We have plenty of bees here in north bucks . Most of them on my cotoneaster it’s positively alive with them ,you can hear the humming noise in the kitchen which is at least 15 feet from the bush . Have seen several ladybirds too ,although admittedly not the dozens we usually get . It’s the cold weather I expect .
@borgadr No lack of aphids here but ladybirds are very few and far between. I bought some live ones and larvae which arrived this morning. The larvae were incredibly small and fiddly to do and the ladybirds themselves I "released" this evening. Definitely not buying live ladybirds again, herding cats has got nothing on trying to get those little critters onto a leaf. To make things worse, after I'd done the larvae this morning, I took a look at my rosa rugosa and there was a ladybird on there along with two batches of newly laid eggs.
I did the same @februarysgirl a couple of years back and they were also tiny. Normally they should come in a release bag that you just have to hang on a branch, then they find their way around without you having to handle them.
@borgadr They came with some little paper bags (the larger quantities come with the cloth bags you hang) and I just sorted through as best as I could, discarding the pieces of paper that didn't have any larvae on. Once I got them sorted into bags, I pushed the bags on the ends of branches with a hefty aphid load and left them to it. Hopefully that'll work but it's not something I think I'll do again. Not overly comfortable that some didn't survive the journey through the post.
No ladybirds for me either and I usually have plenty. I've ordered both larvae and adults in the past, both a waste of time I think! Wouldn't bother again, the adults at least all vanished nearly straight away and yes, lots of faff with paper bags and minuscule larvae!
I"m pleased to report that the predators are doing their job in the garden. Here are some pics of my Hibiscus syriacus invaded by aphids and rescued by dozens (hundreds?) of larvae of lady-bugs (most of them Harmonia axyridis).
Lots of aphids here...
The whitish things on the leaves are probably the---uneaten/non-edible---remains of the aphids eaten by the ladybirds.
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