OOH, lucky Anney to have honeybees visiting! Our neighbor lost both of their hives this winter so we are almost totally dependent on carpenter bees. I may be resorting to a paintbrush.

Wonder what the brown moth/butterfly is? I know some of them can be pretty darn destructive in the larval/caterpillar stage. Witness Cabbage Loopers!!! Whatever it is, hope it doesn't do too much damage for ya!

Are there any natural predators of the Mexican (like we don't have enough pests of our own!) beetles? I've been contemplating getting some ladybugs. We tried ordering the praying mantises once. We followed the instructions to the letter and never saw a one. Sigh.

So anyway, good luck with the cardboard. That's great stuff!

Edie

ediej

I was wondering about Mexican bean beetle controls, too, as I know they're very difficult to deal with.

The site linked at the bottom says this:

=====
Affected Plants:
Beans.

Damage:
Beetles skeletonize leaves, leaving them shredded and dried out. Plants eventually die.

Predator Insects:
Ladybugs, Pediobius wasps for larvae.

Natural Insecticides:
Rotenone and pyrethrum, rotenone dust, sabadilla, summer horticultural oil spray.

Other Methods of Control:
Destroy eggs.
Hand pick beetles.
Keep garden clean and free of debris, especially after harvest to prevent egg-laying.
Plant early to miss the insect's season.
Plant nasturtiums, marigolds, savory and garlic nearby.
Plant resistant varieties.
=====

I was VERY glad to see that bee, too. There must be a wild hive somewhere around. You might be surprised at how many other pollinator bees there are that fill in for missing honey bees. Here's another list of pollinator insects, including flies and wasps, etc.

Here is a link that might be useful: Mexican bean beetle controls

I just looked up cabbage looper moth, and I think that's what that little critter was! Glad you mentioned it.

I found a tiny cabbage looper on a melon leaf last week, so at least they're around, though I haven't seen one since then. Just the moth.

I'm afraid that Mexican Bean Beetles are where my "as organic as is reasonable" philosophy breaks out the Sevin dust -- in a very sparing, very carefully targeted way.

When I lived in New England where they were truly HORRIBLE I found that they ate the purple and yellow beans after the green ones so a sacrificial row of Contenders helped temporarily, but only fed the next generation and made them hit my favorite beans even harder in a few weeks.

Hand picking and mechanically destroying eggs helped, but ultimately only the Sevin saved the greater portion of the crop.

Squash Bugs and Mexican Bean Beetles are the two pests that will cause me to bring out the Sevin. But, as I said, I target it very tightly and use it only as a last resort when I'm otherwise going to lose the food completely.

Hmmm, they call my Carpenter Bees pests. But that's all I see this year. No honeybees, no bumblebees, no nothing. :^( I didn't realize that they slit flowers open; I see them crawling in and out of a lot of ours, covered in pollen. Male Carpenter Bees are funny to watch. Females just go about their business; males keep hanging around asking "are you sure you don't find me sexy?"!!