Derald wrote:
Frank wrote:

Don't know what's going on with the wasp they were looking at for control:

http://www.delawareonline.com/VideoN...ill-stink-bugs

Nor do I but it begs the question: "What happens when the wasps
run out of stink bugs?". Unless the wasps feed exclusively on the stink
bugs, other species may be put at risk either by becoming a food source
or by being displaced in the hunt for food in much the same manner that
imported honeybees displace native bees when they're allowed to
"naturalize" in the wild. I am not averse to "natural" controls and use
them myself in my own garden (Bt, "carnivorous" nematodes, and "nolo")
but they all require thorough investigation in order to avoid or, at
least, to minimize the chances of unintended consequences.

i know you keep saying this about honey bees vs. native
bees, but i don't see it out in the gardens here.

today i was sitting in the pathway near some flowering
mint, thyme and many other flowers listening and watching
(it's amazing how loud and busy it was as that pathway is
between two large patches of flowers) and i was observing
honey bees next to small bumble bees, the larger bumble
bees and the very tiny hovering bees. all of them feeding
off the same plant within a few inches of each other.
no fighting, no squabbles, no bumping, just busy working
the flowers.


songbird