Hi Dan, Thanks for your recent help with controlling our persistent fruit fly outbreak. Before I called you, the products we were using appeared to cause no changes in the numbers of fruit flies being caught in our monitoring traps. After using the MAT traps and baits as supplied and recommended by 'bugs for bugs', we saw an immediate decline in fruity fly numbers and were able to bring them back under control. Thanks again for your help. Best Regards, Ray Manton. General Manager, Hillston Citrus Pty Ltd.
Trichogramma release capsule in corn whorl
Mulgowie Farming Company
Mulgowie Farming Company has been using Trichogramma wasps for around five years now, and it has become the corner stone to our IPM strategy in sweetcorn.
By releasing Trichogramma wasps and using only "soft" or biological spray applications we have been able to reduce our grub damage while at the same time reducing our spray applications and totally avoiding the use of heavy chemicals.
This is a win-win situation by reducing spraying costs and producing an environmentally friendly product that is healthier for people and the environment.
Andrew Johanson - Production Manager
Parasitised heliothis egg on corn silk
Richard Llewellyn
Gough's Farms, Macksville, NSW
We are in our third season of using Trichogramma wasps as our number one line of defence against Heliothis caterpillars in green beans and I can sleep at night. For the previous 20 plus years I was spraying at night to control Heliothis and it was to the stage that the grubs were waiting for their feed.
I investigated the IPM concept and discussed it with family members and then we took the plunge. I was not comfortable at first with the transition from heavy spray schedules to just relying on tiny wasps but they proved absolutely marvellous. Our hand pickers commented on the total absence of grub holes. It was true no Heliothis eggs were getting past the wasps. In the last three years I have learnt a lot about fine tuning the program for insect control but the major player in the program is the Trichogramma Wasp.
Yes there are some other minor insect worries that pop up but they can be beaten and we here at Gough's Farms have reduced our insecticide usage by over 90%. In these days of environmental concern that has got to be good.
Scott Gough - Owner / Manager
Rehbein Family Co., Bundaberg Qld.
Walking through a field of sweet corn releasing Trichogramma once a week versus spraying methomyl 2-3 times a week sure makes life easier.
My family have been growing sweet corn for three years. Our first year followed the traditional method of using hard chemicals to wipe out Heliothis and other insects. Crops were monitored weekly by external consultants. We were spraying 2-3 times per week and up to 15 applications per crop.
The second and current year has seen us move towards an IPM system. Gemstar® is used from early in the crop until post silking, depending on the time of year and pest threshholds. Trichogramma is distributed twice in a crop pre-tasselling. Our early crops required Success® once due to high pressures of heliothis as the imported Trichogrammas hadn't built up in numbers quick enough. Early parasitism counts were between 40-60%.
We have stopped spraying Gemstar® during winter and only release Trichogramma. This is a huge saving in time and money. Having the sprayer sit in the shed is hard to get used to. Once Trichogramma has built up in numbers we have had parasitism counts between 85-100%. This IPM system has worked well for us. However, our thresholds are much lower as we are entirely pre-pack, topping and tailing the corn.
My wife and children like the fact that their Dad is home earlier and that they know he is not handling hard chemicals.
Anthony Rehbein - Owner/Manager
Picardy Winery
Hi Dan, Firstly we are not an organic or biodynamic vineyard but are a long sustainable vineyard and try to minimize the use of chemicals where possible in our cool wet climate.
I have been using Cryptolaemus and Lacewings for some years now.
I originally had a bad Mealy Bug outbreak due to the use of insecticides for weevils and used the Cryptolaemus and Lacewings post vintage and then in lead up to the following vintage. This reduced the numbers of Mealy Bug to nearly zero by the time of the following vintage. I was amazed at the speed and efficiency of the results. I originally thought that it would take some years to get this kind of result, not months.
I have had a similar experience with Mealy Bug again about 3 years ago and used Cryptolaemus and Lacewings with the same outcome.
I now use the Cryptolaemus and Lacewings every year in November/December and have had minimal to no Mealy Bug problems in the vineyard since starting this regime.
Regards
Dan Pannell
Picardy Winery
PO Box 477
Pemberton WA 6260
www.picardy.com.au
Amy Gibson & Al Dowling - Olive Products Australia
Olive Products Australia
Hi Wes and Dan
Just thought I'd let you know that the green lacewings appear to be really working against the Olive Leaf Lace Bug. We have released in some of our hotspots and we are definitely seeing a reduction in adults and larvae. Its really exciting! Please find attached a photo of Al Dowling (Farm Manager) and myself with some of our olive trees.
Al is desperate for some more hints about how we can use the green lacewings to control our Olive Leaf Lace Bug. Is it possible to organise a visit in the next two weeks?
Wes - could you also please confirm when our next shipment of Green Lacewings are due?
Thanks for your help
Kind regards Amy Gibson .....................
Amy Gibson
OPERATIONS MANAGER
Olive Products Australia,
Part of Comvita New Zealand Limited
767 Bischoffs Road,
Coominya QLD 4311
Australia
PH. +61 7 5424 6771
FX. +61 7 5424 6772
The World's Fresh Olive Leaf Source!
Nimbin Valley Dairy
To the staff at Bugs for Bugs:
We have been using Spalangia now for several months making releases fortnightly to control flies around our dairy. We sell milk and cheese produced on our farm and it is important for us to minimise chemical use while ensuring we do not have animal welfare concerns. As such the use of these fly parasites fits well with our farm goals. We noticed a significant decrease in fly numbers after the second release and numbers have remained low since. At night the inside of the dairy buildings used to be covered in flies but since releasing these have almost disappeared. We still have some flies but we no longer have a fly problem and will continue to use these parasites into the future as a cost effective fly control measure.
Paul Wilson
Nimbin Valley Dairy
392 Tuntable Falls Road
Nimbin Australia 2480
M 0439 668 989
T 02 6689 1809
F 02 6689 1297
Mac with his Hoop Pine tree
Mac Hosking - Gladstone, Qld
From: "M Hosking" mhosking@aanet.com.au
Date: 22 January 2009 1:13:43 PM
Subject: Cryptolaemus vs. mealy bug
Hi fellow bug lovers,
Thank you for providing me with these wonderful Cryptolaemus! They have totally destroyed my mealy bug infestation of which I battled for 2 years.
I have a 20 year old Hoop Pine tree in the front garden in which there are numerous bird's nests and I thought that I had tried everything.These wonderful beetles battled the odds and ate anything Mealy bug.
There has been no sign of re-infestation,despite the hot weather we've been experiencing. I'm not worried if they do re-appear as I know that they can be controlled.Anyway,at this stage, all looks good.
Thank you all for your excellent service and fantastic product.
Kind Regards,
Mac Hosking,
Gladstone,4680.
Indira Naidoo
Indira Naidoo, a well known Sydney media personality, has recently used some of our beneficial bugs to help with here balcony garden. Her comments are included on her blog in her posts Bugs arrive in the mail and Evolution of an Eggplant
Jackie Pelham - Client Manager JAS-ANZ
Hi Dan,
I just wanted to share my positive experiences with your products. I have been using Bugs for Bugs for the last 6 months and have found that the bugs really do work and work well.
I purchased lacewings at the start of Summer this year (2010) which within a few days had completely gotten rid of thrips, aphids and other sap sucking bugs that were damaging my young fruit trees. I have never sprayed my trees and only used an IPM type approach ie. The lacewings and as a result I have extremely healthy trees with large sweet fruit on them.
I would recommend this approach to anyone rather than reaching for a spray bottle of chemicals. The bugs are not that expensive and the rewards far greater.
I also had an explosion of small black annoying house flies the following month so I tried a batch of Spalangia miniature wasps to target them. Within a week I had no flies around at all which was fantastic. It meant that meals outdoors were not a problem and my two dogs were forever grateful. It also meant that they were not crawling all over my fruit trees.
I have being trying to convert Mum to do the same however she still sprayed her fruit trees this season. Her trees which are older than mine by 3 or 4 years, do not look any where near as healthy and the fruit was attacked by various insects despite the spraying.
Again I say thankyou to Bugs for Bugs and specifically to Wes and yourself for the advice and guidance given during this period.
Regards,
Jackie Pelham
Client Manager
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