Make a bug box

June 25, 2008 05:42 pm

— From staff reports
news@joplinglobe.com
Not all insects found in your garden are ones that you should get bugged about.
They eat the bad insects that can harm your garden and also help provide the valuable nutrients that it needs.
Beneficial insects include:
Bees: They’re important for pollination
Wasps: They eat aphids, mites, whiteflies, caterpillar eggs, moth larvae, beetles and corn earwigs.
Praying mantis: They eat aphids.
Ladybugs: They eat aphids, mealy bugs and mites.

Beetles: They ground beetles, eat caterpillars, slugs and cut worms.
Spiders: They eat lots of different pests.
Green lacewings: They eat aphids, mites and variety of pest eggs.
You can purchase these insects in at a variety of nurseries or attract them to your garden by using specific plants.
Another fun way of attracting these bugs is to make them feel at home by building them a house, using easy-to-find lumber scraps, logs, sticks or bamboo canes.
This bug house can be used year round. During the summer, bugs can use them for egg laying and in the winter it can be used for hibernation.
What you’ll need
Untreated wood
Hollow bamboo cane
Saw
Drill, drill bits
Screwdriver
Nails, screws, glue
Step 1
Assemble your lumber scraps together using nails, screws or wood glue, leaving the front of the box open.
Step 2
Cut strips of hollow bamboo into short lengths. Use different sizes of bamboo to accommodate the different sizes of bugs.
Step 3
Drill holes of various sizes into small pieces of logs.
Step 4
Assemble the pieces into the box, making a tight fit or use a bit of glue.
Step 5
Decorate bug box if desired. Mount the bug box onto a wall or fence, or hang it from a tree or archway. Place it in a sunny, sheltered place, out of the wind, but close to your garden.