Bees and Harlequin Bugs
John Grubb gave a very interesting talk on Tuesday night about bee keeping. His account of setting up the Charnwood garden bee hives enthused us all to try it for ourselves. Bees are certainly amazing creatures. As well as being a valuable asset in any garden for their pollination role, they produce copious amounts of the delicious honey we sampled on Tuesday night, courtesy of the Charnwood bees.
Another less welcome insect has also been visiting the Charnwood garden. Harlequin bugs (Dindymus versicolor) have arrived in plague proportions causing a lot of damage. If anyone knows of any organically acceptable methods of controlling them please let us know.
28 May, 2009 at 7:26 pm
Had a look about regarding these fellas…I’ve had not a few of them myself (maybe different varieties…not sure) and found the following about the place…
Diatomaceous Earth and/or Slaters (‘Pill Bugs’?)
http://forums.permaculture.org.au/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=6797
No idea of the former…seen plenty of the latter about the place though…
Soapy spray
http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s1620930.htm
About 2/5ths down the page or have a search…
Wonder if the attempt at HTML bolding’ll work…
:)
Cheers
29 May, 2009 at 8:46 am
I found a few suggestions on this thread here from fellow gardeners:
http://www2b.abc.net.au/science/scribblygum/newposts/32/topic32185.shtm
Organic suggestions include neem oil, soapy water, detergent and vinegar in equal amounts, or an upturned ice cream container spinkled with bran or wheatgerm, which they are apparently attracted to, which you can then dispose of!
Hope it helps.