its location but after much persuasion I told him let me think about it.

I took almost one long month to give him the okay answer and he told me to prepare the hand over agreement.

We agreed and he signed the hand over papers with his wife becoming the witness.

He signed over not one unit but three units.

He literary give up his more than 2 million worth of investment and wanted a BH doctor to nurse the three BHs.

Among the three I found out that the one in Lembah Bujang was the most exciting and easy to handle.

I visited the BH a number of times and watch the number of birds playing at the main entrance hole opening.

The number was not much, maybe 200-300, but more to it was a BH just next to the fence.

It was clear that there is a very strong chance to be rehabilitated.

Yesterday June 30th 2014 I rented a JCB tractor with its driver to clear that land.

Half a day should do and got him over first thing in the morning.

The one acre of land around this BH was fenced up using those bricks walls.

However inside the compound there were too many of those shrubs and small trees.

I did asked the owner is he was using the land to breed snakes and he said no.

Well I suspected so and then the tractor driver confirmed my suspicion.

"Sir, there is a big king cobra that can stand almost 3 feet above the ground."  he was breathing hard when he told me about it.

Oh ya a big cobra and I am going to clear all those shrubs and perhaps plant some Papaya, Durian Belanda (SourSop), figs trees and maybe open up a pond.

The papaya will be for their fruit for insect production (short term).

The figs trees will be a good insect generator (Long term).

A water pond will be a marvelous idea to draw those birds over to this BH.

The Soursop will be for me and the BH owner.  It seems that Soursop is very expensive in the market (Ringgit 15 per kilo) and it also have lots of health benefits.

Just take a good look at the land clearing works done:

Bird Monitoring At Kapar BH: Another Strange Thing Happened !!!

The owner Whatsapp to me the following message:

"I can assure the reading gonna be not much significant.  Anyway I will do that." he was more like protesting that he don't like the weekly routine picture taking.

He was right but I think he was also wrong. !!!!

This was the result when I reminded him that he need to snap a picture on the recorder.

Well after a short while he sent this picture to me:

Just look the the number recorded on Saturday, June 28th 2014.

It went up to 680 and there was no clear explanation why????

Earlier I allowed the owner to enter his BH and conduct some count and he replied that the nests now has risen to only 80 which means the number of birds inside the BH at any one time should be above 180.

So how come on June 28th the number shot up to 680?

If you look at the picture one more time and look at what happen on Thursday June 26th?

The number was also high at 385.

What can be the possible reasons?

Mind boggling but we need to think the possible reasons.

The owner suspected that those birds play around the counter gadget.

Each come in and out at least three times.

He might be half right but how come they are doing it only on Saturday?

I suspect that on this particular Saturday there are more young birds that were released or took their first flight out of their nests.

These young birds might not be from this same BH alone but might be from other BHs closed to this BH.

They might have passed by and on the way home they stop by to enjoy the new fresh external sound that I set.

Once they fall in love with the attractive sound they will play at the window and there will be a very strong chance that some might venture inside the BH.

This is where you might attract a few of them to be your tenant.

The moment they venture deeper into your BH and if they like some of those things example those fake nests, aroma and those tweeters, they might move in.

You are now having a good chance to get new young birds into your BH.

So we now know that every time there are lots of young birds in the air your entrance door playing a good sound will have a heavy activities.

The heavy activities will exposed your BH to a new young visitors.

It is now how well you prepare your BH to pull them inside and lure them to be their new house.

So be wise about this article.

Make sure during the release of new birds out of their nests you need to get ready with your BH for them to migrate.

Call me if you need some advise about the monitoring system or any matters pertaining to swiftlet farming.

Call now at 017 7551318

The Real Problem In Wakubo BH in Tawau !!!

(These two holes were a second set.  The main entrance hole was at the center area.)

After a long time of thinking about this BH I told myself it is better to write down what is so wrong about the Wakubo BH.

Remember a few days ago I was invited to inspect a BH in Wakubo in Tawau?

This BH was erected by the owner's neighbor who said that he has a successful BH just next door.

If he owned a successful BH, I doubt so, will he erect a competitive BH just beside his BH?

He only wanted to charge the owner with exorbitant pricing and make sure the new BH will never be as good as his.

The location where it was situated looks good closed to the sea and beside a number of prawns rearing farms.

There were also a number of BHs around it and it should be a good a well designed BH is constructed.

However with little knowledge in swiftlet farming the neighbor screwed the owner badly.

Only about 20 nests I think after more than a year into operation.

The BH came with two sets of entrance holes.

The main was in the middle while the second and a third holes were at the far corner of the building.

The only way to enter the lower floor, this BH is with two floors, is a tunnel only made available at the main entrance hole.

After a long while I decided to recommend as such the BH be split into two sections.

One to use the main entrance hole and the second is dedicated to the second set of entrance holes.

By doing so the bright light into the nesting rooms can be minimized.

The flight path while inside the BH was looked into.

For one of the design a new wall should be erected and new door to be constructed.

The rest of the rooms needs some partition to create a few VIP rooms.

The owner might need to spend a few thousand dollars but if he trust my recommendation he will be able to get those birds back into his BH.

I did some sound test and Pukau was the best.

One very critical item to be quickly resolve was the high temperature on the wall of the building.

At noon time the wall facing the east was recording 37* C plus.

Just imagine by the evening the west walls will hit the same temperature.

Which mean to say the two walls will act as a heater one in the morning and one in the evening.

those walls need to be heat shield from either the outside or inside.

The best to be considered are those heat shield with cement board.

You will surprise if you should observe where those 20 odd couples likes to built their nests in this BH.

They chose a corner that is cool and with the louder internal sound tweeters playing.

A very unique observation and these behavior is something that can guide us about what they like and dislike.

In this BH they like the loud tweeters but they reject the hot walls.

(The palm oil tree leaves leaning of the all of a BH is a NO NO)

Figs Trees At Dengkil BH !!!

(Just look at the number of fruits and multiply by about 100 figs warps it produced)

Those figs tree planted in Dengkil are doing fined and I hope the hope dry weather will not forced them to die.

I have been visiting this Dengkil BH mainly to water the planted trees.

Remember figs trees can help to produce figs warps that are attractive to those swiftlet.

I also added two more during my last trip.

The number of figs trees that survived so far is 5.

The one that I planted about three months ago looks good.

See these photos:

After one week it started to sprout

Now after three months the tree is doing fined.

Got two more that are doing OK.

Just added this new one more a few days ago.

Cover it up with shade to reduce direct sunlight.

I also sent two to Tawau and the new owner told me that they now started to have new leaves.

The two in Pantai Remis is doing okay.

Planted them around the BH and put some shade to reduce direct sunlight.

The BH owner's wife is watering them.

Will check its status this weeks.

Those who wanted to plant some figs trees around their BH please let me know.\

You can order them from me and will get it delivered once ready within a few weeks.

Call this number 017 7551318.

The Indonesian Bird nests Are All Over In Hong Kong !!!

Yesterday afternoon I met a BH owner who happened to just returned home from a business trip to Hong Kong.

He told me that he was there to sell processed nests from his processing centre.

You should listen to him and feel all his frustration.

One very strange thing that he found out was that during his visit to a bird nest street in Hong Kong where there were about 20-30 shops selling bird nests.

When trying to offer his processed nest he discovered that all those nests sold in all the 20-30 shops came from Indonesia.

Malaysian use to trade into China via Hong Kong but after becoming too smart and greedy they wanted to trade directly into China.

They wanted to cross their middle man.

It hurt these Hongkees and the Nitrite problems started.

Those Hongkees and some mainland China people who used to enjoy doing business selling bird nests must be so pissed off so much so they begin to make life tough for the Malaysian bird nest industries.

"Harry if we should have stick to the old marketing method we might not be punished by those Chinese Authorities." he said.

It was more or less the Hongkees and their mainland China business partner taking revenge with the Malaysian industry players.

What I find it very strange was the statement made by those Hongkees that nearly 99% of their bird nests are coming from Indonesia.

I was on the understanding that Indonesian bird nests are not allowed to enter China since the Country is not freed of bird flu?

I might be wrong but what the Indonesian bird nest industry is doing is right.

They never bite the hand of their college in Hong Kong.

They continue to penetrate the Chinese market using their ancestors marketing method.

They keep their market and maybe have little mercy on the Malaysian bird nest industry.

Our Government should do more in this neglected industry and those swiftlet farming associations should buck up I supposed.

There are more things that need to be done but no one is doing any thing constructive in the Industry.

This young man told me that it is a very competitive industry where your neighbor can cut their price by 20-30 percent of your product cost.

"I cannot event produce that price per kilogram but our neighbors can." he claimed.

This article was based on my conversation with a bird nest producer.

It is not trying to criticize any party but just what was mentioned by the person.

He must be pretty upset with the whole situation but I hope he will find a way to sell his product into Hong Kong/China.

If you are a Malaysian please be frank to your self.  Are you doing anything to lift the bird nest industry.

If you are sitting in any of the swiftlet farming association committee please do something.

A Few Interesting Events During The Last Few Weeks !!!

Just wanted to share some very interesting events that makes me feel very happy and wanted.

They all make my day better and very satisfied.

The first story was about being scolded by a BH owner.

I was busy looking at those BHs in Tawau town with a friend when my phone rang.

(More swiftlet than before my intervention and was scolded by this guy)

I know the person who called very well and I recently revamped his BHs in Dugun, Trengganu.

"Pak Harry I wanted to scold you.  You know what I am now at Tok Dor BH and I cannot enter my own BH.  I don't know what you did until they were so many on both the lower and the upper floors.  In the VIP room alone there were at least 150 birds." he was chatting away and I was smiling to myself.

People help to populate his BH and now he scolded me for bringing in too many birds.

Shortly he apologies and confessed that the reason why he placed the call to me was to say a big thank you for helping him to bring in those wild birds inside.

At the time of his call it was about noon but the number of birds inside was like 300 or more.

How come they were not out of the BH to hunt for food?

Very strange but maybe those additional tweeters and fake nests spiked with pheromone 2X that I installed.

He claimed that without my personal intervention he would not have so many birds which was something unusual to him.

My second happiness came from Brunei.

This guy who now owned a successful swiftlet BH started bird nest processing operation.

His processed nest was so popular it came out in a local Brunei newspaper.

He happily sent a copy to me and add this small message:

Quote:

"Thank you so much....That was just the beginning of my journey on swiftlet farming....it will not happen if I don't stumble to you blog Mr Harry ...."

Unquote.

I don't really know what to say to him but to know that my blog has make someone successful and later being thank by it is so wonderful.

The third happiness came from another phone conversation:

This came in today from a BH owner whose BH I inspected and later provided with a detail recommendations on what he should do to rectify all those mistakes.

"Pak Harry I have carried out every thing that you wrote in the recommendation.  Now I can see that those birds are happy to come into my BH and staying."  he told me right from his heart.

"I hope from now my BH will do well"  he asked for my blessing.

I told him that there is no such thing as hope.

I assure you that what I recommended was the best thing for your BH.

Trust me your BH will be okay.

My forth happening today was from a guy in Tawau.

This guy haven't own a BH yet.

However he started to plant those Figs trees.

I took some troubles to courier a number of rooted stems for his replanting.

Now a number of those stems are growing and he seems to be very happy with just those trees.

"Pak Harry all these small things that you did to me give me the esperation to start a BH on my own soon.  Thank you for being so generous with your time."  he said.

While in Tawau I managed to have a cup of coffee with him and talk about his plans.

The fifth event have something to do about a guy in one of those swiftlet forum.

While in Sandakan recently I was greeted by this young man who wanted my expertise to revive his sick BH.

He was there at the airport waiting for me with a piece of paper written my name on it.

The moment I saw him I greeted him and he quickly lead me to his 4 wheel drive.

I wasted no time to ask him who recommended me to him.

"Pak Harry I got your name from a guy in an online swiftlet forum.  He talk good about you and told me to quickly get my help." he answered.

Frankly it is very rare for any one in the internet who will talk good about me.

Usually they will curse and talk bad about me.

This time I was very surprised that some do talk good behind my back.

Do you know what this mean to me?

I am glad that these people who at one time are strangers to me now become good friends.

My only wish is that I can be of more help to them.

I never ask any thing back from any of them.

Their success is my success and I am happy to see them happy with the little things that I did as a swiftlet enthusiast.

Call me if you think I can be of use to you.

Harry 017 7551318