Bees and Bugs, Spiders and Slugs

First, don’t be a toxic person

Bees and other bugs are very important pollinators. Many bees that make honey are domesticated, like cows. But that doesn’t mean they are not under threat.

Introduced pesticides, monocultures (not enough food variety), invasive species, destroyed habitat, disease, hotter weather, and most of all pesticides like Neonicotinoids are of great concern.

Simply avoid toxic chemicals when you care for a lawn or garden. The alternatives are plentiful, and you can more successfully encourage native plants, or adapt simple cultural practices that aid biodiversity.

Bees and butterflies are beautiful and helpful to all flowering plants, some of the most important food crops being fruits and vegetables. They don’t want to sting you, and you can avoid stings by leaving them be. Learn to distinguish between wasps and bees. Bees are the ones with little furry coats to trap pollen. They shimmy and shake to loosen pollen with some flowers. To direct their sisters, they dance. The males may nap in flower petals during courtship.

Wasps are those slender ladies with wasp waists that often build papery nests and are not fuzzy. They can bite to grip you, then sting, if you are wearing enough protective layers.

It’s not necessary to poison anyone to co-exist

Wasps also have a place in our ecosystems, although you may not wish to have them near your home. The best solution is not an app or an exterminator. The technical term for the best tool is called “A stick I just picked up off the ground.” To keep them away from the house, knock the nest down while the weather is still cold and they are dormant. Here are some toxin-free tips for seasonally active wasp nests and other pest removals.

Don’t like ads? Become a supporter and enjoy The Good Men Project ad free

To be honest, though, what we have done in full summer is just stay away from that side of the building, then jetted the nest down with a hose in late fall. It worked, no stings.

Wasps are still needed in our outdoors because they break down nutrients and dispose of rotting material. They are looking for food, fresh, or rotting, so don’t tempt them with food in your trash or uncontained at your picnic in August. Some are very beneficial, just learn which ones.

Slugs and bugs are not just thugs

Find ways to use biological controls like ladybugs and barriers. Encourage, or even buy, the predatory bugs that decrease pests. Use things like clay or sand as natural barriers around protected plants. Deterred slugs and snails will go elsewhere. Containers also work.

Slugs and snails can be repelled with not just sandy barriers, but with garlic or coffee grounds. There are many environmentally safe ways to repel them.

If you want to have birds in your garden to add beauty, music, and insect control, you will also want some snail shells to help them make their egg shells out of calcium carbonate in the soil.

Remember how Rachel Carson sought to protect thinning eggshells by discouraging DDT? Thin eggshells are still a threat, as are poisonous chemicals.

Spiders are the best people on Earth!

Do not forget that spiders are wonderful creatures that may creep us out but have huge benefits. Most spiders are non-venomous. They are shy and elusive. They almost never bite. If you see one in your home, you are lucky to have free pest control.

If you get to know them they are fascinating to study and wonderful to look at with a new perspective. Many male spiders work hard to become food for their offspring, often placing themselves in the mandibles of the sexy female. Spiders are awesome moms — make a card for Mother’s Day to spread the word. Their silk is astonishing. Their hunting skills are top-notch. Their special, strange but true, sensory powers, will amaze you.