I feel like I am in a predictment...I am raising bees this year by my garden and I usually us Sevin dust to deal with garden pest but I don't want to kill any bees that may land on the dusted plants. I've always used Sevin because that is what my dad always used. I'm not real fond of it anyhow. I'm not good with bug id but I have a heck of a time with squash bugs (i've always known them as stink bugs), horned tomato worms, whatever likes to get on my pepper plants and put holes in the fruit, and bugs that get on my brocc/cauli and eat huge holes in leaves. What can I do to control these bugs but not harm my little bees? If I don't do anything I won't have a garden. Suggestions? What works for you all?
Pest control w/o hurting bees?
Your bees are going to look for flowers. Plants that aren't flowering won't attract them. The real problem is with plants like squash, that need bees to pollinate them.
I have the same dilemma. I've discovered that a big squeeze of dishwashing liquid mixed in a quart spray bottle discourages aphids. You have to repeat about every other day until the heat does away with them.
I just search out the hornworms and pick them off after I see their damage.
I use liquid Sevin or Neem late, just before dark, for squash bugs. The theory is that it's not very toxic after it dries. I try to shield the blooms by laying a plastic bag over them while spraying but it is a lot of aggravation. Stink bugs cover my tomatoes and I hit them too. I would love to find a less toxic solution.
I've seen 1 bee this year and he acted healthy. Last year only saw a few and they acted crazy, as in disoriented. I've only seen 1 lady bug so far.
where on the squash plant is best to spray the soap mixture? Will lady bugs and praying mantis kill the squash bugs or anything else that may be eating my plants?
I too hunt and pick for tomato worms. They were BAD last year. Biggest I ever say and in one day I had one get on one of my hungarian pepper plants...he ate the WHOLE plant and the entire pepper that was on it! I only ever found them on mater plants. I guess after I dusted w/ sevin he had to find another place to munch!
What I called squash bugs lays eggs and makes a worm that bores into the squash vine and the fruit. It kills the vine. The ones in the fruit make a small hole and tunnel through it, sometimes from one end to the other which means you can't even salvage part of it. I don't know what the bug looks like but I think they are properly referred to as squash borers. I'd never get anything to eat if I didn't spray.
I've never had a cut worm on peppers. My regular stink bugs don't like my peppers. However, there is an orange bug with black legs that loves to cover them. They only show up in the late summer. There is always something and I know our ancestors managed to eat without chemicals. That's where I want to get to.
The squash bugs I see have a shield shape. I never have anything in my fruit but I see those bugs all over the base of my plant and on the ground. As for the rest of my bugs...I never see them...just the damage they leave behind. I think some are doing it at night. Maybe our ancestors had more time to guard the garden and pick the bugs as they saw them. I don't have that time...or patience.
You might want to check out the organic gardening forum. Most of the organic treatments will kill the bugs without harming the soil or the beneficial insects like bees.
I put bird feeders out just because I enjoy the birds but I got a return from them I just hadn't thought about--they are eating many of the bugs in my gardens (both flower and veggie). They even started picking off most of the hornworms that showed up on my tomatoes last year. For the insects they don't find, I use the soap solution. I have lots of bees around my property and have planted several types of flowers and flowering shrubs that I know they like.
I have been checking out a lot of organic gardening sites. I have learned so much, I don't want to use any chemicals anymore. Once you start looking at things it gets scary! I didn't start out planning an organic garden but after reading all some stuff that I found, I wouln't eat anything that had been sevin dusted. My only real concern is squash bugs. Those dudes are tuff! That seems to be most organic gardners problem as well. Funny how I was just wanting to protect my bees and now I have escalated to this! Maybe I will sell my produce faster b/c of it. :)
The birds were not eating any of my hornworms last year. In fact, I think the horn worms could have eaten one of them!
I'm trying a few different things to control the squash bugs this year. I've planted some radishes near by and I'm going to plant some dill. I also have some bright pink petunias to plant near the squash. I read somewhere that a person has had great success in planting pink petunias with their squash and they've not seen any squash bugs since.
I haven't heard about petunias! I love those and happen to already have some. I have heard of planting nasturniums in the squash. Maybe I will try both. I thought about trying to find something that I can sprinkle on the ground around the base of the squash to keep the buggers down. I have since read that you really have to use a stronger pesticide to kill the bugs and then use organic techniques to help control them once you have there numbers knocked down. But I wondered if there would be some kind of granuale I could put down and then put mulch over that. I don't want to spray anything. I still have to be careful using the organic stuff b/c it can still harm the bees. Pretty much just putting everything on at dusk when the bees go in for the night and that way it can dry before they come back out for morning.
I wonder if trichogramma wasps would help any? We need to get some for the army worms that will soon be here and I'm wondering if they'll work on the squash bugs. Attracting birds to your garden will help, I know. According to my bug book, beneficial nematodes will help with the squash vine borer.
Stephanie
What types of birds are insectivorous? I do have a martin house I got for Christmas but I live in a heavily wooded area which they don't like and they only eat flying insects (bees) so I am giving it to my in-laws. How else can I attract insectivorous birds to my garden? Does that book you have give any tips? :) I'd hate to see the bird that will eat a stinky squash bug!
Also, what critter eats the big holes in between the veins on my brocc/cauli plants? I think everything comes out when I'm asleep. I just wake up and find half of my plants eaten.
Bird seed attracts them to my yard. You can sterilize your birdseed before filling your feeders if you don't want volunteers. I also put out bread in large crumbs to attract the birds to the feeders. We have grackles, wrens, sparrows, blue jays (meanie-birds), mourning doves, robins, and redbirds that frequent our yard.
I also have lots of different birds--bluebirds, mockingbirds, blue jays, robins, cow birds :-{ flycatchers, doves (reg. and ringnecks) chickadees, sparrows, cardinals, gold finches, purple finches, and many others I can't think of right now. I've seen many birds in my garden but I don't wear my glasses out there so can't tell exactly which ones they are. They do help a lot though. I buy black oil sunflower seeds and a mix of seeds that they all seem to like.
I'll have try to make my garden very inviting to the birdies!
Take a close look at your broccoli. If it's cabbage worms, they sometimes are nearly the same color as the plant and you don't notice them at first. You can pick them off and smush them, and pick any eggs you might see off as well.
If that isn't it and you don't see anything else, you might go out there at night with a flashlight. Some pests do come out only at night.
I've read that you can pick the stink bugs off, too. And smushing them sends out a smell that warns the others to stay away.
As you read about organic gardening, you'll probably come across information about row covers. Just plant and then throw a row cover over it to keep the bugs out. Remove the row covers for anything that has to be pollinated.
Good luck with your organic gardening experiences. Glad to hear that you're making the switch!
Thanks for the support! I'm sure it won't be long before I'm back here begging for answers again! I will smoosh as many stink bugs I as can find if it helps! My garden will be WAY to large to afford row covers.
Know your enemy: Stink bugs and vine borers are different "bugs"- the vine borer is the larvae of a moth (which looks alot like a small wasp) , and the stink or shield bug is a beetle:
http://bugguide.net/node/view/182
http://bugguide.net/index.php?q=search&keys=squash+vine+borer
There are different approaches based on how many plants you have and how "hands on" you're willing to be. As previously noted, some folks use "floating row covers" and hand pollinate, others look under the leaves for the beetle eggs, and crush them. There are many "natural" insecticides that you can mix up at home using garlic, molasses, etc. that won't kill every bug it touches. Planting "companion plants" of dill, or parsley will attract beneficial predator bugs like tachinid flies which will prey on the beetle larvae. (And the caterpillars munching your broccolli.) The predator bugs eat the nectar and lay their eggs on the beetles- their larvae eat and kill their hosts.
Crop rotation and cleaning up at the end of the season helps minimize their destruction too. The shield bug in particular overwinters in garden debris. So burn or send to the landfill your dead vines.
"Trap crops" are extra plants that you put in your garden to attract the bad bugs. I know someone who plants gourds early and at the edge of his garden for the squash bugs. Since they mature first, the bugs hit them before the good stuff. I plant extra tomatoes for the hornworms- and do a Hornworm Relocation Program, but I like the beautiful sphinx moths (that are pollinators!) that they become: http://www.vegedge.umn.edu/vegpest/hornworm.htm.
http://www.grinningplanet.com/2005/04-26/beneficial-insect-natural-pest-control-article.htm (Just one of many sites dedicated to non chemical pest control.)
Vine borers are tougher to deal with since the adult moths fly in, lay their eggs and take off. But there are many good tips on detection and dealing with them out on the world wide web.
In general, pesticides like Sevin don't discriminate. It's far better for you, your bees, (the local bugs), and your garden if you practise more natural, if not organic, gardening. There are bugs and birds out there willing to do the job for you, you just have to encourage their participation. Also, healthy, well cared for plants can take a bit of nibbling without total crop loss. I had squash bugs last season, but I'm still pulling butternuts out of storage & eating them today. The plants didn't look pretty by harvest time, but there was a harvest nonetheless!
Do searches on "companion planting" "beneficial insects" "IPM" or "natural pest control" and check out organic gardening websites and forums. There can be gardening success without resorting to chemicals.
And if you want to encourage more bug eating birds, I highly recommend Doug Tallamy's "Bringing Nature Home". It's a real eye opener.
Super-useful charts in that Grinning Planet article. Thanks!
The reason my "handle" is Honeybee is because I used to be a hobby beekeeper. As you can imagine, I welcome these industrious little girls into my garden. Personally, I have found that as long as there are plenty of birds visiting my yard, there is little need for pesticides - especially Wrens - they look into every nook and cranny for something to eat. Wasps also feed catapillers to their young - including yellow jackets. However, I don't encourage anyone to let a yellow jackets' nest establish itself near-by as they are very aggressive when protecting their home. Black wasps are much less likely to sting.
Incidentally; those honey bees you see in your garden, they are ALL GIRLS - the boys (drones) only hang around to mate with a queen and the girl bees push them out of the hive when winter arrives.
Ned thank you so much for all of the great info. I really like the grinning planet site. I do not think I have ever had a squash borer but I for sure have the stink bugs. I'm pretty certain I can control the other insects but I'm not sure about those guys. I've heard of trap crops but I have been reluctant to use them. I'm always afraid I will be breeding a huge bunch of them to move to the good plants.
Honeybee- I think its funny that the lazy drones get kicked out on their but in the winter. Its the only case I can think of that women use guys just for sex!