Ladybugs pages

Not again!

Apparently a lack of suitable flowers is forcing bumblebees to seek out aphids to feed on their sugary secretions, an ineffective strategy at that:

Although the aphid secretions provide them with a sugary solution, a substitute for nectar, they provide no protein.

Bumblebees can only get their protein from pollen, which they feed to their growing young, so it is essential for a healthy population.

That's how the ants got started, too. Now they're milking the aphids and fighting us in the process.

Sugar is a drug. To all the rest of you insects out there in the garden:

Just say no to aphid honey dew!

Stick to pollen and no one needs to get hurt.

Except the pesty aphids!