Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
ALMOST BEEKEEPING - RELATED TOPICS => GARDENING AROUND THE HOUSE => Topic started by: Okytransplant on June 30, 2012, 09:49:36 pm
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I have a large garden and I try to keep beneficial insects happy, but I have these assassin wheel bugs that are devouring the bumble bees. Since I don't have many of them I would like to strike a balance. How do you all deal with Beneficial insects and having bees?
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Other Wheel bugs will eat them. In the absence of other insects they will cannibalize one another. They bite like hell though so be careful! You might be able to put them all in a jar and just forget about them as a temporary control.
A tachinid parasitoid might eventually show up on its own. They're a kind of fly that lay their eggs on true bugs. The resulting maggot bores into the host. Unfortunately they're only common in places where their hosts thrive.
The early stages (nymphs) are eaten by larger species of ants. Camponotus (Carpenter Ants) and Formica (... closest thing to a common name would be Wood Ant but only 1/3 of them nest in wood) should feed on them when you find them.
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Thanks for the info. I didn't invite them in. They just showed up. It took me a minute with google to find a name for the thing. Just trying to figure this out. I know I need some bees for this garden. This is my first year out of Thirty five years of gardening that I have had such a crappy pollination of my vegetables.
Stacy
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This is also possible if you take advice of the gardening expert who deals with such type of issues.As garden is the place where we relax, it should be maintained properly.