Praying Mantis Egg Cases Part 1

Today I took the praying mantis egg cases out of the fridge so I could set them on their journey to hatching.  The photo below shows the three pods in a paper bag.  

The dark string like objects coming out of the pods are thin wire that was threaded through the pods for easy attachment to a limb.  Pods should be attached to a limb in a protected area and between 1 or 2 feet off of the ground.

Each pod can contain between 50 and 400 praying mantis.  That means I could have anywhere between 150 to 1200 praying mantis' eating bugs in my yard.  I hope this means that my roses will be aphid free this summer.  Praying mantis' are carnivores with a big appetite.

Praying Mantis

The cost for the three pods was around 15 bucks.  Which is both safer and less expensive that buying a commercial rose bug killer product.  We are trying very hard not to use any pesticides or Round Up in and around the house.  

But sometimes we have found it impossible and we must use a pesticide or Round Up.  When we do use pesticides it is with a light touch and confined to just the affected area.  We found a carpenter ant infestation in the rotted wood of the garden shed during it's remodel.  After spraying the area we waited one day to make sure the ants were dead before we removed the rotted wood.  I swept up the dead ants and burned both the rotted wood and dead ants.  That was three years ago and we haven't seen another ant. 

Hatching may take up to 8 weeks of warm weather before we will see anything.  I will make sure to check every couple of days to see it anything has happened.  But I don't expect anything right away because the weather has dipped back down into the 40's.

There is still time to get some praying mantis egg cases for your yard.  You can find sellers and stores that sell egg cases (pods) on eBay.

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Mason Bee House Part 3

Yesterday we hung the Mason bee house on the back of the garden shed.  This area gets morning and early afternoon sun plus it is sheltered from storms coming from the west and wind from the north.  In the class she told us not to attach it to trees and to place it around 42 inches from the ground.  We placed it higher because of the plantings under the window.

OOPS!! I need to fix that storm window screen.

The bee cocoons are still chillin in the fridge.  I don't want to wake them up until there are blooms available for them to snack on.

I also have praying mantis pods in my fridge.  They too, will wait until a little later in the spring before they make their appearance.  Last summer I saw a praying mantis on the deck so I know that we have some are out there in the yard.

The temperatures yesterday and today were in the 70's.  Love the temps but it's raining AGAIN.  The cats have been loving the warm temps.  They have been busy rolling around on the deck and hiding in the fallen willow limb.

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