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By Brian Campbell
Why garden for Bumble Bees?
Bumblebees are a keystone species. This means much of our ecological system hinges on the survival of bumblebees. Not just native plants rely on these furry pollinators, but also many other organisms; over 250 insect species use bumblebee colonies for one or more of their life stages. We may not understand the contribution they make to our well-being but certainly without them we would notice big changes in plant and animal life.
All bee species are in decline around the world. Bumblebees are no exception. Research in Britain indicates that long-tongued bumblebees are at greater risk of extinction than shorter-tongued bumblebee species. It’s believed that the shorter-tongued types have greater access to a wider range of flowers than the more specialized long-tongued bumblebees. This may well be the case in Canada too.
In
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Wireworms represent the larval stage of the click beetles of the family Elateridae. There are around 9,300 species worldwide, but it is a small handful of species that cause problems in our fields and gardens. Click beetles are 1-2cm long, quite narrow in shape, and can be brown, grey, or black. Most obviously, when turned on their backs they use a special mechanism to right themselves, which produces an audible “click.”
The larvae themselves are tan to orange in colour, cylindrical, hard-bodied (unlike many garden grubs), and 1-4cm when mature. These larvae may live in the ground for 2 to 3 years – some species spend as long as 6 years in their larval stage before pupating and emerging as adults, which then mate and deposit the next generation of eggs back in the soil. This long lifecycle makes wireworms difficult to control.
Female click beetles typically lay their eggs in June and July, which hatch about a month later. The grubs fe
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Like the British Isles, the Lower Mainland of BC tends to enjoy very damp spring and early summer. This dampness creates the ideal habitat for Woodlice – often called sow bugs or pill bugs. These are the small, segmented animals that can be found beneath rotting wood, garbage cans, plant pots, and so on. They gather, sometimes in large numbers, anywhere where moisture collects and lasts throughout the day.
Woodlice are actually crustaceans of the suborder Oniscidea, and are more closely related to shrimp than to insects. There are more than 3,000 species of woodlice in the world, and dozens of different species may be found in the home garden. Members of the genus Armidillidium are notable because they can curl their bodies into a nearly perfect ball as a defensive measure.
Woodlice are nocturnal and live on decaying vegetable matter, occasionally grazing on tender seedlings, ripe strawberries, and other cultivated plants. They may follow slugs a
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The Carrot Rust Fly [CRF] is a weak flying insect pest that feeds its young on 107 different plants in the carrot family, including carrots, celery, parsnips, celeriac, parsley, and dill. The insect (Psila rosae) earned its common name due to the rusty coloured scarring left by its larvae as they feed on carrots, rendering them unmarketable.
The adult female CRF deposits her eggs in the soil near the base of the base of the carrot, and about one week later the larva hatches and begins to feed on the carrot root. Eventually the larva pupates (forms a cocoon) in the soil, emerges as an adult, and leaves the field to mate. Three generations of CRF may occur in a single year. In southern B.C. the first adult flies generally emerge at the end of April and are present until heavy frost.
Adults are about 6 to 8mm long, with shiny black bodies and reddish-brown head and yellow legs. Typically, the adults congregate at the edge of the field, not near t
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This fungal disease affects cucumber, squash, calendula, hollyhocks, zinnias, and many other garden plants. Small patches of grey appear on otherwise healthy looking leaves, and if it is not treated right away, the fungus will spread to cover the whole leaf, and then most of the leaves on the plant.
Infected leaves cannot produce as much food for the plant as they should. Fewer flowers (and fewer fruits) are produced. Plants may become so weakened that they cannot survive winter.
Powdery mildew is produced by a number of different fungi of the order Erysiphales. Their spores are carried by the wind from plant to plant, and tend to settle on wet leaves. If the humidity is high enough, they don’t require the leaves to actually be wet, but this is why Cucurbits like squash and cucumbers should never be watered overhead. Instead, you want
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