Solitary Bees- Declining Numbers

  

The number of Solitary bees that are going to make it through the winter this year in the UK are much lower than normal. Our producer of Solitary bees has been checking his production nests and unfortunately many have failed, so it looks like there will not be many live cocoons for us to harvest next spring. This just goes to show how fragile the plight of many bee species is. It is difficult to always know what is causing the problems.

For those of you with Solitary bee nests, it is a good idea to move any nesting tubes that are inhabited into a garage or shed for the winter. This will protect them from predators such as birds. Woodpeckers especially, love eating the Solitary bee cocoons. If this is not possible, try putting some netting over the end to prevent birds getting access to the tubes. It is also a good time to clean out any empty tubes. This will remove any parasites and make the nesting tubes more likely to succeed next spring when new eggs might be laid in them.

It is easy to remove nesting tubes to keep safe during the winter

It is especially important next spring to encourage the solitary bees that do make it through the spring to mate and lay new eggs in nesting tubes and habitats. This can be helped by creating areas of pollen bearing plants and siting your nesting tubes to the right orientation. The ones most likely to attract solitary bees should be facing south to south east. Also make sure they back onto a solid back and are not swinging in the wind. No bees will attempt to use these ones.

Ensure your nester is secure to a wall or fence

 At Dragonfli we also have some very well designed solitary bee nesters. They make great Christmas gifts, so take a look at our Beepol Solitary bee nesters, now available in some great new colours to liven up the garden. 

Help bees in your garden and give a very worthwhile gift this Christmas with a Beepol solitary bee nester.

A selection of Solitary Bee and insect nesters

Chafer Grub damage is bad, but wait until the badgers arrive.........

Chafer grubs under the soil

The latest generation of Chafer Grubs are now feeding on grass roots.
Over the last few weeks I have visited sites where small Chafer Grubs are feeding just below the grass surface. In some areas they can be found in very large numbers.

At first it seems they are not doing any damage, but eventually the grass will start to go yellow and if you pull away at the grass, it will come away in your hands where the root system has been eaten away. Lawns and grass areas with stronger root systems will survive longer, but even they are overcome by large numbers of Chafer Grubs.

Chafer Grub damage

The damage, at first, can look like an area of grass that is suffering from drought, but once you look underneath you will found no roots and the presence of small white grubs in a c-shape. these are the grubs or larvae of beetles, often the May Beetle. These beetles normally start flying in May and then start to lay eggs in the soil beneath the grass. Over the next few months they develop into larvae and start feeding on grass roots. This feeding continues until the soil temperature drops, this then triggers them to sink lower into the soil and remain dormant until next spring. Rising temperatures then bring them out of dormancy, they then feed, pupate and then become adult beetles. 

Badger damage

However, the worse damage is often not caused by the Chafer Grub, but by what it attracts to your lawn.
Badgers love feeding on Chafer Grubs, which you may think is a nice form of pest control, but the damage they do is even worse!
They rip up lawn areas, tearing at the grass to eat the Chafers underneath. I have visited quite a few golf courses and large gardens which suffer terribly from this damage.
The products available for controlling Chafer Grubs are also reducing, especially for the home gardener.

A close up of a nematode

It is not all bad news though.There is an effective, natural solution.
The use of nematodes against Chafer Grubs can be very effective and now is the time to use them.
These tiny, eelworm like creatures are watered into the turf. They then move under the soil to infect and kill the Chafer Grubs ( the same species also kills Vine Weevil Grubs) . They are harmless to humans, pets and wildlife, but deadly to soil borne larvae like Chafer Grubs. Once infected the Chafer Grubs die within a few days.

There are a couple of rules to follow - 

• Chafer grub nematodes only work when the soil temperature is over 13C ( late summer/early autumn)
• Moisture is needed to help them move through the turf.
• Heavy infestations will need applications in August and again in late September ( the second application targets more mature larvae that the first application may have missed)
• Garden Chafer traps for catching adult beetles, can also be put out and used in the spring. By catching the beetles, this reduces mating and egg laying, while notifying gardeners that chafer grubs will follow later in the season.

Dragonfli supply Chafer Grub Killer packs to treat all sizes of lawns from 20m2 to 1000m2.

So now we have controlled the Chafer Grubs with nematodes,  there are just Leatherjackets to worry about, but that is another blog.......

The Natural Solution for Red Mite/Northern Fowl Mites in Chickens

The world of biological control using natural enemies is constantly evolving with new beneficial insects being discovered that we can use to combat insect pests. Even pests that are not plant pests are not safe from biological control. 

Red Mites

One such example is the new predatory mite for control of red mite/ chicken mite/Northern Fowl Mite in poultry and other birds. Androlaelaps casalis mites were originally found in sparrow nests feeding on red mites. They were then tested on poultry to see if they could be used as a natural solution for the control of reds mites. The results were impressive and they are now available as a product called ANDROLIS. 

The effects of Red Mite

Red mite [ Dermanyssus gallinae ] is a horrible pest as it feeds on the blood of birds. Once it has fed, it drops to the floor. Reproduction can be very fast, especially in the summer months and the build up of mites on birds can cause severe distress to the bird, causing feather loss and stress. Other symptoms include reduced egg laying and even cannibalism. 

The red mite has become resistant to many chemical treatments, making it increasingly difficult to treat. The treatments that are available mainly act upon the adults. This leaves eggs to hatch and a cycle of treatments that it is difficult to stop. Often these treatments are un-pleasant for the birds and the applicator.

Red Mite attacked by an Androlis Predator

 This is not true when using ANDROLIS. The predatory mites feed on the entire life cycle of the red mites, this means they eat the eggs and adults. The red mite is also not able to become resistant to being eaten! The predatory mites will also search for the red mite by crawling into cracks and crevices to pursue their prey. They do not generally go onto the birds but wait for the mites to fall off. 

Androlis L

Androlis is supplied in various pack sizes from the smallest unit, which treats up to 10 birds to the largest unit, which treats up to 200 birds. The predators can be applied in two ways either by sprinkling on the floor of the chicken coop or aviary. Here they consume the red mites as they drop to the floor. They can also be applied to the sides of the coops with a special aluminium clip that holds a bottle of Androlis onto the side of the structure. This enables the predators to be released near roosting areas and hiding areas of the mites. This is especially useful towards the end of the season to prevent the red mites overwintering in cracks and crevices.

Androlis with Applicator Clip

 If you are applying predators to the floor and cleaning out the litter on a regular basis, remember you may also be taking out the predators, so you will need to re-apply or apply using the applicator clip system. Androlis predators are active down to temperatures of 12.c, after this activity will cease. The best times for applying the predators is in the spring and in July. The predators do die back, once red mites are consumed so may need repeat treatment every 6-8 weeks to keep the balance of predators right. They do not overwinter, so will need to be used each year if red mite appears. 

This really is a natural way of controlling this horrible pest and it not only provides a safe method but an effective one. 

Give your birds a break from chemical warfare and try a more natural method with Androlis predatory mites!

Julian

Unwanted garden tenANTS

Some less welcome insect visitors appear in numbers in our gardens as the summer goes on.

There are more ants in the world than any other creature on the planet - most of who keep appearing in my garden!

 Ants can become a problem, especially if they build up in large numbers on lawn areas.

Ant mound

 Ant mounds can disfigure a lawn and high numbers of adults can make amenity use of a lawn difficult. The mounds are the entrance to their colonies which contain many different interchangeable roles for the ants - workers, soldiers, drones and Queens. Ant nests can go deep underground with many cavities for the colony to live in. This is why it is important to get the correct and quickest control method first time.

Some poison baits can be very persistent and leave harmful residues for other insects and wildlife, so treating effectively without damage to the local environment can be tricky. 

Some garden suppliers offer nematodes for the control of ants. Whilst I am a big fan of nematodes for the control of many insect pests, I am less convinced they are effective against ants. I think the action of the pouring water mixed with nematodes had some effect to displace the ants but does not offer much of a kill rate to the ants, which will most likely return shortly afterwards. 

A more effective solution with minimal impact on wildlife is the use of a natural pyrethrum bait or solution such as Neudorff Ant Killer Granules, which can either be sprinkled on ant trails or mixed in water and watered into ant mounds. The pyrethrum will kill the ants but does not persist in the soil to harm beneficial wildlife. 

If you prefer to use only physical means of control, repeated disturbance of ant colonies will eventually dislodge them and make them move.

Julian

21/06/16

Box Tree Caterpillars - there moth be something you can do!

The summer is here, although it is a typical British variable weather one at the moment!

However warm and wet conditions often provide ideal conditions for certain pest species. 

One insect species that can be a pest is certain types of moth. 

Recently there has been an influx of Diamond Back moths, of which the caterpillars can cause serious damage to brassica crops and plants.

Diamond Back Moth damage

Another new invader is the Box Tree Caterpillar moth, which has ended up in the south east of the U.K. , after originating from South Asia. The larvae/ caterpillars of this species can have a devastating impact on box plants and hedges. 

Box Tree Caterpillar damage

The plant leaves are shredded and box hedges look like they have serious die back, although this must not be confused with box blight, which is a different problem that box plants can experience. Box Tree Caterpillars eventually spin white webs around themselves as they pupate. This can make treating against them even more difficult. If you think you have a case of Box Tree Caterpillars , you can take part in a survey on the RHS website to monitor where they are spreading to in the UK. 

Box Tree Moth Trap

To help and monitor and control this pest, it is possible to use a Box Tree Caterpillar Moth trap. This uses a specific pheromone to attract the male box tree moths to drop into a funnel trap, where they are caught and drowned. This helps to prevent male moths mating , which in turn reduces female egg laying and hence reduce the development of the caterpillars.

 If caterpillars do appear on the box, it is possible to treat with a natural pyrethrum spray . This kills on contact but does not persist on the plant to kill other insects and is not absorbed by the plant. Natural pyrethrum is made from chryanth flowers and is a recognised organic insecticide. One such product is Pyrol bug and larvae killer available on the Dragonfli website along with the new Box Tree Caterpillar moth trap.

Lets keep these pests under control.

Julian

20/06/16

Trap, monitor and kill!

Insect traps are a useful tool in the gardeners armory for giving an early warning of pest problems ahead and for contributing toward the control of them. There are insect traps that are designed for greenhouse use only and traps that can be used outdoors.

Greenhouses - 

For greenhouses the use of sticky traps is common place, but many are not used to their full potential.

 Too often a dust covered yellow trap is seen forlornly hanging in a greenhouse, not achieving anything.  Sticky traps can provide an early warning of insect pest attack long before the pests are noticed on plants, but if they are old and covered with dust and dirt they are of little use, with no effective catching area for insects to get caught.

 

New yellow sticky traps will give advance warning of whitefly, aphid and thrip. They can also be very effective at catching fungus fly/ fungus gnats, which can be an annoying pest when you are propagating plants, with clouds of flies flying up when disturbed. More importantly, their larvae will eat the roots of the young seedlings and can spread plant diseases such as pythium. Yellow traps can catch high numbers of these flies and reduce their impact in the greenhouse. 

Whitefly can be difficult to control if left to develop on plants. Sticky traps are good at catching adult whitefly, especially if you hang the traps just above the growing head of the plant where whitefly congregate.

 Sticky traps in the greenhouse will help control early pest infestations and warn gardeners that pests are present, so control measures can be taken to reduce the damage caused.

The Garden - 

Outside in the garden, there are also many types of insect traps that can be used to keep pests at bay and warn us of their presence. 

The spring is a really important time of year for many of these traps to be used.

Pheromone traps are normally placed in the garden in May. This is the start of the moth flying season - the pheromone lure attracts male moths into the traps. The males are tricked into thinking some lovely female is inside the trap, only to find it is a trap and there is no escape! Don't feel sorry for them though. If left in nature they will mate, leading to increased egg laying by females and then the development of caterpillars and grubs.

Plum Fruit Moth damage

Pests such as Codling Moth and Plum Fruit moth can devastate fruit - trapping the males will reduce this damage. Codling Moth [Cydia pomonella ] can be a destructive pest of apple and pear fruit. The caterpillar part of the Codling moth life cycle bores into the fruit making it un-edible in many cases.  The Plum Fruit Moth ; Grapholita [cydia] funebrana is a common pest of plums , damsons and greengages. The female moth lays her eggs near the plum fruit and once the eggs hatch, the larvae burrow into the fruit. 

Other garden pests can be reduced with insect trapping.

Damage caused by badgers digging for Chafers.

Chafer Grub damage of lawns in the summers can destroy lawns and attract birds and animals to dig up lawns, looking for the grubs. By placing Chafer Beetle traps out in the garden in May, adult Chafers can be caught. This will reduce egg laying and the development of grubs. These traps use a scented lure to attract the beetles. Another pest that can be cuaght with this typs of trap, is the Raspberry Beetle, which causes damage to soft fruit.




Last, but not least, the British gardeners most common foe - the slug.
Slug numbers can be reduced by using pitfall traps. These traps are dug into the soil, baited with something like beer and then the slugs fall in to them and drown - not a bad way to go!  

Take a bit of time to think about what insect pests cause problems in your garden and plan ahead, by placing the right traps out to monitor and reduce their effects.

Julian. 

How and which predators to use for the control of Red Spider Mite

Two spotted mite [Tetranychus urticae], more commonly known as red spider mite, can be a damaging pest to many crops and plants. They often go un-noticed early in their development and with increasing temperatures their population rapidly develops. These tiny mites feed on the plant sap and tissue, stunting and killing off plant growth. Leaves generally turn yellow as the chlorophyll is removed from the leaf, which in severe cases can kill plants totally. The appearance of plants is also ruined with yellowing leaves and webbing appearing. These webs also contain huge numbers of spider mites and are often used by the mites to move from plant to plant, sometimes by being blown around or even attaching to people working with the plants.

   

Control of spider mites with insecticides is difficult. Spider mites are very good at building up resistance to insecticides over quite a short period of time and physical acting products generally only kill the adults. This leaves eggs to hatch and develop, which means regular application is required to break the life cycle. A more effective and environmentally friendly method is with the use of spider mite predators. Predators will eat the entire life cycle, egg to adult and the spider mites are not able to become resistant to them. They are also easy and safe to apply with no harmful chemical residues being left on the plant or in the environment.

How and which predators we use is key to their success. There are now several species available to growers and gardeners. The main candidates are;

• Phytoseiulus persimilis
• Amblyseius californicus
• Amblyseius andersoni

The most effective predator in the right conditions is: Phytoseiulus persimilis, supplied in shaker bottles or vials. It breeds quickly in the crop with faster egg laying than the spider mites and starts feeding soon after application. It eats spider mite faster than all the other available predators and will happily go into dense webbing to feed, which some of the others will not. However it does not survive long without food and cannot be introduced before spider mites are present. They also need temperatures to be above 15C to be active and are most active from 20C-30C,temperatures above this will reduce and stop their activity. Introduce after spider mite is observed and apply them close or onto the infected areas of the plant. In high infestations repeated applications may be required to build up their numbers to a level where they out compete and control the spider mite.

Amblyseius californicus is also an effective predator of spider mites and can be introduced at lower temperatures than Phytoseiulus. They can also survive without spider mites for some time and can feed on pollen. This enables them to be introduced earlier and before spider mite appears. Their activity starts from temperatures over 10C up until about 33C.
They are available in bottles or breeder sachets that can be hung on plants, releasing predators over a period of weeks. They can be combined with Phytoseilius for an effective bio control programme. However they are not recorded as a native insect to the UK. If non-native insects are thought not to be able to overwinter in the UK, they are often still permitted for use like Phytoseiulus. Judgement on Amblyseius californicus is still under consideration. This means they are not available to gardeners and only to growers growing under glass.

               

          Spider mite predator                                       Spider Mite Killer sachet

There is another alternative; Amblyseius andersoni.  This predator is active at the lowest temperatures of the three ( from 6C)  and will continue working at the highest temperatures (up to 40C). It can be introduced before spider mite is present in breeder sachets. It is most effective when there are low numbers of spider mite and when temperatures are too cold for the other predators. Andersoni does not like feeding on spider mites in high numbers where there is webbing. It should be combined with Phytoseiulus in warm conditions when there are high numbers of spider mites.
 
So what is the best strategy for control of spider mites with predators, here is what I suggest;

• Introduce Spider mite killer sachets [Amblyseius andersoni] as early as possible in the growing season. Each sachet will release hundreds of sachets over a period of about 4 weeks. If spider mite is low or not present, continue regular introduction throughout the growing season. They can also be used on outdoor crops of soft fruit and trees and shrubs.
• Introduce Amblyseius californicus sachets if you are a professional grower, growing crops under glass, as early as possible and re-introduce sachets on a regular basis.
• Always introduce Phytoseilius predators, if spider mite is increasing or in high numbers. Introduce only when temperatures are above 15C and when spider mite is present. Keep repeating applications until the predators are easy to observe on the plants.

 
The full range of predators can be sourced from www.dragonfli.co.uk  Natural Pest Control page.


Julian