Had a problem last year of keeping ladybugs around. I'd like to keep them around as a preventive measure but if there aren't any insects around for them to eat, I'm taking it they will move elsewhere.

How do you keep them around without providing them with the insects that will hurt the vegetables.

My handy dandy Rodale book "Insect, Disease & Weed ID Guide" recommends the following for attracting and protecting Lady Beetles of all sorts:

- plant pollen and nectar flowers for adults, or let weeds like dandelion, Queen Anne's lace (we call this wild carrot) and yarrow to grow among garden plants.
- avoid harming eggs and larvae by spraying with just water to control aphids, rather than insecticides or soap
- attract them with a sugar water spray - 5 ounces sugar and 1 qt. water. Spray this on plants that aphids usually attack.

Another reference suggests providing beneficials with a safe place to hide and an attractive place for the females to lay their eggs, as well as a water source.

Hope this helps! And thanks to everyone here who suggested these books to me last summer. They're great!

You can also plant "trap crops" to attract aphids, and therefore ladybugs, while preventing them taking over your food crops. Not sure what attracts aphids, but a quick Internet search should turn something up.

Providing as diverse a habitat as possible is always a good idea, as well as some "wild" areas of your yard that can be left alone to feed and shelter wildlife. That way, when you do have an outbreak of pests, you've got prey insects waiting in the wings to swoop in and assist.

also, make sure nobody is spraying anything toxic anywhere close to your place (if you can prevent them that is). good bugs die quicker than bad ones and don't reproduce as fast either.

a ladybug BIT me yesterday. $#$%$@#!!! they may be good bugs but they do bite once in awhile!